Bill Text: SC H5173 | 2017-2018 | 122nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Vehicle lamps and illuminating devices

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-21 - Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works [H5173 Detail]

Download: South_Carolina-2017-H5173-Introduced.html

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A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-4830, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE RESTRICTIONS PLACED ON THE TYPES OF LAMPS OR ILLUMINATING DEVICES THAT MAY BE INSTALLED ON A VEHICLE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A VEHICLE MAY NOT BE EQUIPPED WITH CERTAIN SIGNS, SCREENS, OR OTHER DEVICES THAT UTILIZE AN ELECTRONIC OR REMOTE MEANS TO DISPLAY INTERMITTENT, CHANGING, OR FLASHING LIGHTS OR COLORS.

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

SECTION    1.    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 warning lamps, and 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 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.

A person shall not drive, move, or park any vehicle or equipment upon a highway with a lamp or device on it displaying a red or blue light visible from directly in front of the center of it. This section shall not apply to 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.

To prevent danger to the motoring public and standardize consistency in the use of vehicle lighting, this section prohibits a vehicle on a highway, except as otherwise permitted, from displaying to the motoring public, upon or as a part of the vehicle a digital or electronic:

(1)    sign or sign structure;

(2)    screen; or

(3)    other device, regardless of content, that utilizes an electronic or remote means to display:

(a)    intermittent;

(b)    changing; or

(c)    flashing lights, colors, or video content, including but not limited to, a series of images or written messages."

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