Bill 3546

Name change

SECTION 1297. Section 56-1-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-10. For the purpose of this title, unless otherwise indicated, the following words, phrases and terms are hereby defined as follows: (1) `Driver' means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. (2) `Operator' means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. (3) `Owner' means a person, other than a lienholder, having the property or title to a vehicle. The term includes a person entitled to the use and possession of a vehicle subject to a security interest in another person, but excludes a lessee under a lease not intended as security. (4) `Department' means the Department of Revenue and Taxation. (5) `State' means a state, territory or possession of the United States and the District of Columbia. (6) `Highway' means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. (7) `Motor vehicle' means every vehicle which is self-propelled, except `moped' as defined in Article 9 of this chapter, and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails. (8) `Motorcycle' means every motor vehicle having no more than two permanent functional wheels in contact with the ground or with a detachable side car or trailer and having a saddle for the use of the rider, but excluding a tractor. (9) `Nonresident' means every person who is not a resident of this State. (10) `Nonresident's operating privilege' means the privilege conferred upon a nonresident by the laws of this State pertaining to the operation by such person of a motor vehicle, or the use of a vehicle owned by such person, in this State. (11) `Conviction' shall include the entry of any plea of guilty, the entry of any plea of nolo contendere and the forfeiture of any bail or collateral deposited to secure a defendant's appearance in court. (12) `Cancellation of driver's license' means the annulment or termination by formal action of the Department of Public Safety of a person's driver's license because of some error or defect in the license or because the licensee is no longer entitled to such license; the cancellation of a license is without prejudice, and application for a new license may be made at any time after such cancellation. (13) `Revocation of driver's license' means the termination by formal action of the Department of Public Safety of a person's driver's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle on the public highways, which privilege to operate is not subject to renewal or restoration, except that an application for a new license may be presented and acted upon by the department. (14) `Suspension of driver's license' means the temporary withdrawal by formal action of the Department of Public Safety of a person's driver's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle on the public highways, which temporary withdrawal shall be as specifically designated. (15) `Three-wheel vehicle' means every motor vehicle having no more than three permanent functional wheels in contact with the ground and having a seat or saddle for the use of the operator, but excluding a tractor."

Name change

SECTION 1298. Section 56-1-80 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-80. Every application for a driver's license or permit must: (1) be made upon the form furnished by the department; (2) be accompanied by the proper fee, and acceptable proof of date and place of birth; (3) contain the full name, date of birth, sex, race, and residence address of the applicant and briefly describe the applicant; (4) state whether the applicant has been licensed as an operator or chauffeur and, if so, when and by what state or country; and (5) state whether any such license has ever been suspended or revoked or whether an application has ever been refused and, if so, the date of and reason for such suspension, revocation, or refusal. Whenever application is received from a person previously licensed in another state, the Department of Revenue and Taxation in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety, shall request a copy of the applicant's record from the other state. When received, the record becomes a part of the driver's record in this State with the same force and effect as though entered on the operator's record in this State in the original instance. Every person who obtains a driver's license for the first time in South Carolina, and every person who renews his driver's license in South Carolina must be furnished a written request form for completion and verification of liability insurance coverage. The completed and verified form or an affidavit prepared by the department that neither he, nor any resident relative, owns a motor vehicle subject to the provisions of this chapter, must be returned to the department within thirty days from the date the license is issued or renewed. Failure to return the form or affidavit results in the suspension of the newly issued or renewed driver's license until a properly executed form or affidavit is returned to the department."

Name change

SECTION 1299. Section 56-1-90 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-90. The department may by rule require every applicant to submit for identification purposes proof of name, Social Security number, and date and place of birth when applying for a driver's license. An applicant for a driver's license, driver's permit, or special identification card or a renewal thereof may sufficiently prove the existence and validity of his Social Security number, for purposes of Section 14-7-130, by any reasonably reliable document containing the Social Security number. Such a document includes, but is not limited to, an official Social Security card, Social Security check, Social Security form SSA-1099, letter from the Social Security Administration, voter registration card, payroll stub, Federal W-2 form, or U.S. military identification card. The numbers may also be obtained from the department pursuant to Section 12-54-240(B)(7) which permits the department to submit taxpayer Social Security numbers to the department and to the State Election Commission. For purposes of this section, when a licensee is applying for a replacement license, the department must accept an affidavit as evidence that the licensee has established the existence and validity of his Social Security number at the time of license application. The driver's license number of a person may be his Social Security number. This section does not prevent issuance of a driver's license or identification card to a foreign exchange student participating in a valid foreign exchange program."

Name change

SECTION 1300. Section 56-1-135 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-135. (A) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 56-1-130, a paid or volunteer firefighter of a lawfully and regularly organized fire department designated to drive a firefighting vehicle may have a special endorsement affixed to his driver's license which authorizes him to drive this vehicle for the purpose of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of a fire department and related activities. (B) Every political subdivision and unincorporated community operating a lawfully and regularly organized fire department of this State shall designate a law enforcement officer or the fire chief or his designee as its safety officer. The safety officer shall meet the qualifications set forth in the department guidelines. However, he does not have to be a full-time employee. A firefighter desiring to drive the vehicle referred to in subsection (A) shall demonstrate his ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of this vehicle to a safety officer. The fire department, including volunteer fire departments, shall submit to the department a list of the persons designated to drive the vehicle. (C) It is the responsibility of the agency or fire department who operates the vehicle to keep the list of designated drivers current. Changes in the list of drivers must be reported to the department within thirty days from the change."

Name change

SECTION 1301. Section 56-1-145 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-145. The increased revenue realized by the department resulting from the amendment to Section 56-1-140 of the 1976 Code contained in this section must be expended by the Department of Transportation to improve access routes to distressed and impacted areas of the State."

Name change

SECTION 1302. Section 56-1-220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-220. (a) Eye examinations shall be required for all persons prior to having their licenses renewed by the department. Such examinations may be made by any person authorized by law in this State to examine eyes or by designated personnel of the department. (b) The renewal license forms distributed by the department shall be designed so as to contain a certification that the vision of the person examined meets the minimum standards required by the department or have been corrected to meet such requirements. Such certification shall be executed by the person conducting the examination. Provided, that the minimum standards of the department shall not require a greater degree of vision than 20/40 corrected in one eye. (c) Any person whose vision is corrected to meet such minimum standards shall have such correction noted on his driver's license by the department. (d) It shall be unlawful for any person whose vision requires correction in order to meet the minimum standards of the department to drive a motor vehicle in this State without the use of such correction. (e) Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days."

Name change

SECTION 1303. Section 56-1-225 of the 1976 Code is amended to read: "Section 56-1-225. (a) Any person licensed to drive a motor vehicle in this State who is involved as a driver in four accidents in any twenty-four month period, which are reported to the director, may, in the discretion of the department, be required to take any portion of the driver's license examination deemed appropriate. Any person who has had four such accidents and fails to submit to such test within thirty days after having been notified by the department shall have his driver's license suspended until he takes and passes such test. (b) The director shall promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section."

Name change

SECTION 1304. Section 56-1-270 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-270. The Department of Revenue and Taxation, having good cause to believe that a person holding a South Carolina driver's license is incompetent or otherwise not qualified to be licensed because of physical or mental disability may, upon written notice of at least ten days to the licensee, require him to submit to an examination. Upon the conclusion of such examination the department shall take action as may be appropriate and may suspend or revoke the license of such person or permit him to retain such license or may issue a license subject to restrictions permitted under Section 56-1-170. The license of any person may be suspended or revoked if they refuse or neglect to submit to such an examination."

Name change

SECTION 1305. Section 56-1-280 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-280. The Department of Public Safety shall forthwith revoke or suspend the license of any driver upon receiving a record of such driver's conviction of any offense for which revocation or suspension is required by law. The Department of Public Safety shall forthwith revoke the driver's license of any person upon receiving notice of the conviction of such person for: (1) Manslaughter resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle; or (2) Any felony under the laws of this State in the commission of which a motor vehicle is used. The Department of Public Safety shall also revoke or suspend a driver's license for any other cause as may be required by other laws of this State."

Name change

SECTION 1306. Section 56-1-290 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-290. In addition to the grounds for suspension or revocation of license set forth elsewhere in this article and in Chapter 5 of this title, the Department of Public Safety shall forthwith revoke for a period of six months the license of any person upon receiving satisfactory evidence of the conviction of any such person who has been found guilty of operating a vehicle for hire without a license in violation of Section 58-23-1210."

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SECTION 1307. Section 56-1-300 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-300. In addition to other authority of law, the Department of Public Safety may suspend or revoke the license of a driver without preliminary hearing upon a showing by its records or other sufficient evidence that licensee: (1) Has been convicted of an offense for which mandatory revocation or suspension is required upon conviction; or (2) Has been convicted of an offense in another state which if committed in this State would be grounds for suspension or revocation."

Name change

SECTION 1308. Section 56-1-310 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-310. The privilege of driving a motor vehicle on the highways of this State given to a nonresident under this article shall be subject to suspension or revocation by the Department of Public Safety in like manner and for like cause as a driver's license issued under the laws of this State may be suspended or revoked."

Name change

SECTION 1309. Section 56-1-320 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-320. The Department of Public Safety may, in its discretion, suspend or revoke the license of any resident of this State or the privilege of a nonresident to drive a motor vehicle in this State upon receiving notice of the conviction of such person in another state of an offense therein which, if committed in this State, would be grounds for the suspension or revocation of the South Carolina license. Provided, however, that if another state restores limited or restricted driving privileges to the person whose license has been suspended or revoked such restoration of privileges shall also be valid in this State under the same terms and conditions under which driving is authorized in the resident state of the person concerned."

Name change

SECTION 1310. Section 56-1-330 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-330. Every court having jurisdiction over offenses committed under this article or other state laws or municipal ordinances regulating the operation of motor vehicles on highways shall forward to the Department of Public Safety a record of the conviction of any person in such court for a violation of such laws other than regulations governing standing or parking where a matter of safety is not involved."

Name change

SECTION 1311. Section 56-1-340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-340. The Department of Public Safety may, upon receiving a record of the conviction in this State of a nonresident driver of a motor vehicle of any offense under the motor vehicle laws of this State, forward a certified copy of such record to the motor vehicle administrator in the state wherein the person so convicted is a resident. Whenever the Department of Public Safety receives a request for a driver's record from another state, the record shall be forwarded without charge."

Name change

SECTION 1312. Section 56-1-350 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-350. In all cases of cancellation, suspension or revocation of drivers' licenses, the Department of Public Safety shall notify the licensee as prescribed in Section 56-1-360 that his license has been canceled, suspended or revoked, and such licensee shall within ten days after notice of cancellation, suspension or revocation return his license to the Department of Public Safety or the Department of Revenue and Taxation. Any person wilfully failing to return his license as required by this section may, on conviction thereof, be fined one hundred dollars or imprisoned for thirty days."

Name change

SECTION 1313. Section 56-1-360 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-360. When notice is required concerning a person's driver's license the notice must be given by the Department of Public Safety by depositing the notice in the United States mail with postage prepaid addressed to the person at the address contained in the driver's license records of the department. The giving of notice by mail is complete ten days after the deposit of the notice. A certificate by the deputy director of the motor vehicle records division of the Department of Public Safety that the notice has been sent as required in this section is presumptive proof that the requirements as to notice of suspension have been met even if the notice has not been received by the addressee."

Name change

SECTION 1314. Section 56-1-365 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-365. Any person who forfeits bail posted for, is convicted of, or pleads guilty or nolo contendere in general session, municipal, or magistrate's court to an offense which as part of the punishment to be imposed requires that his driver's license be revoked or suspended shall surrender immediately or cause to be surrendered his driver's license to the clerk of court or magistrate upon the verdict or plea. The defendant must be notified at the time of arrest of his obligation to bring, and surrender his license, if convicted, to the court or magistrate at the time of his trial, and if he fails to produce his license after conviction, he may be fined in an amount not to exceed two hundred dollars. If the defendant fails subsequently to surrender his license to the clerk or magistrate immediately after conviction, he must be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars. The Department of Public Safety may collect from the clerk of court or magistrate the driver's license and ticket immediately after receipt. Along with the driver's license, the clerks and magistrates shall give the Department of Public Safety agents tickets, arrest warrants, and other documents or copies of them, as necessary for the Department of Public Safety to process the revocation or suspension of the licenses. If the Department of Public Safety does not collect the license and ticket immediately, the magistrate or clerk shall forward the license, ticket, and other documentation to the Department of Public Safety within five days after receipt. Any clerk or magistrate who wilfully fails or neglects to forward the driver's license and ticket as required is liable to indictment and, upon conviction, must be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars. The Department of Public Safety shall notify the defendant of the suspension or revocation. Except as provided below, if the defendant surrendered his license to the magistrate or clerk immediately after conviction the effective date of the revocation or suspension is the date of surrender. If the magistrate or clerk wilfully fails to forward the license and ticket to the Department of Public Safety within five days, the suspension or revocation does not commence until the Department of Public Safety receives them. If the defendant is already under suspension for a previous offense at the time of his conviction or plea, the period of suspension for the subsequent offense runs consecutively and does not commence until the expiration of the suspension or revocation for the prior offense. If the defendant fails to surrender his license, the suspension or revocation operates as otherwise provided by law. If the defendant surrenders his license, upon conviction, and subsequently files a notice of appeal, the appeal shall act as a supersedeas as provided in Section 56-1-430. Upon payment of a ten-dollar fee and presentment by the defendant of a certified or clocked-in copy of the notice of appeal, the Department of Public Safety shall issue him a certificate on a form prescribed and furnished by the Department of Public Safety which entitles him to operate a motor vehicle for a period of sixty days after the verdict or plea. The certificate must be kept in the defendant's possession while operating a motor vehicle during the sixty-day period, and failure to have it in his possession is punishable in the same manner as failure to have a driver's license in possession while operating a motor vehicle."

Name change

SECTION 1315. Section 56-1-370 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-370. The licensee may, within ten days after notice of suspension, cancellation, or revocation, except in cases where the suspension, cancellation, or revocation is made mandatory upon the Department of Public Safety, request in writing a review and upon receipt of the request the Department of Public Safety shall afford him a review in accordance with the State Administrative Procedures Act, in the county where the licensee was arrested unless the Department of Public Safety and the licensee agree that the review may be held in some other county. The review may be held by a duly authorized agent of the Department of Public Safety. Upon the review, the department shall either rescind its order of suspension, cancellation, or revocation or, good cause appearing therefor, may continue, modify, or extend the suspension, cancellation, or revocation of the license."

Name change

SECTION 1316. Section 56-1-380 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-380. The Department of Public Safety shall not suspend a driver's license or privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways for a period of more than one year, except as otherwise permitted or authorized by law. Any person whose license or privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways has been revoked shall not be entitled to have such license or privilege renewed or restored unless the revocation was for a cause which has been removed, except that after the expiration of at least one year from the date on which the revoked license was surrendered to and received by the department or the Department of Public Safety, or as may otherwise be provided for by law, such person may make application for a new license as provided by law, but the department shall not then issue a new license unless and until it is satisfied, after investigation of the character, habits and driving ability of such person, that it will be safe to grant the privilege of driving a motor vehicle on the public highways."

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SECTION 1317. Section 56-1-390 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-390. (1) Whenever the Department of Public Safety suspends or revokes the license of a person under its lawful authority, the license remains suspended or revoked and must not be reinstated or renewed nor may another license be issued to that person until he also remits to the department a reinstatement fee of thirty dollars. (2) All fees collected by the department under this provision must be placed in the state general fund, except that one dollar of the fees listed in item (1) must be credited to the `Keep South Carolina Beautiful Fund'. From the `Keep South Carolina Beautiful Fund', the Department of Transportation must expend such funds as may be necessary to employ, within the Department of Transportation, a person with training in horticulture to administer a program for beautifying the rights-of-way along state highways and roads."

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SECTION 1318. Section 56-1-400 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-400. The Department of Public Safety upon suspending or revoking a license shall require that such license shall be surrendered to the Department of Public Safety or the Department of Revenue and Taxation. If a license is surrendered to the Department of Revenue and Taxation, the department shall immediately notify the Department of Public Safety that the individual's license has been surrendered. At the end of the period of suspension, other than suspension for reckless driving, driving under the influence of intoxicants or pursuant to the point system such license so surrendered shall be returned to the licensee, or in the discretion of the department, a new license issued to him. Until the Department of Public Safety notifies the department, the department shall not return nor restore a license which has been suspended for reckless driving, driving under the influence of intoxicants, or for violations under the point system until the person has filed an application for a new license, submitted to an examination as upon an original application, and has satisfied the Department of Public Safety, after an investigation of the character, habits, and driving ability of the person, that it would be safe to grant him the privilege of driving a motor vehicle on the public highways. Provided, that the department, in its discretion, where the suspension is for violation under the point system may waive such examination, application, and investigation. A record of suspension shall be endorsed on the license returned to the licensee, or the new license issued to the licensee, showing grounds of such suspension. After five years from the date of conviction or suspension the driver may apply for a new identical license, and the department shall issue such identical license without any notation of suspension endorsed thereon. But this provision shall not affect nor bar the reckoning of prior offenses for reckless driving and driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs, as provided in Article 23 of Chapter 5 of this title." Any person whose license has been suspended or revoked for an offense within the jurisdiction of the court of general sessions shall provide the Department of Public Safety with proof that the fine owed by the person has been paid before the department may return or issue the person a license. Proof that the fine has been paid may be a receipt from the clerk of court of the county in which the conviction occurred stating that the fine has been paid in full."

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SECTION 1319. Section 56-1-410 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-410. A person denied a license by the Department of Revenue and Taxation or whose license has been canceled, suspended or revoked by the Department of Public Safety, except when such suspension is under Section 56-1-740 or when such cancellation or revocation is mandatory under the provisions of this article, may file a petition within thirty days thereafter for a hearing in the matter in a court of record in the county wherein such person shall reside. Such court is hereby vested with jurisdiction, and it shall be its duty to set the matter for hearing upon thirty days' written notice to the Director of the Department of Public Safety and thereupon to take testimony and examine the facts of the case and to determine whether the petitioner is entitled to a license or is subject to suspension, cancellation or revocation of license under the provisions of this article. For the purpose of this section only, the burden of proof in any such hearing shall be on the Department of Public Safety."

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SECTION 1320. Section 56-1-420 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-420. If any court restrains or enjoins the Department of Public Safety from enforcing the suspension or revocation of any license and the suspension or revocation is finally determined to have been properly put into effect by the Department of Public Safety, the time during which the revocation or suspension was made ineffective by the judicial order shall not be considered part of the time during which the suspension or revocation was in effect. It is the purpose of this section to insure that the license shall be suspended or revoked for the full term of such suspension or revocation, if proper in the first place."

Name change

SECTION 1321. Section 56-1-460 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-460. A person who drives a motor vehicle on any public highway of this State when his license to drive is canceled, suspended, or revoked must, upon conviction, be fined two hundred dollars or imprisoned for thirty days for the first violation, for the second violation fined five hundred dollars and imprisoned for sixty consecutive days, and for the third and subsequent violation imprisoned for not less than ninety days nor more than six months, no portion of which may be suspended by the trial judge. The Department of Public Safety upon receiving a record of the conviction of any person under this section upon a charge of driving a vehicle while his license was suspended for a definite period of time shall extend the period of the suspension for an additional like period. If the original period of suspension has expired or terminated before trial and conviction, the Department of Public Safety shall again suspend the license of the person for an additional like period of time. If the suspension is not for a definite period of time, the suspension must be for an additional three months. If the license of a person cited for a violation of this section is suspended solely pursuant to the provisions of Section 56-25-20, then the additional period of suspension pursuant to this section is thirty days and the person does not have to offer proof of financial responsibility as required under Section 56-9-500 prior to his license being reinstated. If the conviction was upon a charge of driving while a license was revoked, the department shall not issue a new license for an additional period of one year from the date the person could otherwise have applied for a new license. Only those violations which occurred within a period of five years including and immediately preceding the date of the last violation constitute prior violations within the meaning of this section. If the license of the person convicted was suspended pursuant to the provisions of Section 56-5-2990, then he must be punished as follows and no part of the minimum sentence may be suspended: (1) for a first offense, imprisoned for not less than ten nor more than thirty days; (2) for a second offense, imprisoned for not less than sixty days nor more than six months; (3) for a third and subsequent offense, not less than six months nor more than three years."

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SECTION 1322. Section 56-1-463 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-463. Section 56-1-460 specifically does not apply if and when the proposed suspension is based solely on lack of notice being given to the Department of Public Safety when the person has in fact paid any fines or penalties due."

Name change

SECTION 1323. Section 56-1-475 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-475. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 56-1-400 of the 1976 Code, a person whose driver's license has been suspended by the Department of Public Safety who has moved his residence to another state and has obtained a valid driver's license in such state may lawfully operate a motor vehicle within this State after the expiration of the period of time for which his South Carolina driver's license was suspended."

License surrender

SECTION 1324. Section 56-1-510 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-510. It is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than thirty days for a first offense and not more than five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than six months for a second or subsequent offense for any person: (1) to display or cause or permit to be displayed or have in his possession any canceled, revoked, suspended, or fraudulently altered driver's license or personal identification card; (2) to lend his driver's or personal identification card to any other person or knowingly permit the use of it by another; (3) to display or represent as one's own driver's license or personal identification card any driver's license acquired in violation of this section; (4) to fail or refuse to surrender to the department or the Department of Public Safety upon lawful demand any driver's license which has been suspended, canceled, or revoked; (5) to use a false or fictitious name in any application for a driver's license or personal identification card or knowingly make a false statement or to knowingly conceal a material fact or otherwise commit a fraud in any such application; (6) to permit any unlawful use of a driver's license or personal identification card issued to him; or (7) to do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required by this article."

Administration of article

SECTION 1325. Section 56-1-520 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-520. The Department of Public Safety and the Department of Revenue and Taxation shall administer and enforce the provisions of this article in general, and law enforcement officers generally shall also enforce applicable provisions within their respective jurisdictions. Recorders and municipal courts are hereby vested with all jurisdiction necessary to hear, try and determine criminal cases involving violations of this article occurring within the corporate limits of such municipalities where the punishment does not exceed a fine of one hundred dollars or imprisonment for thirty days, the same as magistrates."

Promulgation of regulations

SECTION 1326. Section 56-1-530 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-530. The Department of Revenue and Taxation and the Department of Public Safety may promulgate rules and regulations for administration and enforcement of this article, and all such rules and regulations shall have the full force and effect of law."

Name change

SECTION 1327. Section 56-1-540 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-540. The department shall: (1) File every application for a license received by it and shall maintain suitable indexes containing, in alphabetical order: (a) all applications denied and on each thereof note of the reasons for such denial; (b) all applications granted; and (c) the name of every licensee whose license has been canceled, suspended or revoked by the Department of Public Safety and after each such name a note of the reasons for such action; and (2) The Department of Public Safety shall file all accident reports and abstracts of court records of convictions received by it under the laws of this State and, in connection therewith, maintain convenient records or make suitable notations in order that an individual record of each licensee showing the convictions of such licensee and the traffic accidents in which he has been involved shall be readily ascertainable and available for the consideration of the department upon application for renewal of license and at other suitable times."

Crediting of fees

SECTION 1328. Section 56-1-550 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-550. All fees collected by the Department of Revenue and Taxation and the Department of Public Safety under the provisions of this article shall be credited to the state general fund."

Vehicle licensing authority for compact purposes

SECTION 1329. Section 56-1-630 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"(4) `licensing authority' for purposes of South Carolina shall mean the Department of Public Safety."

Name change

SECTION 1330. Section 56-1-740 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-740. The Department of Public Safety may suspend, for not more than six months, the driver's license and privilege of a person upon a showing by its records, based on a uniform point system as authorized in this article, that the licensee has been convicted with such frequency of offenses against motor vehicle traffic laws or ordinances as to indicate a disrespect for the laws or ordinances and a disregard for the safety of other persons on the highways. For the purposes of this article, a total of twelve points assessed against a driver as determined by the values designated in Section 56-1-720 indicates disrespect and disregard. The privilege of driving a motor vehicle on the highways of this State, given to a nonresident under the laws of this State, is subject to suspension by the Department of Public Safety in like manner, and for like cause, the same as a driver's license issued by this State may be suspended. Periods of suspension of the license or privilege of a person for various accumulation of points must be as follows, with the person having the privilege to request a review of his driving record: (1) twelve to fifteen points--three months' suspension; (2) sixteen or seventeen points--four months' suspension; (3) eighteen or nineteen points--five months' suspension; (4) twenty points and over--six months' suspension."

Name change

SECTION 1331. Section 56-1-745(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 56-1-460, any person convicted under this section shall be punished pursuant to Section 56-1-440 and is not required to furnish proof of financial responsibility as provided for in Section 56-9-500. The conviction shall not result in any insurance penalty under the Merit Rating Plan promulgated by the Department of Insurance."

Name change

SECTION 1332. Section 56-1-746 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-746. (A) The Department of Public Safety shall suspend the driver's license of any person convicted of the offenses contained in Sections 56-1-510(2), 56-1-510(4), 56-1-515, 61-9-50, 61-9-60, 61-13-287, 20-7-370, and 20-7-380 as follows: (1) for a conviction for a first offense, for a period of ninety days; (2) for a conviction for a second or subsequent offense, for a period of six months. (B) For the purposes of determining prior offenses, a conviction of any of the offenses enumerated in subsection (A) within ten years of the date of the violation is considered a prior offense. (C) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 56-1-460, any person convicted under this section shall be punished pursuant to Section 56-1-440 and is not required to furnish proof of financial responsibility as provided for in Section 56-9-500. The conviction shall not result in any insurance penalty under the Merit Rating Plan promulgated by the Department of Insurance. (D)(1) If an individual is employed or enrolled in a college or university at any time while his driver's license is suspended pursuant to this section, he may apply for a special restricted driver's license permitting him to drive only to and from work or his place of education and in the course of his employment or education during the period of suspension. The department may issue the special restricted driver's license only upon showing by the individual that he is employed or enrolled in a college or university, that he lives further than one mile from his place of employment or education, and that there is no adequate public transportation between his residence and his place of employment or his place of education. (2) If the department issues a special restricted driver's license, it shall designate reasonable restrictions on the times during which and routes on which the individual may operate a motor vehicle. A change in the employment hours, place of employment, status as a student, or residence must be reported immediately to the department by the licensee. (3) The fee for each special restricted driver's license, including a reissue caused by changes in the place and hours of employment, education, or residence, is twenty dollars. (4) The operation of a motor vehicle outside the time limits and route imposed by a special restricted license by the person issued that license is a violation of Section 56-1-460."

Name change

SECTION 1333. Section 56-1-770 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-770. Any driver who has accumulated points under the provisions of this article shall have the number of his points reduced by four upon proving to the satisfaction of the Department of Public Safety that he has completed the National Safety Council's `Defensive Driving Course' or its equivalent, if the course is completed after the points have been assessed. The course must be taught by an instructor accredited by the National Safety Council whose procedures for accreditation are set forth in `Manual of Rules and Procedures' published by the National Safety Council or equivalent accreditation procedures. The Department of Public Safety shall establish procedures by which driver training schools may apply to the Department of Public Safety for approval of a defensive driving course which will qualify those successfully completing the course for a reduction in points pursuant to this section. The Department of Public Safety shall approve the National Safety Council's `Defensive Driving Course' or its equivalent when offered by driver training schools and taught by an instructor accredited by the National Safety Council or equivalent accreditation procedures. No person's points may be reduced more than one time in any three-year period by the method provided for in this section."

Name change

SECTION 1334. Section 56-1-790 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-790. The Department of Public Safety may enter into a reciprocal agreement with the proper agency of any other state for the purpose of reporting convictions in one state by a person holding a driver's license in the other state. Such convictions in another state of a violation therein which, if committed in this State, would be a violation of the traffic laws of this State, may be recorded against a driver the same as if the conviction had been made in the courts of this State. Guilty pleas, failure to respond to charges or convictions by courts-martial or post or base commanders of any of the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States or by a United States Commissioner of a violation either on or off government property which, if committed in this State, would be a violation of the laws of this State, may, in the discretion of the Department of Public Safety, be recorded against a driver the same as if the plea of guilty, forfeiture of bond or conviction had been made in the courts of this State."

Name change

SECTION 1335. Section 56-1-800 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-800. In all proceedings held under the provisions of this article, photostatic or other copies of the reports filed with the Department of Public Safety, including official reports received from directors of motor vehicle divisions, court officials or other agencies of other states charged with the duty of keeping records of offenses against the traffic laws of such states and reports of courts-martial or United States Commissioners, when such copies are duly certified by the director of the motor vehicle division as true copies of the original on file therewith, shall be deemed prima facie evidence of the information contained on such reports for the purpose of showing any conviction."

Name change

SECTION 1336. Section 56-1-810 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-810. Upon the determination by the Department of Public Safety that a person has accumulated sufficient points to warrant the suspension of his license, the Department of Public Safety shall notify such licensee in writing, return receipt requested, that his license has been suspended, and such licensee shall return his license to the Department of Public Safety or the Department of Revenue and Taxation within the time required by Section 56-1-350 and subject to the penalties thereof for failing to do so."

Name change

SECTION 1337. Section 56-1-820 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-820. The licensee may, within ten days after notice of suspension, request in writing a review, and upon receipt of the request the Department of Public Safety shall afford him a review in accordance with the State Administrative Procedures Act."

Name change

SECTION 1338. Section 56-1-830 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-830. Any person whose license has been suspended under the provisions of this article may, within ten days after notice of suspension or within ten days after notice of the result of the review if such review is requested and held, apply to the resident or presiding circuit judge of the circuit in which the applicant resides, either at chambers or open court, for a review upon the record, certified to by the deputy director of the Motor Vehicle Records and Vehicle Inspection Division of the Department of Public Safety, to determine if the action taken by the Department of Public Safety is lawful and in accordance with the provisions of this article."

Name change

SECTION 1339. Section 56-1-840 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-840. The Department of Public Safety shall administer and enforce the provisions of this article and may make rules and regulations necessary for its administration not inconsistent with law."

Name change

SECTION 1340. Section 56-1-850 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-850. Nothing contained in this article shall affect the action of the Department of Public Safety in suspending, revoking or canceling any driver's license when such action is mandatory under the provisions of any law of this State."

Name change

SECTION 1341. Section 56-1-1020 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1020. An habitual offender shall mean any person whose record as maintained by the Department of Public Safety shows that he has accumulated the convictions for separate and distinct offenses described in subsections (a), (b) and (c) committed during a three-year period; provided, that where more than one included offense shall be committed within a one-day period such multiple offenses shall be treated for the purposes of this article as one offense: (a) Three or more convictions, singularly or in combination of any of the following separate and distinct offenses arising out of separate acts: (1) Voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle; (2) Operating or attempting to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, narcotics or drugs; (3) Driving or operating a motor vehicle in a reckless manner; (4) Driving a motor vehicle while his license, permit, or privilege to drive a motor vehicle has been suspended or revoked, except a conviction for driving under suspension for failure to file proof of financial responsibility; (5) Any offense punishable as a felony under the motor vehicle laws of this State or any felony in the commission of which a motor vehicle is used; (6) Failure of the driver of a motor vehicle involved in any accident resulting in the death or injury of any person to stop close to the scene of such accident and report his identity; (b) Ten or more convictions of separate and distinct offenses involving moving violations singularly or in combination, in the operation of a motor vehicle, which are required to be reported to the Department of Public Safety for which four or more points are assigned pursuant to Section 56-1-720 or which are enumerated in subsection (a) of this section. (c) The offenses included in subsections (a) and (b) shall be deemed to include offenses under any federal law, any law of another state or any municipal or county ordinance of another state substantially conforming to the above provisions. (d)(1) For the purposes of this article, the term `conviction' shall mean a final conviction, forfeiture of bail or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. (2) For purposes of determining the number of convictions for separate and distinct offenses committed during any three year period, a person shall be deemed to be convicted of an offense on the date the offense was committed if he is subsequently convicted of committing such offense as `conviction' is defined in item (1) of this subsection. The provisions of this article shall not apply to convictions which occurred prior to June 14, 1973."

Name change

SECTION 1342. Section 56-1-1030 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1030. When a person is convicted of one or more of the offenses listed in Section 56-1-1020(a), (b), or (c), the Department of Public Safety must review its records for that person. If the Department of Public Safety's review of its records shows that the person is an habitual offender as defined in Section 56-1-1020, the Department of Public Safety must institute agency proceedings in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act to revoke or suspend the person's driver's license except that appeals under this section must be made to the appropriate magistrate's court as set forth below. If after appropriate proceedings, the Department of Public Safety finds the person to be an habitual offender, the Department of Public Safety shall direct the person not to operate a motor vehicle on the highways of this State and to surrender his driver's license or permit to the Department of Public Safety or the department. A resident of South Carolina found to be an habitual offender may appeal to the chief magistrate in the county in which the appellant resides. A nonresident person found to be an habitual offender may appeal to the chief magistrate of Richland County. In any appeal, the magistrate shall hear and determine the matter de novo."

Name change

SECTION 1343. Section 56-1-1090 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1090. No license to operate motor vehicles in this State may be issued to an habitual offender nor shall a nonresident habitual offender operate a motor vehicle in this State: (a) for a period of five years from the date of a final decision by the Department of Public Safety that a person is an habitual offender and if, upon appeal, the finding is sustained by a magistrate unless the period is reduced to two years as permitted in item (c); (b) until financial responsibility requirements are met; (c) until, upon petition and for good cause shown, the Department of Public Safety may restore to the person the privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this State upon terms and conditions as the Department of Public Safety may prescribe, subject to other provisions of law relating to the issuance of drivers' licenses. The petition permitted by this item may be filed after one year has expired from the date of the decision of the Department of Public Safety finding the person to be an habitual offender. At this time and after hearing, the Department of Public Safety may reduce the five-year period of item (a) to a two-year period for good cause shown. If the two-year period is granted, it must run from the date of the final decision of the Department of Public Safety. If the two-year period is not granted, no petition may be filed again until after five years have expired from the date of the decision of the Department of Public Safety. However, a petition or court order is not required for the restoration of driving privileges and the issuance of a license after the five-year waiting period has expired and all financial responsibilities have been fulfilled."

Name change

SECTION 1344. Section 56-1-1100 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1100. It is unlawful for a person to operate a motor vehicle in this State while the decision of the Department of Public Safety prohibiting the operation remains in effect. A person found to be an habitual offender under the provisions of this article, who is thereafter convicted of operating a motor vehicle in this State while the decision of the Department of Public Safety prohibiting the operation is in effect, is guilty of a misdemeanor and must be imprisoned for not less than one year nor more than five years. For the purpose of enforcing this section, in any case in which the accused is charged with driving a motor vehicle while his driver's license or permit is suspended or revoked or is charged with driving without a license, the Department of Public Safety before hearing the charges shall determine whether the person has been adjudged an habitual offender and is barred from operating a motor vehicle on the highways of this State. If the person is found to be an habitual offender, the Department of Public Safety shall notify the solicitor or Attorney General, and he shall cause the appropriate criminal charges to be lodged against the offender."

Name change

SECTION 1345. Section 56-1-1120 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1120. On and after July 1, 1974, when a motorist is convicted of one or more of the violations listed in this article, the Department of Public Safety shall review his record and if such violations bring his total convictions equal to or more than the totals listed in this article, the Department of Public Safety shall certify his record to the Attorney General or to the solicitor of the judicial circuit where the person resides."

Name change

SECTION 1346. Section 56-1-1130 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1130. Commencing January 1, 1974 the Department of Public Safety shall send a written notice to any person who it determines is in danger of becoming an habitual offender."

Name change

SECTION 1347. Section 56-1-1320 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1320. A person with a South Carolina driver's license, a person who had a South Carolina driver's license at the time of the offense referenced below, or a person exempted from the licensing requirements by Section 56-1-30, who is or has been convicted of a first offense violation of an ordinance of a municipality, or law of this State, that prohibits a person from operating a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, drugs, or narcotics, and whose license is not presently suspended for any other reason, may apply to the motor vehicle division of the department to obtain a provisional driver's license of a design to be determined by the department to operate a motor vehicle. The person shall enter an Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program as provided for in Section 56-1-1330, shall furnish proof of responsibility as provided for in Section 56-1-1350, and shall pay to the department a fee of five dollars for the provisional driver's license. The provisional driver's license is not valid for more than six months from the date of issue shown on the license. The determination of whether or not a provisional driver's license may be issued pursuant to the provisions of this article as well as reviews of cancellations or suspensions under Sections 56-1-370 and 56-1-820 must be made by the Director of the Department of Public Safety or his designee."

Name change

SECTION 1348. Section 56-1-1330 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1330. The provisional driver's license provision must include a mandatory requirement that the applicant enter an Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program certified by the South Carolina Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and be assessed to determine the extent and nature of an alcohol and drug abuse problem, if any, and successfully complete treatment or education services recommended by the program. The applicant shall bear the cost of the services which must be determined by the administering agency and approved by the South Carolina Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The cost may not exceed seventy-five dollars for assessment, one hundred twenty-five dollars for education services, two hundred twenty-five dollars for treatment services, and three hundred dollars in total for any and all services. The commission shall recommend subsequent cost changes on an annual basis subject to the approval of the General Assembly. If the applicant fails to complete successfully the services as directed by the Department of Public Safety, the South Carolina Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse shall notify the Department of Public Safety, and the provisional driver's license issued by the department must be revoked, and the suspension imposed for the full periods specified in Section 56-5-2990, the suspension to begin on date of notification to the individual."

Name change

SECTION 1349. Section 56-1-1340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1340. The applicant shall have a provisional driver's license in his possession at all times while driving a motor vehicle, and the issuance of such license and the violation convictions shall be entered in the records of the Department of Public Safety for a period of ten years as required by Sections 56-5-2940 and 56-5-2990 of the 1976 Code."

Name change

SECTION 1350. Section 56-1-1730 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1730. A person is eligible for a moped operator's license without regard to his eligibility for or the status of any other driver's license or permit. The Department of Public Safety may suspend, revoke, or cancel a moped operator's license only for violations committed while operating a moped. A moped operator's license may be suspended, revoked, or canceled in the same manner and upon the same grounds for which any other motor vehicle operator's license or permit may be suspended, revoked, or canceled."

Name change

SECTION 1351. Section 56-1-1760 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-1760. Every licensee shall have his license in his immediate possession at all times when operating a moped and shall display it upon demand of any officer or agent of the department or Department of Public Safety or any police officer of the State."

Name change

SECTION 1352. Section 56-1-2050 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-2050. (A) Notification of Convictions. (1) A driver holding a commercial driver license issued by this State, who is convicted of violating a state law or local ordinance relating to motor vehicle traffic control in any other state, other than a parking violation, shall notify the Department of Public Safety in the manner specified by the Department of Public Safety within thirty days of conviction. (2) A driver holding a commercial driver license issued by this State, who is convicted of violating a state law or local ordinance relating to motor vehicle traffic control in this or any other state, other than a parking violation, shall notify his employer in writing of the conviction within thirty days of the conviction. (B) A driver whose commercial driver license is suspended, revoked, or canceled by a state, or who loses the privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle in any state for any period, including being disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle, or who is subject to an out of service order, shall notify his employer of that fact before the end of the business day following the day the driver received notice of that fact. (C) A person who applies to be a commercial motor vehicle driver shall provide the employer, at the time of the application, with the following information for the ten years preceding the date of application: (1) a list of the names and addresses of the applicant's previous employers for which the applicant was a driver of a commercial motor vehicle; (2) the dates between which the applicant drove for each employer; (3) the reason for leaving that employer; (4) any additional information required by the employer; (5) certification that all information furnished is true and complete."

Name change

SECTION 1353. Section 56-1-2100 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-2100. (A) The commercial driver license must be marked `Commercial Driver License' or `CDL', and must be, to the maximum extent practicable, tamper proof. It must include, but not be limited to, the following information: (1) the name and residential address of the person; (2) the person's color photograph; (3) a physical description of the person including sex, height, and weight; (4) date of birth; (5) a number or identifier considered appropriate by the department; (6) the person's signature; (7) the class or type of commercial motor vehicles which the person may drive together with any endorsements or restrictions; (8) the name of this State; and (9) the dates between which the license is valid. (B) The holder of a valid commercial driver license may drive all vehicles in the class for which that license is issued and all lesser classes of vehicles except motorcycles. Vehicles which require an endorsement may not be driven unless the proper endorsement appears on the license. Commercial driver licenses may be issued with the following classifications, endorsements, and restrictions: (1) Classifications: vehicle weight rating of twenty-six thousand one pounds or more if the gross vehicle weight rating of the vehicle being towed is in excess of ten thousand pounds; weight rating of twenty-six thousand one pounds or more and any such vehicle towing a vehicle not in excess of ten thousand pounds; weight rating of less than twenty-six thousand one pounds and any such vehicle towing a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating not in excess of ten thousand pounds comprising: persons, including the driver; material which require the vehicle to be placarded under 49 C.F.R. part 172, subpart F. (2) Endorsements: transporting hazardous material; and tank vehicle endorsements. (3) Restrictions: `K' restricts the driver to vehicles not equipped with airbrakes. (C) Before issuing a commercial driver license, the department must obtain a driving record from the Department of Public Safety through the Commercial Driver License Information System, the National Driver Register, and from each state in which the person has been licensed. (D) Within ten days after issuing a commercial driver license, the department must notify the Commercial Driver License Information System of that fact, providing all information required to insure identification of the person. (E) A commercial driver license issued by the department expires on the licensee's birth date on the fourth calendar year after the calendar year in which it is issued. (F) Every person applying for renewal of a commercial driver license shall complete the application form required by Section 56-1-2090(A), providing updated information and required certifications. If the applicant wishes to retain a hazardous materials endorsement, the written test for a hazardous materials endorsement must be taken and passed again. The person shall submit to a vision test."

Name change

SECTION 1354. Section 56-1-2110(G) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(G) After suspending, revoking, or canceling a commercial driver license, the Department of Public Safety shall update its records to reflect that action immediately. After suspending, revoking, or canceling a nonresident commercial driver's privilege, the Department of Public Safety shall notify the licensing authority of the state which issued the commercial driver license or commercial driver instruction permit within ten days."

Name change

SECTION 1355. Section 56-1-2130 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-2130. (A) A person who drives a commercial motor vehicle within this State is considered to have given consent, subject to provisions of Section 56-5-2950, to take a test of that person's blood, breath, or urine for the purpose of determining that person's alcohol concentration or the presence of other drugs. (B) Tests may be administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer, who after stopping or detaining the driver of a commercial motor vehicle, has probable cause to believe that the driver was driving a commercial motor vehicle while having a measurable amount of alcohol in his system. (C) A person requested to submit to a test as provided in subsection (A) must be warned by the law enforcement officer requesting the test, that a refusal to submit to the test must result in that person being placed out of service immediately for twenty-four hours and being disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle for not less than one year under Section 56-1-2110. (D) If the person refuses testing, or submits to a test which discloses an alcohol concentration of four one-hundredths of one percent or more, the law enforcement officer shall submit a report to the Department of Public Safety certifying that the test was requested pursuant to subsection (A) and that the person refused to submit to testing, or submitted to a test which disclosed an alcohol concentration of four one-hundredths of one percent or more. (E) Upon receipt of the report of a law enforcement officer submitted under subsection (D), the Department of Public Safety shall notify the department that the driver is disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle under Section 56-1-2110."

Name change

SECTION 1356. Section 56-1-2140 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-1-2140. Within ten days after receiving a report of the conviction of a nonresident holder of a commercial driver license for a violation of state law or local ordinance relating to motor vehicle traffic control, other than a parking violation, committed in a commercial motor vehicle, the Department of Public Safety shall notify the driver licensing authority in the licensing state of the conviction."

Identification cards

SECTION 1357. Chapter 1, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 15

Identifiction Card

Section 56-1-3350. Upon application by any person ten years of age or older who is a resident of South Carolina, the Motor Vehicle Division of the Department of Revenue and Taxation shall issue a special identification card as long as: (1) the application is made on a form approved and furnished by the division; and (2) the applicant presents to the person issuing the identification card a birth certificate or other evidence acceptable to the division of his name and date of birth. The fee for the issuance of the special identification card is five dollars, and the identification card expires five years from the date of issuance. The renewal fee is also five dollars. Issuance and renewal fees are waived for indigent persons who are mentally ill, mentally retarded, homeless, or who are on public assistance as the sole source of income. As used in this section `indigent' means a person who is qualified for legal assistance which is paid for with public funds. For purposes of this section, a homeless person is an individual who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence or an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is: (a) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, including congregated shelters, and transitional housing; (b) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or (c) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodations for human beings. The term does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an act of Congress. Annually, the director of a facility which provides care or shelter to homeless persons must certify this fact to the Department of Revenue and Taxation. The department must maintain a list of facilities which are approved by the department, and only letters from the directors of these approved facilities are considered to comply with the provisions of this section. To have the issuance or renewal fee waived for an identification card, a homeless person must present a letter to the Department of Revenue and Taxation from the director of a facility that provides care or shelter to homeless persons certifying that the person named in the letter is homeless. The signature of the director must be notarized and the date of the letter may not be older than thirty days. The department may promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section. Special identification cards issued to persons under the age of twenty-one must be marked, stamped, or printed to readily indicate that the person to whom the card is issued is under the age of twenty-one.

Section 56-1-3360. It is unlawful for any person to: (1) alter a special identification card so as to provide false information on the card or to sell or issue a fictitious special identification card; (2) use a special identification card not issued to the person, an altered special identification card, or a special identification card containing false information to defraud another or violate the law; (3) to lend his special identification card to any person or knowingly permit its use by another. Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.

Section 56-1-3370. The special identification card issued pursuant to this article shall be similar in size, shape, and design to a motor vehicle driver's license, including a color photograph of the person to whom it is issued. Provided, however, that the card shall be readily distinguishable from a driver's license by a difference in color, and there shall be printed on the face of such card a statement that the card does not enable the person to whom it is issued to operate a motor vehicle.

Section 56-1-3380. Any information obtained from an application for the issuance, renewal, or replacement of a special identification card shall be confidential and shall not be divulged to any person, association, corporation or organization, public or private, except to the legal guardian or attorney of the applicant, or to a person, association, corporation or organization named in writing by the applicant, his legal guardian or his attorney. Provided, however, that this restriction shall not prevent furnishing the application or any information thereon to a law enforcement agency.

Section 56-1-3390. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations deemed necessary for the effective implementation of this article and shall utilize the various communications media throughout the State to inform residents of the provisions of this article and promote and encourage the public to take advantage of its provisions.

Section 56-1-3400. Any person who shall use a false or fictitious name or give a fictitious address in any application for an identification card or renewal thereof, or knowingly make a false statement or conceal a material fact or otherwise commit a fraud in any such application, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months."

Name change

SECTION 1358. Section 56-3-20(21) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(21) `Department' means the Department of Revenue and Taxation acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents;"

Name change

SECTION 1359. Section 56-3-115 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-115. The owner of a vehicle commonly known as a golf cart, if he has a valid driver's license, may obtain a permit from the department upon the payment of a fee of five dollars and proof of financial responsibility which permits him to operate the golf cart on a secondary highway or street within two miles of his residence during daylight hours only."

Name change

SECTION 1360. Section 56-3-250 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-250. No vehicle shall be registered and licensed by the department unless a signed statement accompanies the application certifying that all county and municipal taxes legally due by the applicant on the vehicle concerned have been paid and if such vehicle is legally subject to being returned by the applicant for county and municipal taxes such return has been made; that the applicant is not delinquent in the payment of any motor vehicle taxes in this State, and that the address and county shown on the application for license is the true legal residence of the applicant. A transfer between members of the same family shall not, for the purpose of this section, be considered a bona fide purchase. Any person falsely certifying as required in this section shall have his driver's license suspended for a period of six months. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any citizen of this State on active duty with the Armed Forces of the United States when the vehicle to be registered and licensed is operated for more than six months each year outside the boundaries of this State, nor to any motor vehicle subject to assessment for ad valorem tax purposes by the State Tax Commission."

Name change

SECTION 1361. Section 56-3-255 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-255. The department shall require evidence of the payment of the use tax imposed by Section 4481 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 prior to issuing vehicle registration and plates for those vehicles for which the taxes are required."

Name change

SECTION 1362. Section 56-3-360 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-360. The Department of Public Safety may suspend the registration of a vehicle whose theft or conversion is reported to it pursuant to Section 56-19-810 or Section 56-19-820."

Name change

SECTION 1363. Section 56-3-650 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-650. In order for inter-city bus companies operating fleets both in inter and intra state commerce in South Carolina to more efficiently dispatch individual buses in such fleets from one state to another, any such inter-city bus company operating a fleet of ten or more buses of thirty or more passenger capacity each may comply with the license requirements of this chapter by paying an in lieu license fee to the department. Such fee shall be an amount equivalent to an annual fee of two hundred dollars per bus, with the number of buses or fractions thereof determined by dividing the company's total bus travel mileage in this State in any one license year by forty thousand miles. Such an inter-city bus company shall declare at the beginning of each license year prior to May first respectively of each year the mileage its fleet operated in this State during the preceding calendar year, and shall pay to the department a total annual license fee for all such buses computed in accordance with this section. Any bus company licensed pursuant to this section must retain and hold, subject to audit by the department, for a period of at least four years all records used in computing the total mileage operated in the State during each calendar year. Bus companies electing to license under this provision shall not be required to display license plates as otherwise required by this chapter on the buses operated in South Carolina, but they shall have the option of displaying license plates on buses where such license plates are specifically identified with specific buses."

Name change

SECTION 1364. Section 56-3-790 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-790. The department shall issue a license upon the payment of a five dollar fee to any chartered volunteer rescue league in this State for any motor vehicle owned and operated by it solely for rescue work without charge."

Name change

SECTION 1365. Section 56-3-860 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-860. The department may, in the discretion of the director of the department, accept uncertified checks of an applicant-owner in payment for license fees charged for the issuance of license plates for motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers and motor vehicle dealers."

Crediting of fees and penalties

SECTION 1366. Section 56-3-910 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-910. All fees and penalties collected by the department under the provisions of this chapter shall be placed in the state general fund."

Name change

SECTION 1367. Section 56-3-1150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1150. A member or former member of the armed forces who was a prisoner of war (POW) in World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, or the Vietnam Conflict and who is a legal resident of this State may make application for registration and licensing of his personal motor vehicle or truck, not exceeding three-quarter ton, to the department without paying the usual fee for registration and licensing of a vehicle of similar type. The department shall issue the license plate or the revalidation sticker upon receipt of the application made under oath and in a form required by the department. The provisions of this section do not apply if the former POW applies for a special personalized motor vehicle license plate under the provisions of Section 56-3-2010. The department may issue or transfer a special POW motor vehicle license plate to a vehicle owned or leased by a former POW or his surviving spouse. A former POW who is issued a license plate under the provisions of this section or surviving spouse is not required to reapply so long as the former POW or surviving spouse owns the vehicle for which the plate is issued. The plate shall bear the words `South Carolina', the number, and prefix `POW'. The surviving spouse of a former POW after notice to the department may retain the plate and is entitled to all the privileges of the POW for the lifetime or until remarriage of the surviving spouse."

Name change

SECTION 1368. Section 56-3-1160 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1160. The department shall promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the provisions of this article."

Name change

SECTION 1369. Section 56-3-1330 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1330. The Department of Public Safety (department) may suspend, cancel, or revoke the registration and license of a vehicle, or the registration card, license plate, revalidation sticker, or other document issued by the department as authorized under this chapter in any of the following events when the: (1) department determines to its satisfaction that such registration and license, registration card, license plate, revalidation sticker, or other document was fraudulently or erroneously issued; (2) department determines to its satisfaction that a registered and licensed vehicle is mechanically unsafe or unfit to be operated or moved upon a highway; (3) vehicle registered and licensed has been dismantled or wrecked; (4) department determines that the required fee has not been paid and is not paid upon reasonable notice and demand; (5) registration card, license plate, revalidation sticker, or other document is knowingly displayed upon a vehicle other than the one for which it was issued; (6) department determines to its satisfaction that the owner has committed any offense under this chapter involving such registration card, license plate, revalidation sticker, or other document; (7) department is so authorized under any other provisions of law. The Circuit Courts of this State shall have jurisdiction to review actions of the department that suspend, cancel, or revoke the registration and license of a vehicle, or the registration card, license plate, revalidation sticker, or other document, when petitioned by a resident of this State. The decision of the court shall be binding upon the department or Department of Revenue and Taxation and the petitioner."

Vehicle registration suspension

SECTION 1370. Section 56-3-1340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1340. The suspension of a license issued by the department to any person to operate a motor vehicle on the highways of the State shall not serve to automatically suspend the registration or license plates."

Name change

SECTION 1371. Section 56-3-1710 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1710. The department shall design and supply, at an appropriate fee, a special license plate, or supplemental plate or attachment, for use on all publicly owned motor vehicles operated by any department or institution of the State of South Carolina, or any of its political subdivisions. It shall be unlawful for any such publicly owned vehicle to be operated in the State of South Carolina that does not carry such official emblem or marker. Provided, however, that this provision shall not apply to the automobile supplied for the Governor's personal use, automobiles supplied to law enforcement officers, when in the opinion of the chief of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division it is advisable that such automobiles not be so marked, nor to automobiles supplied to statewide elective state officials."

Name change

SECTION 1372. Section 56-3-1750 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1750. The department may issue a special motor vehicle license plate to active members of the United States Air Force Reserve, United States Army Reserve, United States Coast Guard Reserve, United States Marine Corps Reserve, or United States Navy Reserve who are residents of the State for a private motor vehicle registered in their respective names. The annual fee for the special license plate is the regular motor vehicle registration fee plus the personalized license plate fee provided by Section 56-3-2020 and only one plate may be issued to any person."

Name change

SECTION 1373. Section 56-3-1850 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1850. The department shall provide, upon proper application being made, a distinctive permanent license plate to any resident of the State who is a recipient of the Medal of Honor, for use on a private motor vehicle registered in the recipient's name. There shall be no fee for such license plate but no recipient shall receive a plate for more than one vehicle."

Special tags for the handicapped

SECTION 1374. Section 56-3-1910 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1910. Upon payment of the regular motor vehicle license fee, the department may issue a license tag with a special number or identification indicating that the tag was issued to a person (a) disabled by an impairment in the use of one or more limbs and required to use a wheelchair or (b) disabled by an impairment in mobility, but otherwise qualified for a driver's license as determined by the department. Each application for the license must be accompanied by the certificate of a licensed physician as defined in Section 40-47-5 as to the permanency of limb impairment or as to the severity or the permanency of mobility impairment. The special license tag authorized by this section may also be issued for a vehicle of special design and equipment designed to transport a disabled person who meets the requirements of this section if the vehicle is owned and titled in the name of the disabled person or in the name of a member of his immediate family or for a vehicle used by an agency, organization, or facility that is designed to transport a handicapped or disabled person if the vehicle is titled in the name of the agency, organization, or facility. Proof that the agency, organization, or facility transports a handicapped or disabled person must be in a manner prescribed by the department. A certificate from a licensed physician is not required to apply for the special license tag."

Name change

SECTION 1375. Section 56-3-1950(1) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(1) `Department' means the Department of Revenue and Taxation."

Handicapped parking privilege

SECTION 1376. Section 56-3-1960 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1960. (1) Any person who is handicapped as defined in this article must be allowed to park in metered or timed parking places without being subject to parking fees or fines. This section has no application to those areas or during those times in which the stopping, parking, or standing of all vehicles is prohibited or which are reserved for special types of vehicles. As a condition to this privilege, a vehicle must display a distinguishing license plate which must be issued by the department, pursuant to this section, Section 56-3-1910, or Section 56-3-1110, for vehicles registered to the disabled person. The license plate must be issued for the usual fee applicable to standard license plates, except that a person who qualifies for a license plate under this section and also qualifies as a disabled veteran under Section 56-3-1110 must be issued the license plate provided for in this section free of charge. Application must be made on a form prescribed by the department and applicants may apply by mail. Each application must be accompanied by a certificate from a licensed physician as defined in Section 40-47-5 that the applicant is handicapped as defined in this article and that the handicap is permanent. No applicant may be denied a license plate if the completed application is accompanied by a certificate from a licensed physician as defined in Section 40-47-5 as required by this subsection. (2) An agency, organization, or facility that transports a disabled or handicapped person or any person who is handicapped as defined in this article may apply to the department for issuance of a temporary or permanent distinguishing placard to be designed by the department. The department, if necessary, may design another distinguishing placard for an agency, organization, or facility that is eligible for a placard, however, all placards must be at least three inches by nine and one-half inches in size and must hang from the rearview mirror of a vehicle or be displayed on the driver's side dashboard when there is no hanging apparatus. The placard must be used on vehicles transporting the disabled person in lieu of the distinguishing license plate issued pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. When the placard is displayed on the driver's side dashboard of a vehicle, all parking rights and privileges extended to vehicles displaying a distinguishing license plate issued pursuant to subsection (1) of this section are applicable to the vehicle. The department shall establish procedures for the issuance of distinguishing placards, and the procedures shall permit applicants to apply by mail. Each application must be accompanied by a certificate from a licensed physician as defined in Section 40-47-5 that the applicant is handicapped as defined in this article, except that a physician's certificate is not required for applications by an agency, organization, or facility which must include sufficient documentation as may be prescribed by the department that the applying agency, organization, or facility transports handicapped or disabled persons. The physician shall state on the certificate whether the applicant is handicapped temporarily or permanently. If the applicant is temporarily handicapped, the physician shall state the length of time for which the applicant is temporarily handicapped. A placard issued for a temporary disability is valid only for the anticipated length of time of the disability specified by the physician in the certificate. No applicant may be denied a placard if the applicant follows the procedures established by the department and if the completed application is accompanied by a certificate from a licensed physician as defined in Section 40-47-5, as required by this subsection. The department shall charge a fee of one dollar a placard and may issue two placards to an individual applicant upon request. An agency, organization, or facility may receive a placard for each vehicle registered upon payment of the appropriate fees. The permanent placards may be issued and renewed only for a maximum period of four years renewable on the owner's birth date; however, placards issued to an agency, organization, or facility must be renewed every four years. The placards must be of a color as determined by the department which is easily recognizable by law enforcement personnel. The placard shall indicate on its face when it expires. (3) A vehicle displaying an out-of-state handicapped license plate or placard or other evidence of handicap issued by the appropriate authority as determined by the department is entitled to the parking privileges provided for in this section."

Name change

SECTION 1377. Section 56-3-1971 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1971. All law enforcement officers issuing tickets on public and private property and state law enforcement division licensed security officers of shopping centers and business and commercial establishments, which provide parking spaces designated for handicapped persons, are authorized to issue a uniform parking violations ticket to the vehicle for violations of the prescribed use of the parking spaces. The uniform parking violations ticket shall provide a means for tracking violators by tag number and recording the violations with the division of motor vehicles. The procedures governing the issuance, form, and content of the uniform parking violations ticket must be prescribed by the Department of Public Safety and approved by the Attorney General. Upon conviction for a violation of Section 56-3-1970, five dollars of the fine assessed must be remitted to the Department of Public Safety for administration and implementation costs."

Name change

SECTION 1378. Section 56-3-1972 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1972. For purposes of this article, a uniform parking violations ticket shall consist of five copies, one of which must be blue and placed upon the vehicle parked in violation of this article; one of which must be yellow and must be dispatched to the Department of Public Safety for its records; one of which must be white and must be maintained by the originating agency; one of which must be green and must be retained by the trial officer for his records; and one of which must be pink and must be dispatched by the issuing agency to the Department of Public Safety for purposes of audit. Each ticket shall have a unique identifying number."

Name change

SECTION 1379. Section 56-3-1973 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1973. The Department of Public Safety shall have the uniform parking violations ticket printed. Law enforcement and security agencies shall order tickets from the Department of Public Safety and shall record the identifying numbers of the tickets received by them. The cost of the tickets must be paid by the law enforcement or security agency. The audit copy and the Department of Public Safety record's copy must be forwarded to the Department of Public Safety within thirty days of the disposition of the case by final trial court action. The head of each law enforcement agency is responsible for forwarding the audit copies and for conducting an annual inventory on December thirty-first of all tickets received but not yet disposed of by final trial court action and forwarding the results of the inventory on a form prescribed by the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Public Safety within ten days of the completion of the inventory."

Name change

SECTION 1380. Section 56-3-1974 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-1974. A person who wilfully and intentionally violates the provisions of Section 56-3-1973 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than fifteen hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six months, or both, for each ticket unaccounted for or for each failure to timely forward the issuing agency's copy or Department of Public Safety record's copy or audit copy of a ticket. If the failure to account for a ticket or the failure to timely forward the issuing agency's copy or the Department of Public Safety record's or audit copy of the ticket is inadvertent or unintentional, the misuse is triable in magistrate's court and, upon conviction, the person must be fined not more than one hundred dollars. The service of the uniform parking violations ticket vests all traffic, recorder's, and magistrate's courts with jurisdiction to hear and dispose of the charge for which the ticket was issued and served."

Name change

SECTION 1381. Section 56-3-2010 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2010. The department shall provide, upon proper application being made, special personalized motor vehicle license plates to the owner of a private passenger motor vehicle, trucks having a rated capacity of not more than five thousand pounds empty weight or not more than eight thousand pounds gross vehicle weight, and motorcycles. The personalized plates must be of the design and bear the letters and numerals as the department prescribes, but there may be no duplication of any registration plates, except that South Carolina members of the United States Congress or members of South Carolina General Assembly are allowed to purchase a maximum of the original and two duplicate registration plates. The department, in its discretion, may refuse the issue of letter combinations which may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency and may not assign to any person not holding the relevant office any letters or numerals denoting the holder to have a public office. Private passenger motor vehicles and trucks meeting the above specifications must be assigned an annual registration which expires on a staggered monthly basis. In the case where a current vehicle license plate is currently displayed, the owner of the vehicle may make application for personalized license plates two months in advance of the current registration expiration. A sticker reflecting the month of expiration of registration must be issued and affixed in the space provided on the license plate assigned to the vehicle. A personalized license plate issued to a motorcycle expires November thirtieth of each year. Every personalized license plate issued to members of the General Assembly and members of licensed state commissions and boards expires on January thirty-first of each year. Every vehicle registration must be renewed annually upon application by the owner and by payment of the fee required by law to take effect on the first day of the month following the expiration of the registration to be renewed."

Crediting of fees

SECTION 1382. Section 56-3-2020 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2020. The fee for the issue of special personalized motor vehicle license plates shall be fifteen dollars each year, which shall be in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee as set forth in Article 5, Chapter 3, of this title and such revenue shall be deposited to the state general fund. The fee is due and payable at the time of the application. The department may not refund the fee if the personalized plate has already been manufactured."

Name change

SECTION 1383. Section 56-3-2060 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2060. The department may issue special motor vehicle license plates to members of foreign consulates for private motor vehicles registered in their respective names. The annual fee for such special license plates shall be the same as the fee provided for in Section 56-3-2020 of the 1976 Code, as last amended and only one such plate shall be issued to any person."

Name change

SECTION 1384. Section 56-3-2150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2150. The department may issue special motor vehicle license plates to members of municipal and county councils and to county coroners of this State for private motor vehicles registered in their names. The annual fee for these special license plates is the same as the fee provided for in Section 56-3-2020 and only one plate may be issued to any one councilman or coroner. The plate must be issued or revalidated annually for the regular registration and licensing year."

Name change

SECTION 1385. Section 56-3-2210 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2210. Every motor vehicle as herein defined which is over thirty years old, is owned solely as a collector's item and is used for participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades and similar uses, but in no event used for general transportation, may be classified by the department as an antique motor vehicle."

Name change

SECTION 1386. Section 56-3-2230(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(a) Every motorcycle over twenty-five years old, which is owned solely as a collector's item and is used for participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades and similar uses, but is not used for general transportation, may be classified by the department as an antique motorcycle."

Name change

SECTION 1387. Section 56-3-2250 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2250. The department may provide, upon request, a sample motor vehicle license plate which shall not be displayed on any vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State. Any person displaying such plate is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than thirty days. The license plate shall be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates and the fee for issuance of such plate shall be ten dollars. Provided, that the word `sample' shall be imprinted on the license plate."

Name change

SECTION 1388. The first paragraph of Section 56-3-2320 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"The department may issue to a duly licensed motor vehicle dealer or wholesaler, upon application being made and the required fee being paid to the department, dealer or wholesaler license plates. The license plates, notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, may be used exclusively on motor vehicles owned by the dealer or wholesaler. Dealer or wholesaler plates may not be used to operate wreckers in use by the dealer or wholesaler, nor to operate vehicles owned by the dealer and wholesaler that are leased or rented by the public. No dealer or wholesaler plates may be issued by the department unless the dealer or wholesaler furnishes proof in a form acceptable to the department that he has a retail business license as required by Chapter 36 of Title 12 or wholesaler's certificate of exemption from the Department of Revenue and Taxation and has made at least ten sales of motor vehicles in the twelve months preceding his application for a dealer or wholesaler plate. The sales requirement may be waived by the department if the dealer or wholesaler has been licensed for less than one year."

Name change

SECTION 1389. Section 56-3-2600 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2600. The department upon request and subject to the limitations and conditions hereinafter set forth shall provide temporary license plates and registration cards designed by the department to nonresidents of South Carolina and to licensed motor vehicle dealers who apply for such plates and cards. The fee for each set of license plates and registration cards shall be ten dollars. Application therefor shall be made to the department on forms prescribed and furnished by the department. Dealers, subject to the limitations and conditions hereinafter set forth, may issue such temporary license plates to owners of vehicles which are to be permanently licensed in a state other than South Carolina."

Name change

SECTION 1390. Section 56-3-2710 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2710. The department upon request and subject to the limitations and conditions set forth in this article shall provide temporary license plates and registration certificates to a corporation for motor vehicles used solely for research and development."

Name change

SECTION 1391. Section 56-3-2810 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-2810. The department shall issue special motor vehicle license plates to volunteer firemen who request them in the manner provided in this article and who are residents of the State for private motor vehicles registered in their respective names. For the purposes of this article the term `volunteer firemen' means members of organized units providing fire protection without compensation being paid to the members of the units for the service provided and whose membership is certified to the municipal clerk or chairman of the council of the municipality or county in which their unit is based by the chief officer of the unit concerned. The cost of the special license plate as determined by the department must be paid annually by the requesting volunteer fireman and only one license plate may be issued to any one volunteer fireman. The plate must be issued upon application being made therefor, in a manner and upon forms which must be prescribed by the department, and upon approval of the application by the department."

Name change

SECTION 1392. Section 56-3-3310 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-3310. The department may issue a special motor vehicle license plate to a recipient of the Purple Heart. The annual fee for the special license plate is the same as the fee provided for in Section 56-3-2020 and only one plate may be issued to any person. The application for a special plate must include proof that the applicant is a recipient of the Purple Heart."

Name change

SECTION 1393. Section 56-3-3710(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A) The department may issue special motor vehicle license plates to owners of private passenger-carrying motor vehicles or light pickups having an empty weight of five thousand pounds or less and a gross weight of eight thousand pounds or less registered in their names which may have imprinted on the plate any emblem, seal, or other symbol the department considers appropriate of a public college or university, or independent institution of higher learning defined in Section 59-113-50, located in this State. A school may submit to the department for its approval the emblem, seal, or other symbol it desires to be used for its respective special license plate. A school also may request a change in the emblem, seal, or other symbol not more than once every five years. The fee for this special license plate is thirty-five dollars each year which is in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee as set forth in Article 5, Chapter 3 of this title. This special license plate must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates. The special license plates must be issued or revalidated for an annual period which expires twelve months from the month they are issued."

Name change

SECTION 1394. Section 56-3-4310(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A) The department shall issue a special motor vehicle license plate to any retired member of the United States Armed Forces who is a resident of this State in accordance with the provisions of this section."

Special State Guard license tag

SECTION 1395. Chapter 3, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 47

Special License Plates-- Members of the South Carolina State Guard

Section 56-3-4710. (A) The Department of Revenue and Taxation may issue a special motor vehicle license plate to a member of the South Carolina State Guard who is a resident of the State for a private passenger motor vehicle or truck, having a rated capacity of one ton or less, registered in the member's name. (B) The annual fee for the special license plate is the regular motor vehicle registration fee plus the personalized license plate fee provided by Section 56-3-2020. Only one plate may be issued to a person. The revenue from the issuance of plates under this article must be deposited in the manner provided for under Section 56-3-2020. The department shall issue the license plate or the revalidation sticker upon receipt of an application made under oath and in the form required by the department. (C) A person who is issued a license plate under the provisions of this article is not required to reapply so long as that person owns the vehicle for which the plate is issued or is authorized pursuant to this article. The provisions of this article do not apply if the member applies for a special personalized motor vehicle license plate under the provisions of Section 56-3-2010.

Section 56-3-4720. The special license plate must be of the same size and general design as regular motor vehicle license plates. The department shall imprint the special license plates with the words `South Carolina State Guard' together with numbers the department may determine necessary or expedient. The licensing period for the plate is on an annual basis and expires twelve months from the month it is issued.

Section 56-3-4730. A license plate issued pursuant to this article may be transferred to another vehicle of the same weight class owned by the same person upon application being made and approved by the department. It is unlawful for a person to whom the plate has been issued knowingly to permit it to be displayed on a vehicle except the one authorized by the department.

Section 56-3-4740. The provisions of this article do not affect the registration and licensing of motor vehicles as required by other provisions of this chapter but are cumulative to those other provisions. A person violating the provisions of this article or a person who: (1) fraudulently gives false or fictitious information in an application for a special license plate, as authorized in this article, (2) conceals a material fact, or (3) otherwise commits fraud in the application or in the use of a special license plate issued under this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both."

Name change

SECTION 1396. Section 56-3-4910(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A) The department shall issue special motor vehicle license plates to active and retired South Carolina firefighters who request them in the manner provided in this article and who are residents of the State for private motor vehicles registered in their respective names. The special license plates, which must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates, must be imprinted with the words `SOUTH CAROLINA FIREFIGHTER' together with a fire service emblem and with numbers as the department may determine. The plates are for annual periods as provided by law. The fee for this special license plate is thirty-five dollars each year which is in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee as set forth in Article 5, Chapter 3 of this title."

Name change

SECTION 1397. Section 56-3-5920 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-5920. The department shall design a Pearl Harbor survivor license plate for motor vehicles. The license plates issued pursuant to this article must be numbered consecutively and contain the words `Pearl Harbor Survivor'."

Department named changed; agency to mail notice

SECTION 1398. Section 56-5-60 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-60. The envelope in which a notice required by law to be mailed by the department or the Department of Public Safety is mailed, other than by registered or certified mail, must have printed on it in bold letters `Please Forward'."

Department name changed to Department of Public Safety

SECTION 1399. Section 56-5-370 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-370. `Department' for the purpose of this chapter means the Department of Public Safety acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1400. Section 56-5-910 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-910. No local authority shall erect or maintain any stop sign or traffic-control signal at any location so as to require the traffic on any state highway to stop before entering or crossing any intersecting highway unless approval in writing has first been obtained from the Department of Transportation."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1401. Section 56-5-920 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-920. The Department of Transportation may adopt a manual of standards and specifications for a uniform system of traffic-control devices, consistent with the provisions of this chapter, for use upon highways and streets within this State."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1402. Section 56-5-930 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-930. The Department of Transportation may place and maintain such traffic-control devices, conforming to its manual and specifications, upon all state highways as it shall deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this chapter or to regulate, warn or guide traffic. No local authority shall place or maintain any traffic-control devices upon any state highway without having first obtained the written approval of the Department of Transportation."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1403. Section 56-5-935 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-935. The United States Department of Energy is authorized to place and maintain traffic control devices upon roads within the confines of the lands in Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell counties acquired or to be acquired by the United States Government. The Department of Energy is not required to obtain written approval of the Department of Transportation as provided in Sections 56-5-910 and 56-5-930. The driver of a vehicle must obey the instruction of any traffic control device or sign placed as provided in this section unless otherwise directed by a traffic or police officer, subject to the exceptions granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle in this chapter."

State highway fund changed to state general fund

SECTION 1404. Section 56-5-1520(f) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(f) Five dollars of the fines listed in subsection (d)(3) and (4) must be credited to the state general fund. In expending the funds credited to the state general fund under subsection (d), the department first shall consider the need for additional highway patrolmen."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1405. Section 56-5-1530 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-1530. (a) Establishing speed zones. Whenever the Department of Transportation shall determine upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that any maximum speed hereinbefore set forth is greater or less than is reasonable or safe under the conditions found to exist at any intersection or other place or upon any part of the state highway system, the Department of Transportation may determine and declare a reasonable and safe maximum limit thereat, which shall be effective when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected. Such maximum speed limit may be declared to be effective at all times or at such times as are indicated upon such signs; and differing limits may be established for different times of day, different types of vehicles, varying weather conditions, and other factors bearing on safe speeds, which shall be effective when posted upon appropriate fixed or variable signs. (b) Setting maximum limits in state highway extensions in urban districts. The Department of Transportation shall determine the proper maximum speed for all state primary highway extensions into and through urban districts and shall declare a reasonable and safe maximum speed limit thereon which may be greater or less than the maximum speed otherwise permitted under this article for an urban district and such maximum speed limits shall be effective at all times during hours of darkness and at other times as may be determined when appropriate official signs giving notice thereof are erected upon such street or highway."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1406. Section 56-5-1540(d) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(d) Approval of altered limits by Department of Transportation. Any alteration of maximum limits on state highways or extensions thereof in a municipality by local authorities is not effective until the alteration has been approved by the Department of Transportation."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1407. Section 56-5-1560(b) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(b) Establishing minimum speed zones; signs. Whenever the Department of Transportation or local authorities within their respective jurisdictions determine on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that slow speeds on any part of a highway consistently impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, the Department of Transportation or local authority may determine and declare a minimum speed limit below which no person shall drive a vehicle except when necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law, when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected along the part of the highway for which a minimum speed limit is established. Also any minimum speed limit adopted by a municipality for a section of the state highway within the municipality shall not be effective until such minimum speed has been approved by the Department of Transportation."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1408. Items (d) and (e) of Section 56-5-1570 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:

"(d) Same; establishing safe maximum limit. The Department of Transportation upon request from any local authority shall, or upon its own initiative may, conduct an investigation of any bridge or other elevated structure constituting a part of a highway, and if it finds that such structure cannot with safety to itself withstand vehicles traveling at the speed otherwise permissible under this chapter, the Department of Transportation shall determine and declare the maximum speed of vehicles which such structure can safely withstand, and shall cause or permit suitable signs stating such maximum speed to be erected and maintained before each end of such structure. (e) Same; proof of limit and signs conclusive evidence of safe speed. Upon the trial of any person charged with a violation of this section, proof of determination of the maximum speed by the Department of Transportation and the existence of such signs shall constitute conclusive evidence of the maximum speed which can be maintained with safety to such bridge or structure."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1409. Section 56-5-1890(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(a) The Department of Transportation and local authorities may determine those portions of any highway under their respective jurisdictions where overtaking and passing or driving on the left of the roadway would be especially hazardous and may by appropriate signs or markings on the roadway indicate the beginning and end of such zones and when such signs or markings are in place and clearly visible to an ordinarily observant person every driver of a vehicle shall obey the directions thereof."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1410. Section 56-5-1910(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(a) The Department of Transportation and local authorities with respect to highways under their respective jurisdictions may designate any highway, roadway, part of a roadway or specific lanes upon which vehicular traffic shall proceed in one direction at all or such times as shall be indicated by official traffic-control devices."

Commission changed to Commission of the Department of Transportation

SECTION 1411. Section 56-5-1980(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(a) The Commission of the Department of Transportation by resolution or order entered in its minutes, and local authorities by ordinance, may regulate or prohibit the use of any controlled-access roadway or highway within their respective jurisdictions by any class or kind of traffic which is found to be incompatible with the normal and safe movement of traffic."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1412. Section 56-5-2120(c) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(c) The Department of Transportation and local authorities in their respective jurisdictions may cause official traffic-control devices to be placed and thereby require and direct that a different course from that specified in this section be traveled by turning vehicles and when such devices are so placed no driver shall turn a vehicle other than as directed and required by such devices."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1413. Section 56-5-2330(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(a) Preferential right-of-way may be indicated by stop signs or yield signs as authorized by the Department of Transportation or local authorities."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1414. Section 56-5-2540 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-2540. The Department of Transportation with respect to state highways may place signs prohibiting or restricting the stopping, standing or parking of vehicles on any highway where, in its judgment, such stopping, standing or parking is deemed by the Department of Transportation to be hazardous to those using the highway or where the stopping, standing or parking of vehicles would unduly interfere with the free movement of traffic thereon. Such signs shall be official signs and no person shall stop, stand or park any vehicle in violation of the restrictions stated on such signs."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1415. Section 56-5-2550 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-2550. The Department of Transportation with respect to state highways and local authorities with respect to highways under their jurisdiction may permit parking of vehicles with the left-hand wheels adjacent to and within eighteen inches of the left-hand curb on one-way roadways and may permit angle parking on any roadway of sufficient width to permit angle parking without interfering with the free movement of traffic. But local authorities shall not permit such left-hand parking on one-way roadways nor angle parking on state highways except upon written approval of the Department of Transportation."

Department name changed to Department of Revenue and Taxation

SECTION 1416. Section 56-5-2585 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-2585. Disabled veterans shall be exempt from the payment of municipal parking meter fees when their vehicles bear a disabled veteran's license plate issued by the Department of Revenue and Taxation."

Department named changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1417. Section 56-5-2715 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-2715. The Department of Transportation, and local authorities with the approval of the Department of Transportation, may designate particularly dangerous highway grade crossings of railroads and erect stop signs thereat. When such signs are erected, the driver of any vehicle shall stop within fifty feet, but not less than fifteen feet, from the nearest rail of the railroad and shall proceed only upon exercising due care."

Name change

SECTION 1418. Section 56-5-2730 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-2730. The Department of Transportation with reference to state highways and local authorities with reference to other highways under their jurisdiction may designate through highways and erect stop signs at specified entrances thereto or may designate any intersection as a stop intersection and erect like signs at one or more entrances to such intersection. Every stop sign shall be erected as near as practicable to the nearest line of the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if there is no crosswalk, then as close as practicable to the nearest line of the roadway."

Name change

SECTION 1419. Section 56-5-2945(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(B) As used in this section, `great bodily injury' means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. The department shall suspend the driver's license of any person who is convicted or who receives sentence upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere pursuant to this section for a period to include any term of imprisonment plus three years."

Name change

SECTION 1420. Items (d) and (f) of Section 56-5-2950 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:

"(d) If a person under arrest refuses, upon the request of a law enforcement officer, to submit to chemical tests as provided in subsection (a) of this section, none may be given, but the department, on the basis of a report of the law enforcement officer that the arrested person was operating a motor vehicle in this State while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of them and that the person had refused to submit to the tests shall suspend his license or permit to drive, or any nonresident operating privilege for a period of ninety days. If the person is a resident without a license or permit to operate a motor vehicle in this State, the department shall deny to the person the issuance of a license or permit for a period of ninety days after the date of the alleged violation. The ninety-day period of suspension begins with the day after the date of the notice required to be given, unless a hearing is requested as provided, in which case the ninety-day period begins with the day after the date of the order sustaining the suspension or denial of issuance. The report of the arresting officer must include what grounds he had for believing that the arrested person had been operating a motor vehicle in this State while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of them. If the arrested person took the chemical breath test but refused to provide a blood or urine sample, the report of the arresting officer must include what were his grounds for believing that the arrested person was under the influence of drugs other than alcohol. If a person who refuses, upon the request of a law enforcement officer, to submit to chemical tests as provided in subsection (a) of this section, pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or forfeits bond for a first offense violation of Section 56-5-2930, within thirty days of arrest, the period of the suspension of driving privileges under this section must be canceled and any suspension of driving privileges under Section 56-5-2990 for a first conviction may not exceed six months. (f) When it is finally determined under the procedures of this section that a nonresident's privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this State has been suspended, the department shall give information in writing of the action taken to the motor vehicle administrator of the state of the person's residence and of any state in which he has a license."

Name change

SECTION 1421. Section 56-5-2990 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-2990. The department shall suspend the driver's license of any person who is convicted, receives sentence upon a plea of guilty or of nolo contendere, or forfeits bail posted for the violation of Section 56-5-2930 or for the violation of any other law or ordinance of this State or of any municipality of this State that prohibits any person from operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, drugs, or narcotics for six months for the first conviction, plea of guilty or of nolo contendere, or forfeiture of bail, one year for the second conviction, plea of guilty or of nolo contendere, or forfeiture of bail, two years for the third offense, three years for the fourth offense, and a permanent revocation of the driver's license for fifth and subsequent offenses. Only those violations which occurred within ten years including and immediately preceding the date of the last violation shall constitute prior violations within the meaning of this section. Any person whose license is revoked following conviction for a fifth offense as provided in this section is forever barred from being issued any license by the Department of Revenue and Taxation to operate a motor vehicle. Any person whose license is suspended under the provisions of this section must be notified of suspension by the department of the requirement to be evaluated by and successfully complete an Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program certified by the South Carolina Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse prior to reinstatement of the license. An assessment of the degree and kind of alcohol and drug abuse problem, if any, of the applicant must be prepared and a plan of education or treatment or both must be developed based upon the assessment. Entry into and successful completion of the services, if such services are necessary, recommended in the plan of education or treatment or both developed for the applicant is a mandatory requirement of the restoration of driving privileges to the applicant. The applicant shall bear the cost of the services to be determined by the administering agency and approved by the Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The cost may not exceed seventy-five dollars for assessment, one hundred twenty-five dollars for education services, two hundred twenty-five dollars for treatment services, and three hundred dollars in total for any and all services. No applicant may be denied services due to an inability to pay. The applicant shall be terminated from the Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program no later than six months after the date of program enrollment. If the applicant has not successfully completed the services as directed by the Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program by the end of the six-month period of enrollment, a hearing must be provided by the administering agency and if further needed by the Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. If the applicant is unsuccessful in the Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program the department may restore the privilege to operate a motor vehicle upon the recommendation of the Medical Advisory Board as utilized by the department if it determines public safety and welfare of the petitioner may not be endangered. The department and the Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse shall develop procedures necessary for the communication of information pertaining to relicensing or otherwise. Such procedures must be consistent with the confidentiality laws of the State and the United States. Successful completion of education, treatment services, or both, for purposes of receiving a provisional driver's license as stipulated in Section 56-1-1330 may be substituted in lieu of services received under the authority of this section at the discretion of the applicant. If the driver's license of any person is suspended by authority of this section, no insurance company may refuse to issue insurance to cover the remaining members of his family, but the insurance company is not liable for any actions of the person whose license has been suspended or who has voluntarily turned his license in to the department or the Department of Revenue and Taxation."

Name change

SECTION 1422. Section 56-5-3660 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-3660. It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of twenty-one to operate or ride upon a two-wheeled motorized vehicle unless he wears a protective helmet of a type approved by the department. Such a helmet must be equipped with either a neck or chin strap and be reflectorized on both sides thereof. The department is hereby authorized to adopt and amend regulations covering the types of helmets and the specifications therefor and to establish and maintain a list of approved helmets which meet the specifications as established hereunder."

Name change

SECTION 1423. Section 56-5-3670 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-3670. It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of twenty-one to operate a two-wheeled motorized vehicle unless he wears goggles or a face shield of a type approved by the department. The department is hereby authorized to adopt and amend regulations covering types of goggles and face shields and the specifications therefor and to establish and maintain a list of approved goggles and face shields which meet the specifications as established hereunder."

Name change

SECTION 1424. Section 56-5-3680 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-3680. The provisions of Section 56-5-3670 with respect to goggles and face shields shall not apply to the operator of a two-wheeled motorized vehicle equipped with a wind screen meeting specifications established by the department. The department is hereby authorized to adopt and amend regulations covering types of wind screens and specifications therefor."

Name change

SECTION 1425. Section 56-5-3690 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-3690. It shall be unlawful to sell, offer for sale or distribute any protective helmets, goggles or face shields for use by the operators of two-wheeled motorized vehicles, or protective helmets for the use of passengers thereon, unless they are of a type and specification approved by the department and appear on the list of approved devices maintained by the department."

Name change

SECTION 1426. Section 56-5-3750(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A) A person who sells, solicits, or advertises the sale of mopeds clearly and conspicuously shall label each moped with its specifications including, but not limited to, the brake horsepower of the motor and the maximum speed of the vehicle on level ground. The seller also shall attach a metal identification plate to each moped without pedals identifying the vehicle as a moped. This plate must be designed by the Department of Revenue and Taxation and must display information the department considers necessary for enforcement purposes. The plate must be displayed permanently on each moped without pedals and must not be removed. A seller of mopeds who fails to label a moped, fails to attach a metal identification plate to a moped without pedals, knowingly labels a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle as a moped, or attaches a metal identification plate to a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle identifying the vehicle as a moped is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1427. Section 56-5-3880 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-3880. The Department of Transportation may close state highways, roadways, or bridges to allow marathons or other running events when the race or event is open to all persons including the handicapped if in the opinion of the district engineer the race or event may be conducted in a safe manner. The Department of Transportation, city, county, organization, and sponsors of the race or event are immune from liability except for gross negligence from incidents arising from participation in or association with the race or event. If the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge is not available for the annual Cooper River Bridge Run and Walk in Charleston County, the Silas N. Pearman Bridge must be made available for the event, if a contingency plan for vehicular traffic can be developed, provided, that if the Cooper River Bridge Run and Walk is not open to persons sixty-five years of age or older, neither bridge may be used for this event."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION 1428. Section 56-5-4040 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4040. Incorporated cities and municipalities may by ordinance permit the operation within their respective jurisdictions of any motor bus or trolley coach with a maximum outside width of not to exceed one hundred and two inches. But in the case of state highways within incorporated cities no such permit shall become effective until approved by the Department of Transportation. All such permits shall specify the streets or sections of streets over which such trolley coaches may be operated. The term `trolley coach' means a vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires though not operated upon rails. The Department of Transportation with respect to the state highways and local authorities with respect to other highways, may issue permits for the operation of motor buses and trolley coaches, having a lateral outside width of not exceeding one hundred and two inches upon any highway, route or routes of sufficient width in suburban areas adjacent to municipalities."

Name change

SECTION 1429. Section 56-5-4060 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4060. No vehicle, unladen or with load, may exceed a height of thirteen feet six inches except an automobile transporter unit the height of which may not exceed fourteen feet. It is unlawful for any person to operate or attempt to operate under any underpass having a vertical clearance of less than thirteen feet six inches any vehicle with a height in excess of the vertical clearance of the underpass posted in accordance with the manual on uniform traffic-control devices provided for in Section 56-5-920. No person is required to raise, alter, construct, or reconstruct any existing underpass, wire, pole, trestle, or other structure to permit the passage of any vehicle, and neither the State nor any of its agencies or political subdivisions are liable for any personal injury or property damage resulting from the operation of a vehicle over any highway, road, or bridge or through any underpass having a vertical clearance of less than fourteen feet where the Department of Transportation or other body having maintenance jurisdiction of the underpass has posted notice of the reduced vertical clearance in accordance with the manual on uniform traffic-control devices provided for in Section 56-5-920. An automobile transporter is responsible for any personal injury or property damage resulting from operating a unit at a height in excess of thirteen feet six inches."

Designation of highways; name change

SECTION 1430. Section 56-5-4070 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4070. (1) Two or three unit vehicle combinations may be operated on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, on those qualifying federal-aid highways so designated by the United States Secretary of Transportation, and other highways as designated by the Department of Public Safety in accordance with Section 56-5-4075. The department may require warning devices which may be necessary to protect public safety. When in use on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways and `other qualifying highways': (a) a trailer or semitrailer may be operated in a two unit truck tractor-trailer or truck tractor-semitrailer combination in excess of a length of forty-eight feet but no longer than fifty-three feet, inclusive of the load carried on it. A fifty-three foot long trailer must be equipped with a rear underride guard and the distance between the kingpin of the vehicle and the center of the rear axle assembly or to the center of the tandem axle assembly if equipped with two axles must be no greater than forty-one feet; (b) a trailer or semitrailer, operating in a three unit combination, may not exceed a length of twenty-eight and one-half feet, inclusive of the load carried on it; (c) auto and boat transporters may not have an overall length in excess of seventy-five feet, exclusive of front and rear overhang; however, front overhang must not exceed three feet and rear overhang must not exceed four feet; (d) saddle mounts and full mounts may not have an overall length in excess of seventy-five feet. (2) No motor vehicle, exclusive of truck tractors being used in two or three unit combinations on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, on those qualifying federal-aid highways so designated by the United States Secretary of Transportation, and other highways as designated by the Department of Public Safety in accordance with Section 56-5-4075, may exceed a length of forty feet extreme overall dimension, inclusive of front and rear bumpers and load carried on it, and a motor vehicle, other than a motor home, in excess of thirty-five feet may have not less than three axles, except buses with two axles approved by the Department of Public Safety. (3) A combination of vehicles coupled together or especially constructed to transport motor vehicles in a truckaway or driveaway service may tow up to three saddle mounts. No other combination of vehicles coupled together may consist of more than two units, except as permitted by subsection (1) of this section. (4) Except as permitted by subsection (1) of this section, trailers or semitrailers used within combinations may not exceed a length of forty-eight feet and auto transporters are excluded from trailer length limitations. Auto transporters may be allowed an upper level overhang not to exceed three feet on the front and four feet on the rear. (5) Except where specifically prohibited in this article, there is no overall length limit on combination vehicles. (6) Appropriate safety and energy conservation devices and compressors and fuel saving equipment on the front or loading devices on the rear of trailers or semitrailers may not be considered when determining their length for purposes of this section if the overall length limitations of combinations of vehicles is not exceeded."

Authority to promulgate regulations

SECTION 1431. Section 56-5-4075 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4075. The Department of Public Safety, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Revenue and Taxation may promulgate regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of this article. Regulations may be promulgated to make designations as are necessary to provide for those vehicles which operate on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways and `other qualifying highways' pursuant to Sections 56-5-4030 and 56-5-4070 reasonable access to: (a) terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest; (b) points of loading and unloading for household goods carriers and auto transporters; and (c) specific industrial, commercial, warehousing, and similar sites, only after consulting with and considering the views of the local governments through whose jurisdictions such specific site access would pass. The Department of Transportation may cooperate with the United States Government by providing information to accomplish uniformity in designating `other qualifying highways'. The information may only be provided after safety and operational requirements of the citizens of this State have been studied by the Department of Transportation. Any proposals by the Department of Transportation to add highways, other than those provided for in (a), (b), and (c) of this section, to the network of `qualifying highways' designated by the U. S. Secretary of Transportation must be approved by the General Assembly before they become effective. The Governor may petition the Secretary of Transportation of the United States to remove any highway federally designated under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 [49 USCS Appx Sections 2301 et seq.], as amended by Congress, and not considered safe."

Name change

SECTION 1432. Section 56-5-4095 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4095. An official of the Department of Revenue and Taxation designated by the director, in his discretion, upon application in writing and good cause being shown, may issue to a vehicle a permit in writing authorizing the applicant to operate or move upon the state's public highways a motor vehicle and loads for transporting not more than two modular housing units or sectional housing units if the total length of the vehicle, including the load, does not exceed the length presently authorized by law and regulation for the transporting of mobile homes. No permit may be issued to any vehicle whose operation upon the public highways of this State threatens the safety of others or threatens to unduly damage a highway or any of its appurtenances."

Name change

SECTION 1433. Section 56-5-4140 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4140. (1) The gross weight of a vehicle or combination of vehicles, operated or moved upon any highway or section of highway other than the Interstate System, shall not exceed: (a) Single-unit vehicle with two axles........................35,000 lbs. (b) Single-unit vehicle with three axles......................46,000 lbs. (c) Single-unit vehicle with four or more axles...............63,000 lbs. (d) Combination of vehicles with three axles......................50,000 lbs. (e) Combination of vehicles with four axles.......................65,000 lbs. (f) Combination of vehicles with five or more axles...............73,280 lbs. The gross weight imposed upon the highway by two or more consecutive axles in tandem articulated from a common attachment to the vehicle and spaced not less than forty inches nor more than ninety-six inches apart shall not exceed thirty-six thousand pounds, and no one axle of any such group of two or more consecutive axles shall exceed the load permitted for a single axle. The load imposed on the highway by two consecutive axles, individually attached to the vehicle and spaced not less than forty inches nor more than ninety-six inches apart, shall not exceed thirty-six thousand pounds and no one axle of any such group of two consecutive axles shall exceed the load permitted for a single axle. The gross weight imposed upon the highway by all axles of a single-unit vehicle with four or more axles shall not exceed the following: Distance between the extremes of the front Maximum and rear axles measured Gross to the nearest foot Weight At least 12 feet 50,000 At least 13 feet 50,000 At least 14 feet 51,500 At least 15 feet 52,000 At least 16 feet 52,500 At least 17 feet 53,500 At least 18 feet 54,000 At least 19 feet 54,500 At least 20 feet 55,500 At least 21 feet 56,000 At least 22 feet 56,500 At least 23 feet 57,500 At least 24 feet 58,000 At least 25 feet 58,500 At least 26 feet 59,500 At least 27 feet 60,000 At least 28 feet 60,500 At least 29 feet 61,500 At least 30 feet 62,000 At least 31 feet 62,500 At least 32 feet 63,500 (2)(a) Except as permitted in (b) of this subitem, the maximum permissible gross weight which may be imposed upon any highway or section of highway in the Interstate System is prescribed by this section. The overall maximum gross weight of a vehicle or combination of vehicles may not exceed: (1) Single-unit vehicle with two axles..........................35,000 lbs. (2) Single-unit vehicle with three axles........................46,000 lbs. (3) Single-unit vehicle with four or more axles.................63,500 lbs. (4) Combination of vehicles with three axles........................50,000 lbs. (5) Combination of vehicles with four axles.........................65,000 lbs. (6) Combination of vehicles with five or more axles.................73,280 lbs. The overall maximum gross weight of single unit vehicles with four or more axles may not exceed the following: Distance between the extremes of the front Maximum and rear axles measured Gross to the nearest foot Weight At least 12 feet 50,000 At least 13 feet 50,500 At least 14 feet 51,500 At least 15 feet 52,000 At least 16 feet 52,500 At least 17 feet 53,500 At least 18 feet 54,000 At least 19 feet 54,500 At least 20 feet 55,500 At least 21 feet 56,000 At least 22 feet 56,500 At least 23 feet 57,500 At least 24 feet 58,000 At least 25 feet 58,500 At least 26 feet 59,500 At least 27 feet 60,000 At least 28 feet 60,500 At least 29 feet 61,500 At least 30 feet 62,000 At least 31 feet 62,500 At least 32 feet 63,500 The ten percent enforcement tolerance specified in Section 56-5-4160 applies to the vehicle weight limits specified in this subsection except, the gross weight on a single axle may not exceed 20,000 pounds, including all enforcement tolerances; the gross weight on a tandem axle may not exceed 35,200 pounds, including all enforcement tolerances; and the overall gross weight may not exceed 75,185 pounds, including all enforcement tolerances. (b) Vehicles with an overall maximum gross weight in excess of 75,185 pounds may operate upon any highway or section of highway in the Interstate System in accordance with the following: The weight imposed upon the highway by any group of two or more consecutive axles may not, unless specially permitted by the Department of Revenue and Taxation, exceed an overall gross weight produced by the application of the following formula: W=500 (LN/N-1 + 12N + 36) In the formula W equals overall gross weight on any group of two or more consecutive axles to be nearest 500 pounds, L equals distance in feet between the extreme of any group of two or more consecutive axles, and N equals number of axles in the group under consideration. As an exception, two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of 68,000 pounds if the overall distance between the first and last axles of the consecutive sets of tandem axles is 36 feet or more. Additionally, the gross weight imposed upon the highway by any one axle of a vehicle may not exceed 20,000 pounds, and the gross weight imposed upon the highway by any group of two or more axles spaced not less than forty nor more than ninety-six inches apart (tandem axle) may not exceed 34,000 pounds, and the overall maximum gross weight except for those vehicles which have been issued special permits by the Department of Revenue and Taxation, may not exceed 80,000 pounds. The formula is expressed by the following table: Distance in feet Maximum load in pounds between the extremes carried on any group of of any group of 2 or 2 or more consecutive more consecutive axles axles 2 3 4 5 6 7 axles axles axles axles axles axles 434,000 534,000 634,000 734,000 8& less 34,000 34,000 more than 838,00042,000 8 34,00034,000 9 39,00043,000 10 40,00043,500 11 44,500 12 45,000 50,000 13 46,000 50,500 14 46,500 51,500 15 47,500 52,000 16 48,000 52,500 58,000 17 49,000 53,500 58,500 18 49,500 54,000 59,500 19 50,500 54,500 60,000 20 51,000 55,500 60,500 66,000 21 52,000 56,000 61,000 66,500 22 52,500 56,500 62,000 67,000 23 53,500 57,500 62,500 68,000 24 54,000 58,000 63,000 68,500 74,000 25 55,000 58,500 63,500 69,000 74,500 26 55,500 59,500 64,500 69,500 75,000 27 56,500 60,000 65,000 70,000 75,500 28 57,000 60,500 65,500 71,000 76,500 29 58,000 61,500 66,000 71,500 77,000 30 58,500 62,000 67,000 72,000 77,500 31 59,500 62,500 67,500 72,500 78,000 32 60,000 63,500 68,000 73,000 78,500 33 64,000 68,500 74,000 79,000 34 64,500 69,500 74,500 80,000 35 65,500 70,000 75,000 36 68,000 70,500 75,500 37 68,000 71,000 76,000 38 68,000 72,000 77,000 39 68,000 72,500 77,500 40 68,500 73,000 78,000 41 69,500 73,500 78,500 42 70,000 74,500 79,000 43 70,500 75,000 80,000 44 71,500 75,500 45 72,000 76,000 46 72,500 77,000 47 73,500 77,500 48 74,000 78,000 49 74,500 78,500 50 75,500 79,500 51 76,000 80,000 52 76,500 53 77,500 54 78,000 55 78,500 56 79,500 57 80,000 Enforcement tolerances allowed in Section 56-5-4160 do not apply to vehicles with an overall gross weight in excess of 75,185 pounds. (c)Until September 1, 1988, there is a moratorium on enforcement of the 34,000 pound tandem axle limit for vehicles operating on the Interstate System in South Carolina within a gross weight of 75,185 and 80,000 pounds to the extent that the vehicles may carry up to 35,200 pounds on a tandem axle or on each tandem axle within a series of tandem axles. As of September 1, 1988, the moratorium on enforcement referred to in this paragraph shall lapse. Until September 1, 1988, the federal bridge formula may not be enforced so as to reduce the 35,200 pound tandem axle limit permitted pursuant to paragraph 1 of this item (c) of subsection (2). Until September 1, 1988, for the five categories of carriers set forth in this paragraph which are operating within a gross vehicle weight of 75,185 and 80,000 pounds on Interstate Highways within South Carolina, there is a moratorium on enforcement of inner bridge measurements under the federal bridge formula. The five categories of carriers are: (a)five axle vehicles or combinations of vehicles designed solely for transportation of liquids or tankers designed for bulk hauling; (b)five axle dump trucks with a tandem axle configuration; (c)five axle vehicles engaged in the transportation of construction materials; (d)vehicles transporting raw or unprocessed agricultural or forest products; (e)any intermodal ocean containers. This moratorium shall lapse on September 1, 1988. After September 1, 1988, both the 34,000 pound tandem axle limit and the federal bridge formula established by 23 U.S.C. Section 127 must be enforced in their entirety for all vehicles operating on Interstate Highways within South Carolina within a gross vehicle weight of 75,185 and 80,000 pounds. Any moratorium on enforcement granted by this stipulation shall lapse as of September 1, 1988. (3)Except on the interstate highway system: (a)Dump trucks, dump trailers, trucks carrying agricultural products, concrete mixing trucks, fuel oil trucks, line trucks, and trucks designated and constructed for special type work or use are not required to conform to the axle spacing requirements of this section but the vehicle is limited to a weight of twenty thousand pounds per axle plus scale tolerances and the maximum gross weight of these vehicles may not exceed the maximum weight allowed by this section for the appropriate number of axles, irrespective of the distance between axles, plus allowable scale tolerances. (b)Concrete mixing trucks which operate within fifteen miles of their home base are not required to conform to the requirements of this section but these vehicles are limited to a maximum load of the rated capacity of the concrete mixer, the true gross load not to exceed sixty-six thousand pounds. All of these vehicles shall have at least three axles each with brake-equipped wheels."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION1434.Section 56-5-4145 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4145.(a)The weights stated in Sections 56-5-4070, 56-5-4075 and 56-5-4140 are applicable to all roads and bridges as designated except the Grace Memorial Bridge in Charleston County on which trucks of no greater weight than ten tons are allowed. (b)The Grace Memorial Bridge (U. S. Route 17 over the Cooper River in Charleston County) is not a designated route in accordance with the provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 [49 USCS Appx Sections 2301 et seq.]. Vehicles being operated or used on such segment of highway may not exceed a width of ninety-six inches nor exceed the gross weight limit as posted by the Department of Transportation, except during emergency conditions as determined by the Department of Transportation. Vehicle combinations of a truck-tractor, trailer or a truck-tractor, semitrailer or a truck-tractor, semitrailer, trailer or a truck-tractor, trailer-trailer are prohibited from being operated or used on this segment of highway."

Name change

SECTION1435.Section 56-5-4150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4150.The Department of Revenue and Taxation upon registering a vehicle, under the laws of this State, which is designed and used primarily for the transportation of property or for the transportation of ten or more persons, may require information and may make investigation or tests necessary to enable it to determine whether the vehicle may be operated safely upon the highways in accordance with all the provisions of this chapter. The Department of Revenue and Taxation may register the vehicle for a load capacity which, added to the empty or unloaded weight of the vehicle, will result in a permissible gross weight not exceeding the limitations set forth in this chapter. It is unlawful for a person to operate a vehicle or combination of vehicles with a load capacity in excess of that for which it is registered by the Department of Revenue and Taxation or in excess of the limitations set forth in this chapter. A person making application for a `farm truck' license shall declare, in the form prescribed by the Department of Revenue and Taxation, the true unloaded or empty weight of the vehicle. A private motor truck or truck tractor of more than twenty-six thousand pounds gross weight and a for-hire motor truck or truck tractor must have the name of the registered owner or lessor on the side clearly distinguishable at a distance of fifty feet. These provisions do not apply to two-axle straight trucks hauling raw farm and forestry products. A truck operating pursuant to the federal motor carrier safety regulations may operate with the owner's, lessor's, or lessee's name as required."

Crediting of fines

SECTION1436.Section 56-5-4160(E) as of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(E)Magistrates have jurisdiction of violations of this section. All monies collected pursuant to Section 56-5-4160 must be forwarded to the department by the magistrate within forty-five days for deposit in the state general fund. The department shall use this money for upgrading and refurbishing existing weigh stations, including adequate night lighting for enforcement activities and any other safety measures that the department considers necessary. The fine may be deposited with the arresting officer or anyone else the department may designate. The fine must be deposited in full or other arrangements satisfactory to the department for payment must be made before the operator is allowed to move the vehicle. If there is no conviction, the fine must be returned to the owner promptly. `Conviction' as used in this section, also includes the entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and the forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure a defendants presence in court. If the fine is not paid in full to the department within forty-five days after conviction, the license and registration of the vehicle found to exceed the limits imposed by Section 56-5-4130 or 56-5-4140 must be suspended. The owner of the vehicle immediately shall return the license and registration of the vehicle to the department. If a person fails to return them as provided in this section, the department may secure possession of them by a commissioned trooper. The suspension continues until the fine is paid in full."

Special fund created; uses

SECTION1437.Section 56-5-4160 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"(H)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all fines collected pursuant to this section must be deposited into an account in the Office of the State Treasurer and called the `Size and Weight Revitalization Program Fund for Permanent Improvements.' Monies credited to the fund may only be expended as authorized in item (E) of this section."

Name change

SECTION1438.Section 56-5-4170 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4170.(a)Subject to the conditions prescribed in subsection (b), the Department of Revenue and Taxation, in its discretion upon application in writing and good cause being shown that it is in the public interest, may issue special permits authorizing the applicants to operate or move vehicles or combinations of vehicles of a size and weight of vehicle or load exceeding the maximum specified in this article or otherwise not in conformity with the provisions of this article upon any state highway. The application for the permit specifically must describe the vehicle and load to be operated or moved and the particular highways for which a permit to operate is requested. A permit must be carried in the vehicle or combination of vehicles to which it refers and must be open to inspection by any police officer or authorized agent of the authority granting the permit. No person may violate any of the terms or conditions of the special permit. The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall charge a fee of twenty dollars for each permit issued, and fees collected pursuant to this provision must be placed in the state general fund and used for defraying the cost of issuing and administering the permits, and for other highway purposes. (b)The Department of Revenue and Taxation may exercise its discretion in issuing permits for the movement of all types of vehicles which exceed the legal size and weight limits, provided that the: (1)load carried thereon cannot be readily disassembled; (2)Department of Revenue and Taxation, in conjunction with the Department of Transportation may limit or prescribe conditions of operation of such vehicles; (3)Department of Revenue and Taxation may require such insurance or other security as it deems necessary; and (4)movements are made so as not to damage the highways nor unduly interfere with highway traffic. The following are general provisions applicable to all oversize and overweight loads: (1)The granting of a permit shall not constitute a waiver of any license requirements imposed by the State of South Carolina. (2)The granting of a permit does not waive any liability or responsibility of the applicant which might accrue for any property damage, including damage to the highways, or for personal injuries. (3)The granting of a permit does not exempt the applicant from compliance with any ordinances, rules and regulations of any city or town. (4)Before granting any permit, the Department of Revenue and Taxation, at its discretion, may require the vehicle owner or operator to furnish a certificate showing the amount of public liability and property damage, insurance carried. (5)All vehicles shall meet the requirements of all applicable laws and regulations. (6)Overwidth loads or mobile homes shall be moved over sections of highways selected by the Department of Transportation. (7)The Department of Transportation will determine the speeds permitted loads are to operate under. (8)The driver shall remove the towing vehicle along with the load or mobile home from the traveled way to allow any closely following traffic (five vehicles maximum) to pass and proceed. Applications for overweight and oversize permits shall be submitted on forms provided by the Department of Transportation to the Department of Revenue and Taxation and shall include all the necessary information required. Each application shall be accompanied by the permit fee before it can be issued. The permit fee accompanying any application that is rejected will be returned to the person or company named within the application. Special oversize and overweight trip permits for movement of vehicles or combinations of vehicles with individual loads thereon in excess of the maximum sizes and weights allowed must receive special consideration by and have prior approval of the Department of Transportation prior to any part of the move to be undertaken. In all cases, the State reserves the right to recall or not issue permits in accordance with the above limitations if there is an abuse of the permit or such permit would cause an unnecessary amount of disruption in the normal traffic flow. (c)Notwithstanding the exemptions from the provisions of this article provided in Section 56-5-4020, the owner of vehicles or combinations of vehicles used to transport and spread soil improvement products exempted therein from load and size limitations shall obtain an annual special permit from the Department of Revenue and Taxation which prescribes such limitations on the exemption as the Department of Transportation may determine necessary. The fee for such annual permits shall be five dollars with all such fees used as prescribed for other fees collected under this section. (d)The detailed implementation of this section shall not be deemed to have general applicability to the public as prescribed in Chapter 23 of Title 1 and additional procedures established by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Revenue and Taxation for such implementation shall be exempt from the requirement of General Assembly approval required by that chapter when such procedures are established in accordance with the provisions of this section."

Name change

SECTION1439.Section 56-5-4175 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4175.(a)The Department of Revenue and Taxation may, under such terms and conditions as in its judgment may be in the public interest for safety on the highways and in addition to other permits required by Title 56 of the 1976 Code, issue permits for the use on public highways of sheet tobacco trucks. For the purposes of this section `sheet tobacco truck' is defined as a vehicle used to transport tobacco in sheets which does not exceed ninety-six inches in width at the truck bed and nine feet six inches at the widest part of the load above the truck bed. To be valid such permit shall be carried on the towing vehicle and it shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision, term or condition of such permit. The fee for each permit shall be fifteen dollars and shall authorize the use of only one properly described sheet tobacco truck. The Department of Revenue and Taxation may promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. (b)Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) or any rule and regulation promulgated by authority hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in an amount not to exceed two hundred dollars or imprisoned for a term not to exceed thirty days."

Name change

SECTION1440.Section 56-5-4180 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4180.The Department of Revenue and Taxation may, under such terms and conditions as it considers to be in the best interest of the public for safety on the highways, issue multiple trip permits for the moving of over-dimensional or overweight nondivisible loads over specified state highways determined by the Department of Transportation. The fee for the permit is fifty dollars, payable at the time of issuance, as long as a permit is purchased for each vehicle in the fleet, one hundred percent. A multiple trip permit is valid for one year from the date of issuance. To be valid, the original permit must be carried on the towing vehicle. It is unlawful for any person to violate any provision, term, or condition of the permit. The permit is subject at all times to inspection by any law enforcement officer or authorized agent of the authority issuing the permit. A multiple trip permit is void one year from the date of issue or whenever the Department of Revenue and Transportation is notified in writing that the permit has been lost, stolen, or destroyed."

Name change

SECTION1441.Section 56-5-4185 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4185.Notwithstanding Section 56-5-4030 or any other provision of this chapter, the Department of Revenue and Taxation shall issue, under terms and conditions as in its judgment are in the public interest for safety on the highways, an open end or annual permit for the use on the public highways of cotton modular vehicles. For the purposes of this section, `cotton modular vehicle' is defined as a single motor vehicle used only to transport seed cotton modules, cotton, or equipment used in the transporting or processing of cotton. This cotton modular vehicle must not exceed a width of one hundred seven inches and must not exceed a length of forty-six feet extreme overall dimensions and inclusive of front and rear bumpers and load. To be valid, the permit must be carried on the vehicle, and it is unlawful for any person to violate any provision, term, or condition of the permit. The fee for the permit is fifty dollars and authorizes the use of only one properly described cotton modular vehicle. The Department of Revenue and Taxation and the Department of Transportation may promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. A person violating (1) the provisions of this section, (2) any provision, term, or condition of the permit, or (3) any regulation promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined an amount not exceeding two hundred dollars or imprisoned for a term not exceeding thirty days."

Name change

SECTION1442.Section 56-5-4190 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4190.Before issuance of any open-end permit to any person, such person shall: (1)File with the Department of Revenue and Taxation in such form as may be approved by the Department of Revenue and Taxation a bond in the amount of five hundred dollars or such greater amount as the applicant may determine will at all times equal or exceed the net value of all open-end permits to be issued to the applicant by the Department Revenue and Taxation for which payment is not received at the time of issuance, payable to the Department of Revenue and Taxation by some surety or guaranty company authorized to do business in this State and approved by the Department of Revenue and Taxation as surety conditional upon the lawful movement of any oversize mobile home, modular home unit or utility building over any highway in this State and the payment to the Department of Revenue and Taxation any and all amounts when due for fees provided for in Sections 56-3-710 and 56-5-4200 and the compliance with all of the terms, conditions and restrictions of any oversize permit of any sort issued to such person filing such bond; or (2)File with the Department of Revenue and Taxation a deposit of cash or acceptable negotiable securities sufficient in the opinion of the Department of Revenue and Taxation to adequately secure the sum of five hundred dollars or such greater amount as the applicant may determine will at all times equal or exceed the net value of all open-end permits to be issued to the applicant by the Department of Revenue and Taxation for which payment is not received at the time of issuance, such deposit to be made upon the same conditions as those required to be set forth in the bond provided for in item (1) of this section."

Name change; allocation of inspection functions

SECTION1443.Section 56-5-4200 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4200.All persons to whom open-end permits are issued shall file with the Department of Revenue and Taxation on or before the twentieth day of each January, April, July, and October reports showing the number of trips made during the preceding quarter ending on December thirty-first, March thirty-first, June thirtieth, and September thirtieth, respectively, the dates of such trips, and such other information as the Department of Revenue and Taxation may require. The fee of ten dollars a trip, required to be paid pursuant to Section 56-3-710, must be paid to the Department of Revenue and Taxation with each such report filed; however, the fee for additional trips of less than twelve miles distance made under such open-end permits is one dollar a trip. Persons to whom open-end permits are issued shall maintain full and complete records of all oversize mobile homes, modular home units, or utility buildings moved, such records to be open to audit and inspection by the Department of Revenue and Taxation and the Department of Public Safety."

Oversize load permits

SECTION1444.Section 56-5-4205 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4205.The Department of Revenue and Taxation, under such terms as in the judgment of the Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Safety may be in the public interest for safety on the highways, may issue open end or annual permits for moving oversize loads and vehicles, oversize mobile homes, modular home units, utility buildings and steel tanks, pursuant to Sections 56-5-4180, 56-5-4190, and 56-5-4200. All heights shall not exceed fourteen and one-half feet and the owner of any such transporter shall be responsible for any damage which may occur."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION1445.Section 56-5-4210 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4210.Anything in this article to the contrary notwithstanding, the Department of Transportation with respect to state highways and local authorities with respect to highways under their jurisdiction may prescribe, by notice as herein provided, loads and weights and speed limits lower than the limits prescribed in this chapter and other laws, whenever in their judgment any road or part thereof or any bridge or culvert shall by reason of its design, deterioration, rain or other climatic or natural causes be liable to be damaged or destroyed by motor vehicles, trailers or semitrailers, if the gross weight or speed limit thereof shall exceed the limits prescribed in such notice. And the Department of Transportation or such local authority may, by like notice, regulate or prohibit, in whole or in part, the operation of any specified class or size of motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer on any highways or specified parts thereof under its jurisdiction, whenever in its judgment, such regulation or prohibition is necessary to provide for the public safety and convenience on such highways or parts thereof by reason of traffic density, intensive use thereof by the traveling public or other reasons of public safety and convenience. The notice or the substance thereof shall be posted at conspicuous places at terminals of and all intermediate cross-roads and road junctions with the section of highway to which such notice shall apply. After any such notice shall have been posted, the operation of any motor vehicle or combination contrary to its provisions shall constitute a violation of this chapter."

Department name changed to Department of Transportation

SECTION1446.Section 56-5-4220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4220.No limitation shall be established by any county, municipal or other local authority pursuant to the provisions of Section 56-5-4210 that would interfere with or interrupt traffic as authorized hereunder over state highways, including officially established detours for such highways and cases where such traffic passes over roads, streets or thoroughfares within the sole jurisdiction of such county, municipal or other local authority, unless such limitations and further restrictions shall have first been approved by the Department of Transportation, except that with respect to county roads, other than such as are in use as state highway detours, the respective county road authorities shall have full power and authority to further limit the weights of vehicles upon bridges and culverts upon such public notice as they deem sufficient, and existing laws applicable thereto shall not be affected by the terms of this article."

Name change

SECTION1447.Section 56-5-4720 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4720.Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 56-5-4700, any department vehicle may use oscillating, rotating or flashing red lights during any emergency. The department personnel shall determine when an emergency exists."

Name change

SECTION1448.Section 56-5-4840 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4840.It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale or use any device or equipment which tends to change the original design or performance of any head lamps or any other lamps or reflectors required by law to be attached to motor vehicles, trailers or semitrailers unless the equipment or device has been approved by the director of the department."

Brake inspections; allocation of enforcement

SECTION1449.Section 56-5-4880 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4880.(a)The department is authorized to require an inspection of the braking system on any motor-driven cycle and to disapprove any such braking system on a vehicle which it finds will not comply with the performance ability standard set forth in Section 56-5-4860, or which in its opinion is equipped with a braking system that is not so designed or constructed as to insure reasonable and reliable performance in actual use. (b)The Department of Revenue and Taxation may refuse to register or may suspend or revoke the registration of any vehicle referred to in this section when it determines that the braking system thereon does not comply with the provisions of this section. (c)No person shall operate on any highway any vehicle referred to in this section in the event the department has disapproved the braking system upon such vehicle."

Name change

SECTION1450.Section 56-5-4940 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4940.The warranty provisions of Sections 56-5-4910 to 56-5-4940 shall not be applicable with respect to any private passenger automobile as to which the manufacturer files a written certification under oath with the department, on a form to be prescribed by that department, that the particular make and model described therein complies with the applicable standards of Sections 56-5-4910 to 56-5-4940. Nothing in Sections 56-5-4910 to 56-5-4940 should be construed to remove any common-law or statutory remedy available against the manufacturer, distributor or ultimate vendor for a defective product."

Name change

SECTION1451.Section 56-5-5010 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5010.No person shall sell any new motor vehicle nor shall any new motor vehicle be registered unless such vehicle is equipped with safety glass wherever glass is used in doors, windows and windshields. The foregoing provisions shall apply to all passenger-type motor vehicles, including passenger buses and school buses. But in respect to trucks, including truck tractors, the requirements as to safety glass shall apply to all glass used in doors, windows and windshields in the drivers' compartments of such vehicles. The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall not register any motor vehicle which is subject to the provisions of this section unless it is equipped with an approved type of safety glass and the Department of Revenue and Taxation may thereafter suspend the registration of any motor vehicle so subject to this section which it finds is not so equipped until it is made to conform to the requirements of this section."

Name change

SECTION1452.Section 56-5-5320 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5320.(a)Any officer of the department authorized to administer or enforce the motor vehicle laws of the State may at any time upon reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle is unsafe or not equipped as required by law or that its equipment is not in proper adjustment or repair require the driver of such vehicle to stop and submit such vehicle to an inspection and such test with reference thereto as may be appropriate to determine that such vehicle and equipment are in safe operating conditions and that they comply with the requirements of this chapter. Such authority, however, shall be limited to the inspection of such vehicle for brakes, lights, horn, tires and windshield wiper, and shall not authorize the search of the vehicle or the occupants thereof for any other purpose without due process of law. Evidence of the commission of an unlawful act, procured by such inspection and such test, shall not be admissible in any criminal prosecution except such as may be provided for in this article. (b)In the event such vehicle is found to be in unsafe condition, or any required part or equipment is not present or is not in proper repair and adjustment the officer shall give a written notice to the driver and shall send a copy to the department. The notice shall require that such vehicle be placed in safe condition and its equipment in proper repair and adjustment, specifying the particulars with reference thereto, and that a certificate of inspection and approval be obtained from an officer of the department within ten days."

Name change

SECTION1453.Section 56-5-5330 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5330.(a)No person driving a vehicle shall refuse to submit such vehicle to an inspection and test when required to do so by the department or an authorized officer or employee thereof. (b)Every owner or driver, upon receiving a notice as provided in Section 56-5-5320, shall comply therewith, and shall, within ten days, secure an official certificate of inspection and approval from an officer of the department which shall be issued in triplicate, one copy to be retained by the owner, one copy to be retained by the inspecting officer, and the other copy to be forwarded to the department. In lieu of compliance with the provisions of this subsection, the vehicle shall not be operated except as provided in subsection (c) and each day upon which such vehicle is operated over any highway of this State after failure to comply with this section shall constitute a separate offense. (c)No person shall operate any unsafe or dangerous vehicle after receiving a notice with reference thereto as above provided except as may be necessary to return such vehicle to the residence or place of business of the owner or driver, at the discretion of the officer, or to a garage or service station, until such vehicle and its equipment has been placed in proper repair and adjustment and otherwise made to conform to the requirements of Article 35 of this chapter. (d)In the event repair or adjustment of any vehicle or its equipment is found necessary upon inspection, the owner of the vehicle may obtain such repair or adjustment at any place he may choose; but in every event an official certificate of inspection and approval from an officer of the department must be obtained, otherwise such vehicle shall not be operated upon the highways of this State. (e)Any person who wishes to make his own repairs may do so."

Name change

SECTION1454.Section 56-5-5340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5340.The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall not register a used vehicle for the first time unless the application therefor is accompanied by a copy of a certificate of inspection as provided for in this article and made out in the name of the new owner. The limitations of inspection, conditions of repair and use of defective vehicles provided for in this article shall apply to such a used vehicle."

Vehicle inspection; allocation of enforcement

SECTION1455.Section 56-5-5350 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5350.(a)The department shall require that every vehicle registered in this State, except house trailers, shall be inspected at least once a year and have displayed at all times a department-approved certificate of inspection and approval in a practical location specified by the department. No person shall drive or move on any highway any vehicle, except house trailers, unless there shall be in effect and properly displayed thereon a current certificate of inspection. (b)Such inspection shall be made of every such vehicle and such certificates obtained with respect to the mechanism, lights, tires, brakes, and equipment of such vehicle as shall be designated by the department. (c)The Department of Revenue and Taxation may accept a certificate of inspection and approval issued by a qualified agency or department of another state and shall except from the provisions of this article all vehicles subject to the United States Department of Transportation federal motor carrier safety regulations. (d)The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall suspend the registration of any vehicle which it determines is in such unsafe condition as to constitute a menace to safety and which after notice and demand is not equipped, as required in this article, and for which a required certificate has not been obtained. (e)The Department of Revenue and Taxation, before registering and titling a vehicle, shall require that the application therefor be accompanied by an official certificate of inspection and approval issued for the vehicle by an inspection station licensed to inspect vehicles in this State. (f)No motor vehicle shall be sold in South Carolina without having a valid South Carolina inspection stamp affixed before delivery to the buyer."

Name change; crediting of fees

SECTION1456.Section 56-5-5360 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5360.(a)The department shall designate and approve official inspection stations and is authorized to issue annual permits therefor upon application therefor and payment of the required fee. Motor fleet inspection stations, licensed under this article, shall not be required to inspect vehicles for the general public. The department shall furnish instructions and all necessary forms to official inspection stations for the inspection of vehicles as herein required in the issuance of official certificates of inspection and approval. (b)Application for license must be made on an official form and must be granted only when the department is satisfied that the station is properly equipped and has competent personnel to make the inspections and will be properly conducted. A fee of ten dollars must be charged for every official inspection station permit issued, or a renewal thereof; provided, that no fee may be charged to official inspection stations of the state, county, or other political subdivision for garages maintained for the upkeep and maintenance of public-owned vehicles. Any garage or station being refused the right to issue certificates of inspection upon request must be granted a hearing by the department. (c)The official inspection stations shall issue a certificate of inspection and approval upon an official form to the owner of a vehicle upon inspecting such vehicle and determining that its equipment required under the provisions of this article is in good condition and proper adjustment, otherwise no certificate shall be issued. When required by the department records and reports shall be made of every inspection and every certificate to be issued. (d)Official inspection stations may charge a fee of not more than two dollars and fifty cents for each inspection and fifty cents for the issuance of inspection certificates. Provided, that if any vehicle does not pass inspection at any station and is taken to another place to have such defect corrected, the fee shall not be charged again provided the motor vehicle is taken to the station which originally made the inspection. Inspection forms shall be prepared by the department and furnished to inspection stations at a cost of fifty cents each. (e)The department shall properly supervise and cause inspections to be made of the stations' and vehicle inspectors' performance and may, after reasonable notice, suspend or revoke and require the surrender of the license issued to a station and the permit issued to a vehicle inspector which it finds is not properly equipped or conducted. The department shall maintain and post at its office, lists of all stations issued licenses and vehicle inspectors issued permits and of those licenses and permits that have been suspended or revoked. Monetary penalties which may be imposed separately upon a vehicle inspection station or a vehicle inspector in lieu of suspension or revocation are as follows: For a first offenseNot less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars For a second offenseNot less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars For a third offenseNot less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred dollars For a fourth and eachNot less than five hundred subsequent offense dollars nor more than two thousand dollars (f)Official inspection stations and vehicle inspectors whose licenses or permits are suspended or revoked under the provisions of this section may request in writing a hearing and upon receipt of the request the department shall schedule a hearing pursuant to the Administration Procedures Act. The hearing must be in the county where the permittee resides unless the department and the licensee or permittee agree that the hearing may be held in some other county. The review may be held by a duly authorized agent of the department. Upon the hearing the department shall either rescind its order of suspension or revocation or, good cause appearing, may continue, modify, or extend the suspension or revocation order of the licensee or permittee. The department may impose a monetary penalty against the inspection station and the vehicle inspector in lieu of suspension or revocation. Failure to pay the monetary penalty shall result in suspension or revocation of the license of the inspection station or permit of the vehicle inspector. Any inspection station whose agents and employees falsely or fraudulently specify work to be done or parts to be installed shall, in addition to suspension or revocation of its license, be fined the sum of one hundred dollars and the cost of any labor or parts unnecessarily done or installed must be refunded to the vehicle owner. (g)All such fees collected by the department shall be credited to the state general fund."

Authority to promulgate regulations

SECTION1457.Section 56-5-5400 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5400.The department and the Department of Revenue and Taxation is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations for the administration and enforcement of this article; provided, that in the rules and regulations no specific brand or type of equipment shall be named or designated as inspection equipment, and only standards of performance shall be set. Provided, further, that the rules and regulations shall be so drawn as not to provide a monopoly of one make of equipment. When these rules and regulations are duly promulgated they shall have the full force and effect of law."

Name change

SECTION1458.Section 56-5-5410 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5410.For the purpose of administering and enforcing the provisions of this article, the Department of Public Safety may hire necessary and qualified personnel and purchase the necessary equipment and vehicles."

Name change

SECTION1459.Section 56-5-5420 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5420.On the recommendation of the county legislative delegation, the Department of Public Safety shall maintain at the county highway maintenance shop in each county an inspection station and shall inspect and issue certificates at such shop at the same cost to the motor vehicle owner as is charged by private garages, provided, that if it is not feasible to use the maintenance shop then some other suitable existing facility in the county may be used. Provided, the above shall apply when there are less than five licensed inspection stations in a county. Provided, that any owner of a motor vehicle may file a complaint, after his vehicle has been inspected by an official inspection station, either before or after repairs have been made as required by the inspection, with the department, and the department shall forthwith investigate such complaint and may revoke or suspend the license of any official inspection station found to be improperly conducted and may require the refund to the owner of the inspection fee, if it is determined that the complaint was justified."

Name change

SECTION1460.Section 56-5-5430 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5430.Any person whose registration has been suspended or any official inspection station or mechanic whose license has been suspended or revoked under the provisions of Sections 56-5-5350 to 56-5-5440, may, within ten days after notice of suspension or within ten days after notice of the result of the review, if such review is requested and held, apply to the resident or presiding circuit judge of the circuit in which the person or station is located, or any other court of competent jurisdiction in which the person or station is located, either at chambers or open court, for a review upon the record, certified to by the Director of the Department of Public Safety, to determine if the action taken by the department is lawful and in accordance with the provisions of Sections 56-5-5350 to 56-5-5440."

Name change

SECTION1461.Section 56-5-5670 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5670.(a)Any demolisher who purchases or otherwise acquires a vehicle for purposes of wrecking, dismantling or demolition shall not be required to obtain a certificate of title for such vehicle in his own name. After the vehicle has been demolished, processed, or changed so that it physically is no longer a motor vehicle, the demolisher shall surrender for cancellation the certificate of title or auction sales receipt or disposal authority certificate. The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall issue such forms, rules and regulations governing the surrender of auction sales receipts, disposal authority certificates, and certificates of title as are appropriate. (b)A demolisher shall keep an accurate and complete record of all abandoned motor vehicles purchased or received by him in the course of his business. These records shall contain the name and address of the person from whom each vehicle was purchased or received and the date when such purchases or receipts occurred. The records shall be open for inspection by any police officer at any time during normal business hours. Any record required by this section shall be kept by the demolisher for at least one year after the transaction to which it applies."

Abandoned vehicles; allocation of functions

SECTION1462.Section 56-5-5810 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5810.For the purposes of this article: (a)`Officer' means any state, county or municipal law enforcement officer, including county sanitation officers. (b)`Motor vehicle' means every device by which a person or property may be transported or drawn upon a highway by mechanical means. (c)`Abandoned vehicle' means a motor vehicle that is inoperable or is left unattended on public property for more than seventy-two hours, or a motor vehicle that has remained illegally on private or public property for a period of more than seven days without the consent of the owner or person in control of the property. (d)`Derelict vehicle' means a motor vehicle: (1)whose certificate of registration has expired and the registered and legal owner no longer resides at the address listed on the last certificate of registration on record with the Department of Revenue and Taxation, or (2)whose major parts have been removed so as to render the motor vehicle inoperable and incapable of passing inspection as required under existing standards; or (3)manufacturer's serial plates, motor vehicle identification numbers, license number plates and any other means of identification have been removed so as to nullify efforts to locate or identify the registered and legal owner; or (4)whose registered and legal owner of record disclaims ownership or releases his rights thereto; or (5)which is more than seven years old and does not bear a current license as required by the Department of Revenue and Taxation. (e)`Demolisher' means any person, firm or corporation whose business is to convert a motor vehicle into processed scrap or scrap metal or otherwise to wreck or dismantle such a motor vehicle. (f)`Director' means the Director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation. (g)`Department' means the Department of Public Safety. (h)`Colored tag' means any type of notice affixed to an abandoned or derelict motor vehicle advising the owner or the person in possession that it has been declared an abandoned or derelict motor vehicle and will be treated as such. The tag shall be of sufficient size to be easily discernable and shall contain such information as the director deems necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. (i)`Vehicle recycling' means the process whereby discarded motor vehicles are collected and then processed by shredding, bailing or shearing to produce processed scrap iron and steel. (j)`Salvage yard' means a business or a person who holds a license issued by the Department of Revenue and Taxation required of all retailers, possesses ten or more derelict motor vehicles, regularly engages in buying and selling used motor vehicle parts and owns the necessary equipment to transport wrecked and derelict motor vehicles."

Name change; crediting of funds

SECTION1463.Section 56-5-5830 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5830.The director is vested with the power and is charged with the duties of administering the provisions of this article. The department may adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. All county and municipal officers shall cooperate with and assist the director in enforcing this article."

Title change

SECTION1464.Section 56-5-5850 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5850.(a)When any motor vehicle is derelict or abandoned, the director shall cause a colored tag to be placed on the motor vehicle which shall be notice to the owner, the person in possession of the motor vehicle or any lien holder that it is considered to be derelict or abandoned and is subject to forfeiture to the State. (b)If the motor vehicle is determined to be valued at less than one hundred dollars, the tag shall so state and shall serve as the only legal notice that unless the motor vehicle is removed within seven days from the date of the tag, it shall become property of the State, shall be removed and sold for recycling purposes and all proceeds derived from the sale shall be deposited into the state general fund established for the purpose of administering the provisions of this article. (c)If the value of the motor vehicle is determined to be more than one hundred dollars, the colored tag shall so state and shall serve as the only legal notice that if the vehicle is not removed within seven days from the date of the tag that it will be removed to a designated place to be sold. After the motor vehicle is removed the director shall notify in writing by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, the person in whose name the motor vehicle was last registered at the last address reflected in the department's records and to any lienholder of record, by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, that the motor vehicle is being held, designating the place where it is being held and that if it is not redeemed within thirty days from the date of the notice by paying all cost of removal and storage it shall be sold for recycling purposes or for such other purposes as the director deems advisable to ensure obtaining the highest possible return from the sale. The proceeds of the sale shall be deposited in the state general fund established for the purposes of administering the provisions of this article. (d)If the value of the motor vehicle is determined to be more than one hundred dollars and if the identity of the last registered owner cannot be determined or if the registration contains no address for the owner, or if it is impossible to determine with reasonable certainty the identification and addresses of any lien holders, notice by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the motor vehicle was located shall be sufficient to meet all requirements of notice pursuant to this article. The notice of publication may contain multiple listings of motor vehicles. Twenty days after date of publication the advertised motor vehicle may be sold. The proceeds of such sale shall be deposited in the state general fund established for the purpose of administering the provisions of this article. (e)Any notice sent by mail or any newspaper notice published under the provisions of this section shall contain the following if it is obtainable: the year, make, model and serial number of the abandoned motor vehicle. (f)All officers defined in this article may appraise or determine the value of derelict or abandoned motor vehicles for the purposes of this article."

Title change

SECTION1465.Section 56-5-5860 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5860.Title to all motor vehicles sold or disposed of in accordance with this article shall vest in the State. All manufacturer's serial number plates and any other identification numbers for all motor vehicles sold to any person other than a demolisher shall at the time of the sale be turned in to the department for destruction. Any demolisher purchasing or acquiring any vehicle hereunder shall, under oath, state to the department that the vehicles purchased or acquired by it have been shredded or recycled. The director shall remove and destroy all departmental records relating to such motor vehicles in such method and manner as he may prescribe; provided, that such records shall be retained for a minimum of six months from the date of each sale."

Title change

SECTION1466.Section 56-5-5870 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-5870.The director may contract with any federal, other state, county or municipal authority or private enterprise for tagging, collection, storage, transportation or any other services necessary to prepare derelict or abandoned motor vehicles for recycling or other methods of disposal. Publicly owned properties, when available, shall be provided as temporary collecting areas for the motor vehicles defined herein. The director may sell derelict or abandoned motor vehicles or if he deems it more advisable, may contract with private enterprises for the purchase of such motor vehicles for recycling."

Name change

SECTION1467.Section 56-5-6140 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-6140.The department, within ten days after notice of a moving traffic violation by a person under the age of eighteen years, shall mail a copy of the charges to the owner of the vehicle used in the violation."

Definition of "Department"

SECTION1468.Section 56-7-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-7-10.There will be a uniform traffic ticket used by all law enforcement officers in arrests for traffic offenses and for the following additional offenses:

Offense Citation Interfering with Police Officer Serving ProcessSection 16-5-50 Dumping Trash on Highway/ Private Property Section 16-11-700 Indecent Exposure Section 16-15-130 Disorderly Conduct Section 16-17-530 Discharging Fireworks from Motor Vehicle Section 23-35-120 Damaging Highway Section 57-7-10 Place Glass, Nails, Etc. on Highway Section 57-7-20 Obstruction of Highway by Railroad Cars, Etc.Section 57-7-240 Signs Permitted on InterstateSection 57-25-140 Brown Bagging Section 61-5-20 Drinking Liquors in Public Conveyance Section 61-13-360 Poles Dragging on HighwaySection 57-7-80 Open Container Section 61-9-87 Purchase or Possession of Beer or Wine by a Person Under Age Section 20-7-370 Purchase or Possession of Alcoholic Liquor by A Person Under Age Twenty-OneSection 20-7-380 Unlawful Possession and Consumption of Alcoholic Liquors Section 61-5-30 Sale of Beer or Wine on Which Tax Has Not Been PaidSection 61-9-20 Falsification of Age to Purchase Beer or WineSection 61-9-50 Unlawful Purchase of Beer or Wine for A Person Who Cannot Legally BuySection 61-9-60 Unlawful Sale or Purchase of Beer or Wine, Giving False Information as to Age, Buying Beer or Wine Unlawfully for AnotherSection 61-9-85 Employment of a Person Under the Age of Twenty-One As An Employee in Retail or Wholesale or Manufacturing Liquor Business Section 61-13-340 Failure to Remove Doors from Abandoned RefrigeratorsSection 16-3-1010 Malicious Injury to Animals or Personal PropertySection 16-11-510 Timber, Logs, or Lumber Cutting, Removing, Transporting Without Permission, Valued at Less Than Fifty DollarsSection 16-11-580 Littering Section 16-11-700 Larceny of a Bicycle Valued at Less Than One Hundred Dollars Section 16-13-80 Cock Fighting Section 16-17-650 Ticket Scalping Section 16-17-710 Glue Sniffing Section 44-53-1110 Trespassing Section 16-11-755 Trespassing Section 16-11-600 Trespassing Section 16-11-610 Trespassing Section 16-11-620 Negligent Operation of Watercraft; Operation of Watercraft While Under Influence of Alcohol or Drugs Section 50-21-110 Negligence of Boat Livery to Provide Proper Equipment and Registration Section 50-21-120 Interference with Aids to Navigation or Regulatory Markers or Operation of Watercraft in Prohibited Area Section 50-21-170 Operation of Watercraft Without a Certificate of TitleSection 50-23-190 Parking on private property without permissionSection 16-11-760. No other ticket may be used for these offenses. The service of the uniform traffic ticket shall vest all traffic, recorders', and magistrates' courts with jurisdiction to hear and to dispose of the charge for which the ticket was issued and served. This ticket will be designed by the department and approved by the Attorney General. For purposes of this chapter `department' means Department of Public Safety."

Name change

SECTION 1469.Section 56-7-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-7-20.For purposes of this chapter, a traffic ticket shall consist of five copies, one of which shall be blue and shall be given to the vehicle operator who is the alleged traffic violator; one of which shall be yellow and shall be dispatched to the department for its records; one of which shall be white and shall be dispatched to the police agency of which the arresting officer is a part; one of which shall be green and shall be retained by the trial officer for his records; and one of which shall be pink and shall be dispatched by the police agency to the department for purposes of audit. Each ticket shall have a unique identifying number."

Name change

SECTION 1470.Section 56-7-30 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-7-30.The department shall have the traffic tickets printed. Police agencies shall order tickets from the department and shall record the identifying numbers of the tickets received by them. The cost of the tickets shall be paid by the police agency. The audit copy and the department records copy shall be forwarded to the department within ten days of the disposition of the case by final trial court action or by nolle prosequi. The head of each police agency shall be responsible for the forwarding of the audit copies and for conducting an annual inventory on December thirty-first of all tickets received but not yet disposed of by final trial court action or by nolle prosequi and for forwarding the results of the inventory on a form prescribed by the department to the department within ten days of the completion of the inventory."

Name change; obsolete reference deleted

SECTION 1471.Section 56-7-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-7-50.The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources or to any of its agents."

"Department" redefined

SECTION 1472.Section 56-9-20(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(2)`Department' means the Department of Public Safety, acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents."

Name change

SECTION 1473.Section 56-10-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-10-10.Every owner of a motor vehicle required to be registered in this State shall maintain the security required by Section 56-10-20 with respect to each such motor vehicle owned by him throughout the period the registration is in effect. No certificate of registration may be issued or transferred to an owner by the Director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation unless the owner or prospective owner produces satisfactory evidence that the security is in effect, including the name of the owner's automobile liability insurer, the name of the agent, the identification number of the insurance policy, and the effective dates of the policy, except in cases where other security is approved."

Name change

SECTION 1474.Section 56-10-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-10-20.The security required under this chapter is a policy or policies written by insurers authorized to write such policies in South Carolina providing for at least (1) the minimum coverages specified in Sections 38-77-140 through 38-77-230 and (2) the benefits required under Sections 38-77-240, 38-77-250, and 38-77-260. However, the Director of the Department of Public Safety may approve and accept another form of security in lieu of such a liability insurance policy if he finds that such other form of security is adequate to provide and does in fact provide the benefits required by this chapter."

Name change

SECTION 1475.Section 56-10-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-10-40.Every insurer writing automobile liability insurance in this State and every provider of other security approved and accepted by the Director of the Department of Public Safety in lieu of such insurance shall immediately notify the Director of the Department of Public Safety of the lapse or termination of any such insurance or security issued to or provided for a resident of this State in the following circumstances: (1) the lapse or termination of such insurance or security occurs within three months of issuance provided that this subsection only applies to new policies, and not renewal or replacement policies; or (2) the lapse or termination occurs after three months for a resident who fails one or more of the objective standards prescribed in Section 38-73-455. This notification must be in writing or magnetic media in a manner considered satisfactory to the department. Upon receipt of any such notice the Director of the Department of Public Safety shall make a reasonable effort to notify the person that his certificate of registration has been suspended and shall recover the certificate from such person and the motor vehicle registration plates from the vehicles concerned."

Name change

SECTION 1476.Section 56-10-45 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-10-45.For the purpose of recovering motor vehicle registration plates as required by Section 56-10-40 of the 1976 Code, the Department of Public Safety may contract with or make working arrangements with local law enforcement agencies including sheriffs and municipal law enforcement departments for them to confiscate these plates, upon a contract or working arrangement being agreed to. The local law enforcement agencies are authorized to confiscate these plates. The local law enforcement agencies must be paid for this service in the manner agreed upon between them and the director from funds of the Department of Public Safety which are to be used for this purpose."

"Department" defined

SECTION 1477.Section 56-10-210(3) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(3)`Department' means the Department of Public Safety."

Name change

SECTION 1478.Section 56-10-220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-10-220.Every person applying for registration for a motor vehicle shall at the time of such registration and licensing declare the vehicle to be an insured motor vehicle under the penalty set forth in Section 56-10-260 and shall execute and furnish to the Department of Revenue and Taxation his certificate that such motor vehicle is an insured motor vehicle and that he will maintain insurance thereon during the registration period. The certificate must be in the form prescribed by the department. The department may require any registered owner or any applicant for registration and licensing of a motor vehicle declared to be an insured motor vehicle to submit a certificate of insurance executed by an authorized agent or representative of an insurance company authorized to do business in this State. Such certificate must also be in a form prescribed by the department."

Name change

SECTION 1479.The words beginning after (2) of Section 56-10-240 are amended to read:

"The Department of Revenue and Taxation, in its discretion, may authorize insurers to utilize alternative methods of providing notice of cancellation of or refusal to renew to the department. The department may not reissue registration certificates and license plates for that vehicle until satisfactory evidence has been filed by the owner or by the insurer who gave the cancellation or refusal to renew notice to the department that the vehicle is insured. Upon receiving information to the effect that a policy is canceled or otherwise terminated on a motor vehicle registered in South Carolina, the department shall suspend the license plates and registration certificate and shall initiate action as required within fifteen days of the notice of cancellation to pick up the license plates and registration certificate. A person who has had his license plates and registration certificate suspended by the department, but who at the time of suspension possesses liability insurance coverage sufficient to meet the financial responsibility requirements as set forth in this chapter, has the right to appeal the suspension immediately to the Director of the Department of Insurance. If the Director of the Department of Insurance determines that the person has sufficient liability insurance coverage, he shall notify the Department of Revenue and Taxation, and the suspension is voided immediately. The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall give notice by first class mail of the cancellation or suspension of registration privileges to the vehicle owner at his last known address. However, when license plates are surrendered pursuant to this section, they must be forwarded to the Department of Revenue and Taxation office in the county where the person who surrenders the plates resides."

Name change

SECTION 1480.Section 56-10-245 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-10-245.Whenever a person furnishes proof of liability insurance, or surrenders or has his registration or license tags confiscated for failure to produce proof of insurance, after the department receives notice of the lapse or termination of the required liability insurance, the department shall compare the effective date of the lapse or termination with the date of the proof of insurance or the date of the confiscation or surrender. If the department determines there was a lapse in the required coverage the department shall assess, in addition to other fines or penalties imposed by the law, a per diem fine in the amount of five dollars. The department shall collect and keep this fine to defer the costs of the financial responsibility program. The fine provided for in this section and the two hundred dollar reinstatement fee pursuant to Section 56-10-240 of the 1976 Code must not be assessed if the person furnishes proof, as documented by his sworn statement, that the motor vehicle upon which the coverage has lapsed or been terminated has not been operated upon the roads, streets, or highways of this State during the lapse or termination, and the lapse or termination is due to military service or illness as documented by a signed physician's statement. The total amount of the fine provided for in this section may not exceed two hundred dollars for a first offense."

Name change

SECTION 1481.Section 56-10-280(A)(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(2)The insured produces satisfactory proof from the department that he has sold or otherwise disposed of the insured vehicle or surrendered its tags and registration."

Name change

SECTION 1482.Section 56-10-290 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-10-290.The administration and enforcement of this article must be by the Department of Public Transportation, and law enforcement officers generally shall also enforce this article within their respective jurisdictions."

"Department" defined

SECTION 1483.Section 56-15-10 is amended by adding:

"r. `Department' means Department of Public Safety."

Name change

SECTION 1484.Section 56-15-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-15-50.Every manufacturer shall specify to the dealer the delivery and preparation obligations of its motor vehicle dealers prior to delivery of new motor vehicles to retail buyers. A copy of the delivery and preparation obligations of its motor vehicle dealers and a schedule or statement of the compensation to be paid or credited to its motor vehicle dealers for the work and services they shall be required to perform in connection with such delivery and preparation obligations shall be filed with the department by every motor vehicle manufacturer and shall constitute any such dealer's only responsibility for product liability as between such dealer and such manufacturer. The compensation as set forth on such schedule or statement shall be reasonable and paid or credited as set out in Section 56-15-60."

Name change

SECTION 1485. The first sentence in Section 56-15-320(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Each applicant for licensure as a dealer or wholesaler must furnish a surety bond in the penal amount of fifteen thousand dollars on a form to be prescribed by the director of the department."

"Department" defined

SECTION 1486. Section 56-16-10 is amended by adding:

"(r)`Department' means Department of Public Safety."

Name change

SECTION 1487.Section 56-16-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-16-20.Every manufacturer shall specify to the dealer the delivery and preparation obligations of its motorcycle dealers prior to delivery of new motorcycles to retail buyers. A copy of the delivery and preparation obligations of its motorcycle dealers and a schedule or statement of the compensation to be paid or credited to its motorcycle dealers for the work and services they are required to perform in connection with the delivery and preparation obligations must be filed with the department by every motorcycle manufacturer and is a dealer's only responsibility for product liability as between dealer and manufacturer. The compensation as set forth on such schedule or statement must be reasonable and paid or credited as set out in Section 56-16-30."

Name change

SECTION 1488.Section 56-16-110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-16-110.Every manufacturer shall specify to the dealer the delivery and preparation obligations of its motorcycle dealers prior to delivery of new motorcycles to retail buyers. A copy of the delivery and preparation obligations of its motorcycle dealers and a schedule or statement of the compensation to be paid or credited to its motorcycle dealers for the work and services they are required to perform in connection with such delivery and preparation obligations must be filed with the department by every motorcycle manufacturer and shall constitute any such dealer's only responsibility for product liability as between the dealer and the manufacturer. The compensation as set forth on the schedule or statement is reasonable and paid or credited as set out in Section 56-16-30."

Name change

SECTION 1489.The first sentence in Section 56-16-150(2) is amended to read:

"Each applicant for licensure as a motorcycle dealer or wholesaler must furnish a surety bond in the penal amount of fifteen thousand dollars on a form to be prescribed by the director of the department."

"Department" defined

SECTION 1490. Section 56-19-10(5) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(5)`Department' means the Department of Revenue and Taxation."

Crediting of fees and penalties

SECTION 1491.Section 56-19-80 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-19-80.All fees and penalties collected by the department pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or Chapter 21 of Title 16 shall be placed in the state general fund for the administration of this chapter and for other department purposes."

Name change

SECTION 1492.Section 56-19-390(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(2)If the interest of the owner is terminated or the vehicle is sold under a security agreement by a lienholder named in the certificate of title, or by foreclosure of a statutory lien or sale pursuant to Section 29-15-10, the transferee shall promptly mail or deliver to the department the last certificate of title or order of court pertaining to sale, his application for a new certificate in the form the department prescribes and an affidavit made by or on behalf of the lienholder that the vehicle was repossessed and that the security interest of the owner was lawfully terminated or sold pursuant to the terms of the security agreement, or by foreclosure of a statutory lien. If the lienholder succeeds to the interest of the owner and holds the vehicle for resale, he need not secure a new certificate of title but, upon transfer to another person, shall promptly mail or deliver to the transferee or to the department the certificate, affidavit and other documents required to be sent to the department by the transferee, and the department shall, upon request, issue a new title free and clear of prior liens and encumbrances."

Name change

SECTION 1493.Section 56-19-425 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-19-425.The department shall be authorized to charge a fee of three dollars for furnishing the odometer reading or other odometer information concerning a particular vehicle to a requesting party."

Name change; "department" defined

SECTION 1494.Section 56-23-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-23-10.No person shall engage in the business of training or educating persons to drive or operate motor vehicles, or offer such training or education, for which a fee or charge is made, unless and until such person has obtained and holds a valid driver training school license therefor issued by the Department of Public Safety. For purposes of this chapter, department shall mean Department of Public Safety."

Crediting of fees

SECTION 1495.Section 56-23-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-23-40.The annual license fee for each driver training school licensed under the provisions of this chapter shall be fifty dollars, and all such licenses issued shall expire on June thirtieth of the license year of issue. The proceeds from the sale of driver training school licenses shall be placed in the state general fund for the administration and enforcement of this chapter and title."

Name change

SECTION 1496.Section 56-23-70 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-23-70.Driver instructor qualifying courses may be conducted by recognized college or university or driving school instructors who have successfully completed an approved forty-hour safety education course from a recognized college or university and have acquired an instructor permit from the department. Where such qualifying courses are offered they shall be supervised by the department and shall be offered at least twice a year."

Name change

SECTION 1497.Section 56-23-85 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-23-85.No person connected with driver training schools or private, parochial or public high schools shall engage in behind the wheel training of persons to drive or operate motor vehicles unless such person has obtained and holds a valid driver instructor permit or temporary driver instructor permit therefor issued by the department. Appropriate examination for such instructor permit shall be at the discretion of the department. The annual fee for an instructor permit shall be twenty dollars, and all such instructor permits shall expire on June thirtieth. Public high school instructors shall not be required to pay a fee for a permit."

Name change; "department" defined

SECTION 1498.Section 56-25-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-25-10.The Nonresident Traffic Violator Compacts of 1972 and 1977 (compacts) are enacted into law by reference and entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein. The director of the department shall execute all documents and perform all other acts necessary to carry out the provisions of the compacts. The department may promulgate regulations consistent with the provisions of this chapter and in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 23 of Title 1 (the Administrative Procedures Act). The department shall maintain a current list of those jurisdictions which have entered into the compacts. Such list and copies of the compacts shall from time to time be disseminated to those agencies and individuals who are responsible for enforcement of their provisions. For purposes of this chapter `department' means Department of Public Safety."

"Department" defined

SECTION 1499.Section 56-27-10(c) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(c)`Department' means the Department of Public Safety."