After the legislature broadened the definition of “public vehicular area” in 2006 to include areas “used by the public for vehicular traffic at any time,” many wondered whether there was any place where one could drive a vehicle (other than a private driveway) that wasn’t considered a public vehicular area. There was even some doubt about those private driveways, since members of the public can drive into them and sometimes do so even without an invitation from the resident. Moreover, North Carolina’s appellate courts had broadly interpreted the term for years—even when it was more narrowly defined. But the court of appeals put the brakes on an overly expansive reading of public vehicular area last year, rejecting, in State v. Ricks, ___ N.C. App. ___, 764 S.E.2d 692 (2014), the State’s argument that all property used by the public for vehicular traffic is, in fact, a public vehicular area. The facts in State v. Ricks. William Ricks was indicted for habitual impaired driving after a Rocky Mount police officer discovered him impaired while astride his moped with the engine running. Ricks and his moped were on a dirt driveway in a vacant lot located at an intersection in the city’s business district. The driveway, or “cut through,” extended across the lot from the street on one side of the intersection to the street on the other side. The officer who arrested Ricks testified that he had seen people walk and ride bicycles across the lot by using this drive. He said [...]
Faculty Coordinators
