The Committee on Education and Public Works proposes the following amendment (LC-585.CM0001H):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:

SECTION 1. Section 56-3-115 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 56-3-115. (A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may add athe notation "SAFE" to a private passenger-carrying motor vehicle registration to indicate that the driver registered owner or a child or ward of the registered owner, whose full legal name and date of birth, as well as an original certificate from a licensed physician as defined in Section 40-47-20, must be provided to the department, has any of the following disabilities or disorders:
  (1) may be deaf or hard of hearing. The application for this special motor vehicle registration notation must include an original certificate from a licensed physician, as defined in Section 40-47-20 and required in subsection (A), or licensed audiologist, as defined in Section 40-67-220, that certifies that the applicant has a permanent, uncorrectable hearing loss of forty decibels or more in one or both ears.;
  (2) autism;
  (3) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder;
  (4) down syndrome;
  (5) Alzheimer's disease;
  (6) traumatic brain injury;
  (7) posttraumatic stress disorder;
  (8) diabetes;
  (9) an autoimmune disorder;
  (10) blindness; or
  (11) any other mentally or physically limiting disorder.
 (B) The "deaf or hard of hearing" notation "SAFE" would only appear when a law enforcement check is run on the vehicle's license plate through the department's online interface with law enforcement to alert the officer that the driver or any identified passenger may be deaf or hard of hearinghave a disability or disorder contained in subsection (A).
 (C) The department must allow a motor vehicle owner or co-owner to update a motor vehicle registration to include or remove the "SAFE" designation at any time. Should the child or ward of the registered owner turn eighteen years old, the child or ward can remove himself as a designee of the word "SAFE" upon submitting proper documentation to the department.
 (D) No cause of action may arise nor may liability be imposed against any person, government entity, or government entity officer, agent, or employee arising from any action taken by any person in reliance upon information indicated on a person's driver's license or motor vehicle registration when the license holder, physician, or medical provider provided the information on the forms required pursuant to this section.

SECTION 2. Section 56-3-1910(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 (A) As used in this article, "handicapped" means a person who has one or more of the following conditions:
  (1) an inability to ordinarily walk one hundred feet nonstop without aggravating an existing medical condition, including the increase of pain;
  (2) an inability to ordinarily walk without the use of, or assistance from a brace, cane, crutch, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive device;
  (3) a restriction by lung disease to the extent that the person's forced expiratory volume for one second when measured by spirometry is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at rest;
  (4) requires use of portable oxygen;
  (5) a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to standards established by the American Heart Association. If the person's status improves to a higher level, for example as a result of bypass surgery or transplantation, he no longer meets this criteria;
  (6) a substantial limitation in the ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition, for example, coordination problems and muscle spasticity due to conditions that include Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, or multiple sclerosis; or
  (7) blindness; or
  (8) autism or neurodivergence.

SECTION 3. This act takes effect one year after approval by the Governor.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.