RALEIGH, N.C. — A bill to make rideshares safer in North Carolina is one step closer to becoming law.
The House Transportation Committee voted to pass the Passenger Protection Act Tuesday morning. The bill would put regulations in place to ensure passengers are getting in the right car.
These regulations would include requiring rideshare drivers to display the vehicle’s license plate number in a location visible from the front of the vehicle, and requiring drivers to display signage or emblems while active on the rideshare platform.
“Here in North Carolina, we do not have front license plates, so you actually, literally have to walk around the back side of the car to look at the license plate,” Rep. John Bell, (R) District 10, said in the committee meeting Tuesday morning. “This requires that while that driver is on duty and participating in the platform, they display their license plate number in the front.”
The Passenger Protection Act would also make it a felony to impersonate a rideshare driver.
According to the bill, $100,000 would be appropriated to the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina to develop and implement an awareness campaign to educate students on what information rideshare companies must provide to help customers identify their drivers.
"This is a public safety issue, and this is our step to address this here in North Carolina,” Bell said.
This comes after the death of University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson. Officials said the senior was found dead in March after getting into a car she thought was her Uber.
Her death is now sparking a movement for rideshare safety, with South Carolina passing a similar law requiring rideshare drivers to display license plate numbers from the vehicle’s front.
The North Carolina bill still needs to go through at least one more committee before being voted on by the full House.