NC · jury_instructions
N.C.P.I.—Motor Vehicle 204.10
DUTY TO DRIVE ON RIGHT-FOUR OR MORE LANES.
The motor vehicle law provides that where a highway has four or
more lanes for moving traffic and provides for two-way movement of
traffic- that is, two or more lanes in each direction- no vehicle shall be
driven to the left of the centerline- that is, into a lane for traffic
proceeding in the opposite direction.
A violation of this duty is negligence within itself.1
(Use either of the following bracketed paragraphs only when
it is justified by the evidence.)
(However, by way of exception, the motor vehicle law also provides
that:
[if the operator of a vehicle is authorized to do so by official traffic-control devices designating certain lanes to the left of the center of the
highway for use by traffic not otherwise permitted to use such lanes, the
operator may drive in such a designated lane and such operation would
not violate the law and would not be negligence]
[if there is an obstruction on the right side of the highway which
makes it necessary to drive to the left of the center of the highway, the
operator of a vehicle may drive to the left of the center of the highway,
provided that in so doing the operator yields the right-of-way to all
vehicles traveling in the proper direction upon the unobstructed portion of
the highway which are within such distance as to constitute an immediate
hazard and such operation would not violate the law and would not be
negligence]
The burden of proof is on the operator of the vehicle driving on the
left half of the highway to prove, by the greater weight of the evidence,
that the operator of the vehicle is within [this exception] [one of these
exceptions].)
History
N.C.P.I.—Motor Vehicle 204.10 (February 1989). N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-146(c). Prepared by the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges' Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions, assisted by the UNC School of Government; published by the School of Government.
Provenance
- Source
- sog.unc.edu
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
095c8a86ae8d3b6e8c2947a7d8bedd01f7f8eb197b32e8b4dcb2412867fcd9c7
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