Title 56, Motor Vehicles

Any commercial vehicle eighty inches or more in over-all width may be equipped with not more than three identification lamps showing to the front which shall emit an amber light without glare and not more than three identification lamps showing to the rear which shall emit a red …

Except as hereinafter provided in this article the head lamps, the auxiliary driving lamps or the auxiliary passing lamps, or combinations thereof, on motor vehicles other than motorcycles or motor-driven cycles shall be so arranged that the driver may select at will between dist…

Whenever a motor vehicle is being operated on a roadway or shoulder adjacent thereto during the times specified in Section 56-5-4450, the driver shall use a distribution of light or composite beam directed high enough and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons and vehicles at …

Head lamps arranged to provide a single distribution of light not supplemented by auxiliary driving lamps shall be permitted on motor vehicles manufactured and sold prior to April 29, 1939 in lieu of multiple-beam road-lighting equipment herein specified, if the single distributi…

A "sidewalk" is that portion of a street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines, of a roadway and the adjacent property lines, intended for the use of pedestrians.

The head lamp or head lamps upon every motor-driven cycle may be of the single-beam or multiple-beam type but in either event shall comply with the requirements and limitations as follows: (1) Every such head lamp or head lamps on a motor-driven cycle shall be of sufficient inten…

Any motor vehicle may be operated under the conditions specified in Section 56-5-4450 when equipped with two lighted lamps upon the front thereof capable of revealing persons and objects seventy-five feet ahead in lieu of lamps required in Sections 56-5-4770 and 56-5-4790, provid…

At all times specified in Section 56-5-4450 at least two lighted lamps shall be displayed, one on each side at the front of every motor vehicle other than a motor cycle or motor-driven cycle, except when such vehicle is parked subject to the regulations governing lights on parked…

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 candlep…

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale or use any device or equipment which tends to change the original design or performance of any head lamps or any other lamps or reflectors required by law to be attached to motor vehicles, trailers or semitrailers unless…

Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer and pole trailer and any combination of such vehicles operating upon a highway within this State, shall be equipped with brakes in compliance with the requirements of this chapter. (a) Every such vehicle and combination of vehicles, excep…

Every motor vehicle and combination of vehicles, at all times and under all conditions of loading, upon application of the service brake, shall be capable of: (a) Developing a braking force that is not less than the percentage of its gross weight tabulated herein for its classifi…

All brakes shall be maintained in good working order and shall be so adjusted as to operate as equally as practicable with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle.

(a) The Department of Public Safety is authorized to require an inspection of the braking system on any motor-driven cycle and to disapprove any such braking system on a vehicle which it finds will not comply with the performance ability standard set forth in Section 56-5-4860, o…

(a) The term "hydraulic brake fluid" as used in this section shall mean the liquid medium through which force is transmitted to the brakes in the hydraulic brake system of a vehicle. (b) Hydraulic brake fluid shall be distributed and serviced with due regard for the safety of the…

An "intersection" is the area embraced within the prolongation or connection of the lateral curb lines or, if none, then the lateral boundary lines of the roadways of two highways which join one another at, or approximately at, right angles or the area within which vehicles trave…

Sections 56-5-4850 to 56-5-4890 do not apply to trailers, not exceeding eight thousand pounds gross weight, which are pulled behind farm tractors or trucks and used in the transportation of farm products and articles to and from farms. These trailers may not exceed a speed of twe…

For the purposes of Sections 56-5-4910 to 56-5-4940, the term "private passenger automobile" shall mean a four-wheeled motor vehicle designed for carrying ten persons or less, except a multipurpose passenger vehicle which is constructed either on a truck chassis or with special f…

Every private passenger automobile manufactured on and after August 1, 1972, sold and licensed in the State of South Carolina, shall be sold subject to the manufacturer's warranty that it is equipped with an appropriate energy absorption system and that, without compromising exis…

Every private passenger automobile manufactured on and after August 1, 1974, sold and licensed in the State of South Carolina, shall be sold subject to the manufacturer's warranty that it is equipped with an appropriate energy absorption system and that without compromising exist…

The warranty provisions of Sections 56-5-4910 to 56-5-4940 shall not be applicable with respect to any private passenger automobile as to which the manufacturer files a written certification under oath with the Department of Motor Vehicles, on a form to be prescribed by that depa…

Every motor vehicle when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than two hundred feet, but no horn or other warning device shall emit an unreasonably lou…

The driver of a motor vehicle shall, when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation, give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.

Any authorized emergency vehicle may be equipped with a siren, whistle or bell capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than five hundred feet and of a type approved by the Department of Public Safety, but such siren shall not be used …

(A) It is unlawful for a person to operate a vehicle that is upfitted as an ambulance or no longer permitted and licensed as an ambulance pursuant to Article 1, Chapter 61, Title 44, unless the vehicle's exterior equipment and markings including, but not limited to, emergency lig…

It is permissible but not required that any commercial vehicle be equipped with a theft alarm signal device which is so arranged that it cannot be used by the driver as an ordinary warning signal.

Every motor vehicle which is so constructed or loaded as to obstruct the driver's view to the rear thereof from the driver's position shall be equipped with a mirror so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for a distance of at least two hundred feet to the re…

With the exception of Articles 35 and 37, the provisions of Chapter 5 of Title 56 govern the operation of mopeds on the public highways and streets of this State.

A "crosswalk" is: (1) That part of a roadway at an intersection included within the connections of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on opposite sides of the highway measured from the curbs or in the absence of curbs from the edges of the traversable roadway; or (2) Any portion …

No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sign, poster or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, sidewings or side or rear windows of such vehicle which obstructs the driver's clear view of the highway or any intersecting highway. The windshield on every …

No person shall sell any new motor vehicle nor shall any new motor vehicle be registered unless such vehicle is equipped with safety glass wherever glass is used in doors, windows, and windshields. The foregoing provisions shall apply to all passenger-type motor vehicles, includi…

(A) No person may operate a motor vehicle that is required to be registered in this State on any public highway, road, or street that has a sunscreen device on the windshield, the front side wings, and side windows adjacent to the right and left of the driver and windows to the r…

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…