Drivers License Designation/Autism

This bill is for the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles to create a symbol for drivers licenses for people with autism.

• Division of Motor Vehicles: a state office in charge of rules about driving and vehicles like cars, trucks, and buses. 

• Autism: a disability that can make it harder to communicate, understand things, and know how to act in certain situations. 

This bill:

• Adds a new part to North Carolina General Statutes, which is a list of laws people in North Carolina must follow, about Autism symbols.

  • The Division of Motor Vehicles will team up with the offices in charge of public safety, mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance use services, and the state highway patrol, to work on this symbol.

    • Substance use services: programs and treatments to help people struggling with drugs or alcohol, to support recovery and improve overall health and well-being.

    • State highway patrol: a law enforcement office in North Carolina in charge of highways. They enforce traffic laws, assist drivers, and respond to emergencies.

• Updates another part to spell out the educational and training rules for recognizing and interacting with deaf people and people with autism spectrum disorder.

• Makes police officers learn about autism and deafness. They need to learn how to talk to and help people with autism, people who are deaf, and about the special sign on the driver's licenses, and that people can choose whether they want it or not.

If this bill passes, anyone with autism can ask for a driver's license symbol.

The rules for the symbol are:

• The symbol will be added to the driver’s license record when a person asks for it

• To be considered as having autism, a person must have paperwork to show that a doctor found that they have it.

  • The Division of Motor Vehicles may accept other proof as well.

• This part does not allow a license to be given to those who don’t qualify, or stop people who can from getting a license.

• People can choose whether or not to go for the symbol without giving up any protections offered by the law.

• Any info collected will only be available to police to help make sure they are being safe when talking to people

• The person with the license can decide whether to keep or remove the symbol; the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Health and Human Services will come up with a way for removal.

  • Department of Health and Human Services: a government office in North Carolina in charge of public health, and social support programs.

If this bill passes, these changes are for designation requests made on or after January 1, 2026.