NC · jury_instructions
N.C.P.I.—Motor Vehicle 215.80
BRAKES-MOST MOTOR VEHICLES.
The motor vehicle law provides that every motor vehicle operated
on a highway must have brakes in good working order, including two
separate means of applying the brakes, and that the brakes must be
adequate to control the movement of the vehicle and to stop and hold
the vehicle. (If the two separate means are connected in any way, they
must be constructed so that the failure of any one part of the operating
mechanism shall not leave the vehicle without brakes.)
A violation of this law is negligence within itself.
(Where the operator puts at issue whether he knew or should
have known that the brakes were not in good working order,
or in other appropriate circumstances, the following should
also be given:)2
(However, the operator is not an insurer of the adequacy of the
brakes. The existence of a defect unknown to the operator, not
reasonably discoverable upon proper inspection and not resulting from the
failure of the operator to exercise reasonable care in the use or
maintenance of the brakes, would not be a violation of this law and
would not be negligence. On the other hand, if the operator knew or in
the exercise of reasonable care should have known of the defect, or
should have corrected the defect, then operating the vehicle with such
defective brakes would be a violation of this law and is negligence within
itself.)
History
N.C.P.I.—Motor Vehicle 215.80 (October 1988). N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-124(a) and (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
9a1028c0a55f779e6c90e52750e5942339ae1670e66c35364fa6cc71359e2ee0
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