(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all the provisions of Chapter 20 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. relating to the use of highways and public vehicular areas of the State and the operation of vehicles thereon are made applicable to the State parks and forests road system. For the purposes of this section, the term “State parks and forests road system” shall mean the streets, alleys, roads, public vehicular areas and driveways of the State parks, State forests, State recreation areas, State lakes, and all other lands administered by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources or the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. This term shall not be construed, however, to include streets that are a part of the State highway system. Any person violating any of the provisions of Chapter 20 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. hereby made applicable in the State parks and forests road system shall, upon conviction, be punished in accordance with Chapter 20 of the N.C. Gen. Stat.. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as in any way interfering with the ownership and control of the State parks road system by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the forests road system by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

(b) (1) It shall be unlawful for a person to operate a vehicle in the State parks road system at a speed in excess of twenty-five miles per hour (25 mph). When the Secretary of Natural and Cultural Resources determines that this speed is greater than reasonable and safe under the conditions found to exist in the State parks road system, the Secretary may establish a lower reasonable and safe speed limit. No speed limit established by the Secretary pursuant to this provision shall be effective until posted in the part of the system where the limit is intended to apply.

(1a) It shall be unlawful for a person to operate a vehicle in the State forests road system at a speed in excess of 25 miles per hour. When the Commissioner of Agriculture determines that this speed is greater than reasonable and safe under the conditions found to exist in the State forests road system, the Commissioner may establish a lower reasonable and safe speed limit. No speed limit established by the Commissioner pursuant to this provision shall be effective until posted in the part of the system where the limit is intended to apply.

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(2) Any person convicted of violating this subsection by operating a vehicle on the State parks and forests road system while fleeing or attempting to elude arrest or apprehension by a law enforcement officer with authority to enforce the motor vehicle laws, shall be punished as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-141.5

(3) For the purposes of enforcement and administration of Chapter 20, the speed limits stated and authorized to be adopted by this section are speed limits under Chapter 20.

(4) The Secretary may designate any part of the State parks road system and the Commissioner may designate any part of the State forests road system for one-way traffic and shall erect appropriate signs giving notice thereof. It shall be a violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-165.1 for any person to willfully drive or operate any vehicle on any part of the State parks and forests road system so designated except in the direction indicated.

(5) The Secretary shall have power, equal to the power of local authorities under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-158 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-158.1, to place vehicle control signs and signals and yield-right-of-way signs in the State parks road system; the Secretary also shall have power to post such other signs and markers and mark the roads in accordance with Chapter 20 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. as the Secretary may determine appropriate for highway safety and traffic control. The failure of any vehicle driver to obey any vehicle control sign or signal, or any yield-right-of-way sign placed under the authority of this section in the State parks road system shall be an infraction and shall be punished as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-176

(5a) The Commissioner shall have power, equal to the power of local authorities under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-158 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-158.1, to place vehicle control signs and signals and yield right-of-way signs in the State forests road system. The Commissioner also shall have power to post such other signs and markers and mark the roads in accordance with Chapter 20 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. as the Commissioner may determine appropriate for highway safety and traffic control. The failure of any vehicle driver to obey any vehicle control sign or signal or any yield right-of-way sign placed under the authority of this section in the State forests road system shall be an infraction and shall be punished as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-176

(c) The Secretary of Natural and Cultural Resources may, by rule, regulate parking and establish parking areas, and provide for the removal of illegally parked motor vehicles on the State parks road system, and the Commissioner of Agriculture may, by rule, regulate and establish parking areas and provide for the removal of illegally parked motor vehicles on the State forests road system. Any rule of the Secretary or the Commissioner shall be consistent with the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-161, 20-161.1, and 20-162. Any removal of illegally parked motor vehicles shall be in compliance with Article 7A of Chapter 20 of the N.C. Gen. Stat..

(d) A violation of the rules issued by the Secretary of Natural and Cultural Resources or the Commissioner of Agriculture under subsection (c) of this section is an infraction pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-162.1, and shall be punished as therein provided. These rules may be enforced by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, the Highway Patrol, forest law enforcement officers, or other law enforcement officers of the State, counties, cities or other municipalities having authority under Chapter 20 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. to enforce laws or rules on travel or use or operation of vehicles or the use or protection of the highways of the State.

(e) The provisions of Chapter 20 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. are applicable at all times to the State parks and forests road system, including closing hours, regardless of the fact that during closing hours the State parks and forests road system is not open to the public as a matter of right.

(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a person may petition the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for a waiver authorizing the person to operate a vehicle in the State parks road system at a speed in excess of 25 miles per hour in connection with a special event. The Secretary may impose any conditions on a waiver that the Secretary determines to be necessary to protect public health, safety, welfare, and the natural resources of the State park. These conditions shall include a requirement that the person receiving the waiver execute an indemnification agreement with the Department and obtain general liability insurance in an amount not to exceed three million dollars ($3,000,000) covering personal injury and property damage that may result from driving in excess of 25 miles per hour in the State parks road system subject to the conditions determined by the Secretary.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a person may petition the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a waiver authorizing the person to operate a vehicle in the State forests road system at a speed in excess of 25 miles per hour in connection with a special event. The Commissioner may impose any conditions on a waiver that the Commissioner determines to be necessary to protect public health, safety, welfare, and the natural resources of the State forest. These conditions shall include a requirement that the person receiving the waiver execute an indemnification agreement with the Department and obtain general liability insurance in an amount not to exceed three million dollars ($3,000,000) covering personal injury and property damage that may result from driving in excess of 25 miles per hour in the State forests road system subject to the conditions determined by the Commissioner. (1987, c. 474, s. 1; 1989, c. 727, s. 218(96); 1997-443, ss. 11A.119(a), 19.26(e); 2013-155, s. 19; 2014-120, s. 31(a); 2015-241, s. 14.30(xx).)