Did North Carolina pass a new law in April 2022 that says drivers can be stopped if they are going one mile over the speed limit? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol told Lead Stories, "There has not been a change to North Carolina law with regards to speeding statutes nor has there been any changes to our agency's enforcement of these laws." Also, since at least 2016, North Carolina has made it clear that going even one mile over the speed limit could lead to a speeding ticket for drivers.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on April 11, 2022. The caption of the post is:
Throw the whole license away ..... it's already loaded with points 😔
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed. Apr 13 19:13:37 2022 UTC)
Lead Stories reached out to the North Carolina agency responsible for enforcing highway speed limits, the State Highway Patrol. In an April 13, 2022, email, First Sgt. Christopher Knox, a public information officer for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, responded:
I can confirm that there has NOT been a change to North Carolina law with regards to speeding statutes nor has there been any changes to our agency's enforcement of these laws. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol issues citations or makes arrests only for definite, clear-cut and substantial violations of the law.
Knox cited North Carolina's current speed restrictions statutes and the fact that North Carolina is an "absolute law" state. According to a March 23, 2016, NBC12 report, going "Just 1 mile over the limit could land you a speeding ticket in NC" and, contrary to the implication in the post, that's nothing new.
