Pump prices are falling, but North Carolina's gas tax will rise by 3.9 cents on January 1 to an all-time high of 38.9 cents a gallon, the N.C. Department of Revenue said.

Only four states have higher gas taxes. Fortunately, if recent price trends continue, drivers can expect the North Carolina tax rate to fall again next July.

The Republican-controlled General Assembly cut other taxes and curbed state spending this year. But legislators also increased state spending for roads and bridges -- and they could not agree on whether to limit the state gas tax, which pays for more than half the total transportation budget.

The House voted overwhelmingly in November to cap the tax at its current level, 35 cents. But the Senate adjourned without taking up the bill, so the law allowing a tax increase Jan. 1 was left unchanged. ... [MORE]

A possible cap on the state gas tax is among the agenda items for this week's drive-by session of the General Assembly. This could be a tough decision.

If the Republicans who control the legislature agree to stop the tax from rising higher in January (in keeping with their lower-tax leanings), they will effectively cut this year's budget for road and bridge repair (one of their few higher-spending priorities).

[11/29/11 update: House caps it, Senate ignores it. See today's story.]

North Carolina's motor fuels tax rose in July to its current record-high 35 cents per gallon -- leaving only eight states with a higher gas tax, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The tax rate is set by a formula that will change the tax on Jan. 1 based on average wholesale fuel prices from April through September.

Gas prices have fallen recently, but they were higher during that six-month period. So if the legislature does nothing, the tax will rise in January to 38.9 or 39 cents ... [MORE].

The General Assembly this morning approved a 14-month delay in the effective date for signed driving logs -- documenting that parents were in the front seat to supervise 60 hours of driving -- that will be required before 16- or 17-year-olds can get their driver's licenses. [See 9/15/11 story.]

Parents and teens needed more time to comply -- and DMV needed more time, too.

This changes a law, enacted in June, that added several tough new provisions to North Carolina's graduated licensing program.

Parents or other supervising adult drivers must sign the logs to show that they supervised 60 hours of driving, spread out over at least six weeks. The original legislation said the logs would be added to the requirements for any provisional driver's license issued after Oct. 1.  Teens at least 16 years old, who have had limited learner's permits for at least a year, are eligible for provisional licenses.

The rewritten language, approved today, says the 60-hour logs will be required for any teen 15 or older who receives a limited learner's permit after Jan. 1.  That means it will apply to provisional licenses issued after Jan. 1, 2013. ... [MORE]

No telling how long it will take the state Division of Motor Vehicles to approve the format for a simple driving log -- soon to be required for all teen drivers under legislation adopted this year to strengthen the state's graduated licensing program.

But why wait? Make your own log now, and transfer the info later to the official form, when DMV finally publishes it. 

You can start using an informal version of teen driving logs distributed now by DMV as part of a driving safety program (see below).

As the Road Worrier reported today, the legislature might -- or might not -- take action in September to correct an error in the new law, which as written causes unintended problems for 110,000 teens who have their limited learner's permits now and hope soon to get their provisional licenses.

If we're lucky, the legislature will exempt kids who already have their learner's permits, so they won't have to produce these parent-signed logs. One parent, Pam Bobay, said by email that she isn't putting all her faith in the legislature to fix this ... [MORE]

Two Triangle senators say they'll try in September to correct a mistake in a law enacted in June that caused unintended problems for 110,000 young drivers aged 15 to 17 who now have limited learner's permits - and for their families (see today's Road Worrier column with reader comments).

After a year with a learner's permit, and after you turn 16, the old law qualifies you to trade up for a less restrictive provisional license. The new law adds a big new requirement: before you get the provisional license, your parents must sign logs documenting 60 hours of driving over at least six weeks -- some of it at night -- with Mom or Dad or another qualified adult in the front seat.

Sen. David Rouzer of Benson, who sponsored the law, said he thought the new requirement would only affect teens who receive the learner's permit after Oct. 1, when the changes take effect.  That would give them a year to produce the new logs.

But Bob Goudreau of Cary got Rouzer to acknowledge what the Road Worrier reported in June ... [MORE]

If you have a learner’s permit now and you aim to get your provisional license this fall, you’d better plan to spend a lot of your summer driving around with Mom or Dad in the front seat.

Meanwhile, drivers old and young should get ready for a 2.5-cent tax increase, starting July 1, on every gallon of gas and diesel fuel.

Record-high gas taxes and tougher rules for the graduated driver’s license program are the biggest changes that North Carolina drivers will see as a result of action – and inaction – in the Republican-led General Assembly session that adjourned last week. [6/21/11 update: See today's Road Worrier column with reader comments.]

For now ... [MORE]

Spurred by the determination to do something, anything, that might stem the grim tide of deadly teen crashes, the General Assembly is making a few changes in North Carolina's graduated drivers license system.

I'll be writing more about this, and I'd like to hear from teen drivers. Tell me what you like and don't like about graduated licensing, and how it is working out or has worked out for you.  Please email me or call 919-829-4527.  Don't forget to leave your full name -- we don't quote anonymous folks -- and your contact information, so I can call you Monday.

North Carolina law allows you at age 18 to get your license just by passing the test. ... [MORE]

Young North Carolinians would have to wait an extra year – until they turn 19 -- to get an unrestricted adult driver’s license under legislation amended today by a House judiciary subcommittee.

The higher driving age was narrowly endorsed on a 5-4 vote, along with other measures to toughen the state’s graduated licensing program for young drivers aged 15 to 18. (See today's story with reader comments.)

Supporters said the higher driving age will reduce the number of teens who skip the graduated licensing program by waiting to get their licenses when they turn 18.  Fewer will be willing, the said, to wait until they’re 19.

Critics said 18-year-olds deserve adult privileges.

“Of course people who are 18 are adults. I was in the Marine Corps when I was 17,” said Republican Rep. Paul Stam of Apex, the subcommittee co-chairman. “Raising from 18 to 19, I would say I’ve got problems with that.” ... [MORE]

A cluster of historically controversial transportation measures face quick action in the legislature today or tomorrow, including:

* A ban on hand-held cell phone use for commercial truckers;
* Exemptions from highway weight limits in some circumstances for some trucks hauling concrete and other goods; and
* An order blocking state Department of Transportation plans to build raised center medians on parts of three roads where some residents or businesses have complained: Falls of Neuse Road in North Raleigh, U.S. 70 in Kinston, and U.S. 64 in Asheboro.

[Correction 1:15pm Wednesday: The original post said the legislative action items also included a cap on the state gas tax. That was an error, based on erroneous information published on the General Assembly's website. There is no proposal on the legislative calendar today regarding the gas tax.]

... [MORE]

Young North Carolinians who want to drive before age 18 would have to spend a lot of quality time driving with their parents under a Senate-approved bill to change the state's graduated licensing system for teen drivers.

I'm writing more about this today. If you're under 18 or the parent of an under-18 driver, I'd like to get your thoughts.  Please contact me at 919-829-4527 or bruce.siceloff@newsobserver.com (don't forget your name and contact info).

To receive a Level 2 limited provisional license, a driver between 16 and 18 would have to maintain a log detailing at least 120 hours of supervised driving with a parent or other qualified adult.

"It's a lot of hours," said the sponsor of SB 636, Sen. David Rouzer, a Johnston County Republican. "We've got a lot of deaths on the highway, too. What do you do? We've got to do something."

No other state requires long hours of adult-supervised driving for teens, and some safety experts said they don't know whether such a requirement would have any benefits.  There were concerns that many teens and parents would consider the log, the 120 hours and other details in Rouzer's bill too onerous.

No more than 10 hours per week would count toward the 120-hour total, and at least 10 hours of night driving would be required. The supervising adult driver would have to sign the student's driving log for submission to the Division of Motor Vehicles.  Rouzer's bill cleared the Senate on a 49-0 vote last week and will be considered Wednesday by the House Judiciary Subcommittee B.