HB 246 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Liam's Law.

HB 246, also known as "Liam's Law," increases penalties for specific driving offenses. The bill elevates reckless driving that causes serious bodily injury to a Class I felony. For street racing, it establishes new felony classifications for causing serious injury (Class F felony) or death (Class B2 felony), and mandates longer driver's license revocations, including permanent revocation for fatalities. Additionally, the bill increases the penalty for hit-and-run offenses that result in death to a Class D felony. These provisions directly affect drivers involved in such incidents.

Issues: ✗ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 27, 2025 Last action Apr 16, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 1 → Edition 2 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill modifies penalties for reckless driving and street racing offenses in North Carolina, increasing penalties for serious bodily injury and death while removing references to 'street racing' from the title and main provisions. The changes also update how driver's licenses are revoked for racing-related offenses and clarify the statute's language regarding unlawful racing activities.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from addressing both reckless driving and street racing to primarily focusing on reckless driving causing serious injury, while expanding the racing provisions to include both unlawful racing and hit-and-run offenses resulting in injury or death.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the penalty for reckless driving causing serious bodily injury from a Class I felony to a Class A1 misdemeanor, which is a significant reduction in the severity of the offense.

Updated penalties for unlawful racing: serious injury now carries a Class H felony (down from Class F), while serious bodily injury or death now carries a Class G felony (new category, up from Class B2 for death only).

ENFORCEMENT

Reorganized license revocation periods for racing offenses, creating three tiers based on violation severity with specific timeframes for when drivers can apply for new licenses.

DEFINITION

Removed the term 'street racing' from the bill title and main provisions, replacing it with 'unlawful racing' to broaden the scope of prohibited activities.

TECHNICAL

Made formatting and wording adjustments throughout the statute, including clarifying language about vehicle ownership and control in racing provisions.

Floor votes · House Apr 15, 2025

How they voted

113–0

Passed · 8 other

Total votes 121

Apr 15, 2025

D Democratic46

42 Yea 4

91% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican73

69 Yea 4

94% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 16, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Apr 15, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

Mar 3, 2025

Committee

Ref to the Com on Judiciary 2, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

0 primary · 13 co-sponsors