HB 394 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Distracted Driving/Children and Animals.

HB 394 prohibits drivers in North Carolina from interacting with children or animals in a way that impairs safe vehicle operation while driving on public roads, such as holding pets on laps or being distracted by children. It directly affects all drivers operating motor vehicles on public streets, highways, or public vehicular areas. The bill creates a $100 fine for violations (with warnings for six months after the December 1, 2025 effective date), but excludes fully autonomous vehicles. This law aims to reduce distracted driving incidents specifically related to passenger interactions.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 13, 2025 Last action Apr 14, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Filed → Edition 1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill's header information was updated to reflect its official filing status and session details. A note was added directing readers to the General Assembly website for a complete sponsor list, and the referral information was expanded to include additional committees. These are primarily administrative and formatting updates rather than substantive policy changes.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill identification numbers from DRH40247-NE-50A to H394-v-1 to reflect the official bill number and version.

Added a note directing readers to the North Carolina General Assembly website for a complete list of sponsors.

Expanded committee referral information to include Transportation, Judiciary 1, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 14, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to the Com on Judiciary 1, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Committee

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

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Judiciary 1

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Mar 17, 2025

Committee

Ref to the Com on Transportation, if favorable, Judiciary 1, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Mar 13, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

0 primary · 2 co-sponsors