S 0279 General Bill, By H.S. Stilwell and Giese
 A Bill to amend Section 56-10-245, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
 relating to fines for failure to surrender motor vehicle license plates on
 lapse of liability insurance, so as to exempt the owners of inoperable or
 collectors' vehicles from the fine provisions and to delete a requirement for
 a doctor's certificate to prove an illness exemption.

   10/29/90  Senate Prefiled
   10/29/90  Senate Referred to Committee on Transportation
   01/08/91  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-98
   01/08/91  Senate Referred to Committee on Transportation SJ-99

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 56-10-245, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO FINES FOR FAILURE TO SURRENDER MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE PLATES ON LAPSE OF LIABILITY INSURANCE, SO AS TO EXEMPT THE OWNERS OF INOPERABLE OR COLLECTORS' VEHICLES FROM THE FINE PROVISIONS AND TO DELETE A REQUIREMENT FOR A DOCTOR'S CERTIFICATE TO PROVE AN ILLNESS EXEMPTION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. 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 or Highways and Public Transportation 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 must not be assessed if the person furnishes proof, as documented by his a sworn statement under penalty of perjury, 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 period of lapse or termination, and the period of lapse or termination is due to occurred or was allowed to occur for one of the following reasons:

(1) military service; or

(2) illness as documented by a signed physician's statement;

(3) inoperability of the vehicle due to disrepair;

(4) the vehicle is a collector's item and was parked or garaged during the period of lapse.

The total amount of the fine provided for in this section may not exceed two hundred dollars for a first offense."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.