South Carolina General Assembly
115th Session, 2003-2004

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Bill 3684

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

AMENDED

April 3, 2003

H. 3684

Introduced by Rep. Lucas

S. Printed 4/3/03--H.    [SEC 4/8/03 10:30 AM]

Read the first time February 25, 2003.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 56-5-4495 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR PERSONS TO DISPLAY ON THEIR PERSONALLY OWNED VEHICLES CERTAIN COLORED LIGHTS, TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS, AND TO PROVIDE A PENALTY FOR PERSONS WHO VIOLATE A PROVISION CONTAINED IN THIS SECTION.

Amend Title To Conform

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

SECTION    1.    Section 56-5-4700 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(a)(A)    Every authorized emergency vehicle shall, in addition to any other equipment and distinctive markings required by this chapter, be equipped with a siren, exhaust whistle, or bell capable of giving an audible signal.

(b)(B)    Every school bus and every authorized emergency vehicle shall, in addition to any other equipment and distinctive markings required by this chapter, must be equipped with signal lamps mounted as high and as widely spaced laterally as practicable, which shall must be capable of displaying to the front two alternately flashing red lights located at the same level and to the rear two alternately flashing red lights located at the same level, and these lights shall must have sufficient intensity to be visible at five hundred feet in normal sunlight. Provided, that However, vehicles of any a fire department or funeral home when equipped with a mounted, oscillating, rotating, or flashing red light, visible in all directions for a distance of five hundred feet in normal sunlight, shall are not be required to have additional signal lamps.

(c)(C)    A police vehicle when used as an authorized emergency vehicle may but need not be equipped with alternately flashing red lights as specified herein. Also, such vehicle may in lieu of the alternately flashing red lights be equipped with a special dome-mounted oscillating, rotating, or flashing red or blue light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the front in normal sunlight; provided, that it shall be unlawful for any person to possess any flashing, oscillating or rotating blue light on any vehicle except one used primarily for law enforcement purposes.

Provided, further, that after January 1, 1967, all police vehicles when used as an authorized emergency vehicle shall then be equipped with dome-mounted, oscillating, rotating or flashing blue lights visible from a distance of five hundred feet. All police vehicles when used as authorized emergency vehicles must be equipped with oscillating, rotating, or flashing blue lights. In addition to the blue lights, the police vehicle may, but need not be equipped with alternatively flashing red lights as herein specified, and may but need not be equipped with oscillating, rotating, or flashing red lights, white lights, or both in combination with the required blue lights. The authorized emergency police vehicle lights described herein must be visible for a distance of five hundred feet in all directions in normal sunlight. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess or display on any vehicle any blue light that is visible from outside the vehicle except one used primarily for law enforcement purposes.

(d)(D)    The alternately flashing lighting described in subsection (b)(B) of this section shall not be used on any vehicle other than an authorized emergency vehicle. Provided, that a school bus may use the alternately flashing red lighting described in subsection (b)(B), or red flashing lights in the rear and amber flashing lights in the front.

(e)(E)    The use of the signal equipment described herein shall impose upon drivers of other vehicles the obligation to yield right-of-way and stop as prescribed in Sections 56-5-2360 and 56-5-2770."

SECTION    2.    Section 56-5-4830 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4830.    Any lighted lamp or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle, other than head lamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps, flashing turn signals, emergency-vehicle emergency vehicle warning lamps, and school-bus school bus warning lamps, which project a beam of light of an intensity greater than three hundred candlepower shall be so directed that no part of the high-intensity high intensity portion of the beam will strike the level of the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five feet from the vehicle.

No A person shall not drive, or move, or park any vehicle or equipment upon any a highway with any a lamp or device thereon on it displaying a red or blue light visible from directly in front of the center thereof of it. This section shall not apply to any a vehicle upon which a red or blue light visible from the front is expressly authorized or required by this chapter.

Flashing lights are prohibited except on an authorized emergency vehicle, school bus, snow-removal equipment, or on any vehicle as a means of indicating a right or left turn or the presence of a vehicular traffic hazard requiring unusual care in approaching, overtaking, or passing."

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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