Title 56, Motor Vehicles

Every motor vehicle shall at all times be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise and annoying smoke and no person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass or similar device upon a motor vehicle upon a highway. The e…

It shall be unlawful for any person to attach to any motor vehicle any device to emit from the exhaust pipe or any other part of such vehicle any smoke screen, noisome gases or odors. It shall be unlawful for any person to drive upon any highway or to have in his possession any m…

Every motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer operated upon the highways shall be equipped with tires of sufficient size and in sufficient number to distribute the wheel loads on the road surface so as to avoid damage to the highway, and all such tires shall be in a safe operating …

No motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer shall be equipped with an open toilet or other device that may be hazardous from a health and sanitation standpoint.

No person shall operate any motor truck, passenger bus or truck tractor upon any highway outside of the corporate limits of municipalities at any time from a half hour after sunset to half hour before sunrise unless there shall be carried in such vehicle the following equipment, …

No person shall operate at the time and under the conditions stated in Section 56-5-5060 any motor vehicle used in the transportation of inflammable liquids in bulk or transporting compressed inflammable gases unless there shall be carried in such vehicle three red electric lante…

As an alternative it shall be deemed a compliance with Sections 56-5-5060 and 56-5-5070 in the event the person operating any motor vehicle described therein shall carry in such vehicle three portable reflector units on standards of a type approved by the Department of Public Saf…

Whenever any motor truck, passenger bus, truck tractor, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer is disabled upon the traveled portion of any highway or the shoulder thereof outside of any municipality at any time when lighted lamps are required on vehicles, the driver of such vehicl…

A "safety zone" is an area or space officially set apart within a roadway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and which is protected or is so marked or indicated by adequate signs as to be plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone.

Whenever any vehicle used in the transportation of inflammable liquids in bulk or transporting compressed inflammable gases is disabled upon a highway at any time or place mentioned in Section 56-5-5090, the driver of such vehicle shall display upon the roadway the following ligh…

Whenever any vehicle of a type referred to in Sections 56-5-5090 and 56-5-5100 is disabled upon the traveled portion of a highway or the shoulder thereof, outside of any municipality, at any time when the display of fusees, flares or electric lanterns is not required, the driver …

In the alternative it shall be deemed a compliance with Sections 56-5-5090, 56-5-5100 or 56-5-5110 in the event three portable reflector units on standards of a type approved by the Department of Public Safety are displayed at the times and under the conditions specified in said …

The flares, fusees, lanterns and flags to be displayed as required in Sections 56-5-5090 to 56-5-5110 shall conform with the requirements of Section 56-5-5060 applicable thereto.

Any person operating any vehicle transporting any explosive as a cargo or part of a cargo upon a highway shall at all times comply with the provisions of this section. Such vehicle shall be marked or placarded on each side and the rear with the word "Explosive" in letters not les…

When a vehicle is towing another vehicle on a public road or highway, the towing vehicle must be attached to the towed vehicle by a safety chain, cable, or equivalent device in addition to the regular drawbar, tongue, trailer hitch, or other connection. The safety connections or …

A "business district" is the territory contiguous to and including a roadway when within any six hundred feet along such roadway there are buildings in use for business or industrial purposes, including but not limited to hotels, banks, office buildings, railroad stations and pub…

A "residence district" is the territory contiguous to and including a highway not comprising a business district when the property on such highway for a distance of three hundred feet or more is in the main improved with residences or residences and buildings in use for business.

No person shall drive or move on any highway any vehicle unless the equipment thereon is in good working order and adjustment as required in this chapter and the vehicle is in such safe mechanical condition as not to endanger the driver or other occupant or any person upon the hi…

All signs, signals, markings and devices, not inconsistent with this chapter, placed or erected by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction for the purpose of regulating, warning or guiding traffic are "official traffic-control devices."

Any device, whether manually, electrically or mechanically operated, by which traffic is alternately directed to stop and to proceed is a "traffic-control signal."

Any sign, signal or device erected by authority of a public body or official or by a railroad and intended to give notice of the presence of railroad tracks or the approach of a railroad train is a "railroad sign or signal."

(a) It shall be the duty of every police officer having knowledge of an abandoned motor vehicle to seize it and have it removed for safekeeping to such place as may be designated by the sheriff of the county, or the chief of police of the municipality, in which it was found, who …

(A)(1) For purposes of this article, "vehicle" means a motor vehicle, trailer, mobile home, watercraft, or any other item or object that is subject to towing and storage, and applies to any vehicle in custody at the time of the enactment of this section. "Vehicle" includes: (a) i…

(A) Notwithstanding another provision of law, a law enforcement officer who directs that a vehicle be towed for any reason, whether on public or private property, must use the established towing procedure for his jurisdiction. A request by a law enforcement officer resulting from…

If an abandoned vehicle has not been reclaimed pursuant to Section 56-5-5630, the proprietor, owner, or operator of the towing company, storage facility, garage, or repair shop may have the abandoned vehicle sold at a public auction pursuant to Section 29-15-10. The vehicle's pur…

For a period not in excess of two years after the payment of any sum into the general fund of any county or municipality on account of the sale of any abandoned motor vehicle, governing bodies of the respective counties or municipalities shall hear and determine claims of any per…

(A) For purposes of this section, "vehicle" has the same meaning as defined by Section 56-5-120 and includes, but is not limited to, a "trailer", as defined by Section 56-5-240, a "semitrailer", as defined by Section 56-5-250, and a "pole trailer", as defined by Section 56-5-260.…

Pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel are "traffic."

(A) As contained in this section, "salvage pool operator" means a person who engages in the business of selling salvage motor vehicles at auction, including wholesale auction. (B) This section applies only to a salvage pool operator who, on request of an insurance company, takes …

"Right-of-way" is the right of one vehicle or pedestrian to proceed in a lawful manner in preference to another vehicle or pedestrian approaching under such circumstances of direction, speed and proximity as to give rise to danger of collision unless one grants precedence to the …

For the purposes of this article and Article 39: (a) "Officer" means any state, county, or municipal law enforcement officer, including county and municipal code enforcement and sanitation officers. (b) "Abandoned vehicle" means a vehicle required to be registered in this State i…

Abandoned and derelict vehicles constitute a hazard to the health and welfare of the people in the State in that such vehicles can harbor noxious diseases, furnish shelter and breeding places for vermin, and present physical dangers to the safety and well-being of children and ot…

All abandoned and derelict vehicles shall be subject to removal from public or private property and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this article.

(A) When any vehicle is left unattended on a highway or on other public or private property without the consent of the owner or person in control of the property, an officer may place a colored tag on the vehicle which is notice to the owner, the person in possession of the vehic…

The Department of Public Safety, or any county or municipality 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 vehic…

All officers, employees, and agents of any person under contract with the Department of Public Safety, county, or municipality, are authorized to go on private property for the purposes of enforcing this article. No agent or employee of any federal, state, county, or municipal go…

In removing the abandoned and derelict vehicles, the enforcing agency will do so without wilfully harming or damaging the property on which the vehicles are located.

"Stop," when required, means complete cessation from movement.

No lienholder shall be subject to any penalty imposed by law in this State for abandonment unless the vehicle is abandoned by the lienholder or his agent or servant. No owner of a vehicle which has been stolen and thereafter abandoned shall be liable for any charges or penalties …

It shall be unlawful for any person to tamper with, remove or destroy any colored tag placed on any vehicle in compliance with this article and any person found guilty of this provision shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

The provisions of this article shall not apply to vehicles housed or protected from the elements, those classified as antiques and registered pursuant to Sections 56-3-2210 and 56-3-2220, those exempted from registration pursuant to Section 56-3-120, those vehicles reported as st…

(a) Seizure, sale, or disposal of an abandoned or derelict motor vehicle in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of this article shall constitute conversion for which the owner shall have redress in any court of competent jurisdiction. (b) Any person or unit of government up…

(A) For purposes of this section, "vehicle" has the same meaning as defined by Section 56-5-120, and includes, but is not limited to, a "trailer", as defined by Section 56-5-240, a "semitrailer", as defined by Section 56-5-250, and a "pole trailer", as defined by Section 56-5-260…

A person who abandons a vehicle either on public or private property shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, and shall pay all costs of having such abandoned vehicle removed, stored, and sold as provided for in Sec…

The envelope in which a notice required by law to be mailed by the Department of Motor Vehicles is mailed, other than by registered or certified mail, must have printed on it in bold letters "Please Forward".

"Stop," "stopping" or "standing," when prohibited, means any stopping or standing of a vehicle whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal.