2003-2004 Bill 1012: to Provide That the Motor Vehicles Department Administer Commercial

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 115th Session, 2003-2004 3 4 S. 1012 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senator Ryberg 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5862cm04.doc 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 4796 12 13 Introduced in the Senate on February 25, 2004 14 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Transportation 15 16 Summary: To provide that the Motor Vehicles Department administer commercial driver's license 17 program and to revise certain terms 18 19 20 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 21 22 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 23 2/25/2004 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-8 24 2/25/2004 Senate Referred to Committee on Transportation SJ-8 25 26 27 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 28 29 2/25/2004 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 56-1-2005, SO AS TO PROVIDE 13 THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES SHALL 14 ADMINISTER THE STATE’S COMMERCIAL DRIVER 15 LICENSE PROGRAM; TO AMEND SECTION 56-1-10 AND 16 SECTION 56-1-630, BOTH AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 17 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS CONTAINED IN PROVISIONS 18 CONCERNING MOTOR VEHICLES, SO AS TO REVISE THE 19 DEFINITION OF THE TERM “CONVICTION”; TO AMEND 20 SECTION 56-1-2030, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 21 DEFINITION OF TERMS CONTAINED IN THE SOUTH 22 CAROLINA COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE ACT, SO 23 AS TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM “SERIOUS 24 TRAFFIC VIOLATION”; TO AMEND SECTION 56-1-2080, AS 25 AMENDED, RELATING TO ISSUANCE OF A COMMERCIAL 26 DRIVER’S LICENSE, SO AS TO REVISE THE CONTENTS OF 27 THE AGREEMENT A THIRD PARTY MUST ENTER INTO 28 WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES IN 29 ORDER TO ADMINISTER THE COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S 30 LICENSE SKILLS TEST; TO AMEND SECTION 56-1-2100, AS 31 AMENDED, RELATING TO THE COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S 32 LICENSE, SO AS TO REVISE THE REQUIREMENTS TO 33 OBTAIN A HAZARDOUS MATERIAL ENDORSEMENT; TO 34 AMEND SECTION 56-1-2110, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 35 VIOLATIONS THAT RESULT IN A PERSON BEING 36 DISQUALIFIED FROM DRIVING A COMMERCIAL MOTOR 37 VEHICLE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT OFFENSES 38 COMMITTED BY A COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE 39 HOLDER IN A COMMERCIAL OR NONCOMMERCIAL 40 VEHICLE MAY BE USED TO DISQUALIFY A PERSON 41 FROM DRIVING A COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE, AND 42 TO PROVIDE A DEFINITION FOR THE TERM “SERIOUS

1 [1012] 1 1 TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS”; TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-2735, 2 RELATING TO VEHICLE ENTRY INTO AN INTERSECTION, 3 ACROSS A CROSSWALK, OR ONTO A RAILROAD GRADE 4 CROSSING, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A VEHICLE MAY 5 NOT BE DRIVEN OR TOWED THROUGH OR OVER ANY 6 RAILROAD GRADE CROSSING UNTIL THE DRIVER HAS 7 DETERMINED THAT THE VEHICLE HAS SUFFICIENT 8 UNDERCARRIAGE CLEARANCE TO NEGOTIATE THE 9 RAILROAD GRADE CROSSING. 10 11 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 12 Carolina: 13 14 SECTION 1. Article 13, Chapter 1, Title 56 is amended by 15 adding: 16 17 “Section 56-1-2005. The South Carolina Department of Motor 18 Vehicles shall administer the South Carolina Commercial Driver’s 19 License Program in accordance with the Federal Motor Carrier 20 Safety Regulations as promulgated.” 21 22 SECTION 2. Section 56-1-10(11) of the 1976 Code, as last 23 amended by Act 375 of 2000, is further amended to read: 24 25 “(11) ‘Conviction’ includes the entry of any plea of guilty, the 26 entry of any plea of nolo contendere, and the forfeiture of any bail 27 or collateral deposited to secure a defendant’s appearance in court. 28 means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, or determination that a 29 person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of 30 original jurisdiction or by an authorized administrative tribunal, an 31 unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the 32 person’s appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere 33 accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court costs, or 34 violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of 35 whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated.” 36 37 SECTION 3. Section 56-1-630(3) of the 1976 Code is amended to 38 read: 39 40 “(3) ‘Conviction’ means a conviction of any offense related to 41 the use or operation of a motor vehicle which is prohibited by state 42 law, municipal ordinance, or administrative regulation, or a 43 forfeiture of bail, bond, or other security deposited to secure

1 [1012] 2 1 appearance by a person charged with having committed any of 2 these offenses, and which conviction or forfeiture is required to be 3 reported to the licensing authority. an unvacated adjudication of 4 guilt, or determination that a person has violated or failed to 5 comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or by an 6 authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail 7 or collateral deposited to secure the person’s appearance in a court, 8 a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the 9 payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of 10 release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is 11 rebated, suspended, or probated.” 12 13 SECTION 4. Section 56-1-2030(22) of the 1976 Code, as 14 amended by Act 434 of 1998, is further amended to read: 15 16 “(22) ‘Serious traffic violation’ means a conviction when 17 operating a commercial motor vehicle of: 18 (a) excessive speeding, involving a single charge for a speed 19 fifteen miles an hour or more above the speed limit; 20 (b) reckless driving, including charges of driving a 21 commercial motor vehicle in a wilful or wanton disregard for the 22 safety of persons or property; 23 (c) improper or erratic traffic lane changes; 24 (d) following the vehicle ahead too closely; or 25 (e) a violation of a state or local law related to motor vehicle 26 traffic control, other than a parking violation, arising in connection 27 with an accident or collision resulting in death or serious bodily 28 injury to a person.; 29 (f) driving a commercial motor vehicle without obtaining a 30 commercial driver’s license; 31 (g) driving a commercial motor vehicle without a 32 commercial driver’s license in the driver’s possession; 33 (h) driving a commercial motor vehicle without the proper 34 class of commercial driver’s license and/or endorsements for the 35 specific vehicle group being operated or for the passengers or type 36 of cargo being transported.” 37 38 SECTION 5. Section 56-1-2080(A)(b)(i) of the 1976 Code is 39 amended to read: 40 41 “(i) authorization for the department or the Federal Highway 42 Administration FMCSA or its representatives to conduct random 43 examinations, inspections, and audits without prior notice;

1 [1012] 3 1 randomly test commercial driver’s license applicants or holders. 2 An applicant or holder who fails retesting shall lose his 3 commercial driver’s license;” 4 5 SECTION 6. Section 56-1-2100(F) of the 1976 Code is amended 6 to read: 7 8 “(F) Every person applying for renewal of a commercial driver’s 9 license shall complete the application form required by Section 10 56-1-2090(A), providing updated information and required 11 certifications. If the applicant wishes to retain a hazardous 12 materials endorsement, the written test for a hazardous materials 13 endorsement must be taken and passed again. Every applicant 14 must take and pass the written test for hazardous material 15 endorsement in order to obtain or retain the endorsement. The 16 person shall submit to a vision test.” 17 18 SECTION 7. Section 56-1-2110(F) of the 1976 Code is amended 19 to read: 20 21 “(F) A person is disqualified from driving a commercial motor 22 vehicle for not less than sixty days if convicted of two serious 23 traffic violations or one hundred twenty days if convicted of three 24 serious traffic violations, committed in a commercial motor 25 vehicle arising from separate incidents occurring within a 26 three-year period. Offenses committed by commercial driver’s 27 license holders in a commercial or noncommercial vehicle may be 28 considered pursuant to this subsection. As contained in this 29 subsection, serious traffic violations are those contained in Section 30 56 - 1 - 2030(22).” 31 32 SECTION 8. Section 56-5-2735 of the 1976 Code as added by 33 Act 399 of 1992, is amended to read: 34 35 “Section 56-5-2735. (A) Notwithstanding the indication of a 36 traffic signal to proceed, no a driver shall not enter an intersection 37 or a marked crosswalk or drive onto a railroad grade crossing 38 unless there is sufficient space on the other side of the intersection, 39 crosswalk, or railroad grade crossing to accommodate the vehicle 40 the driver is operating without obstructing the passage of other 41 vehicles, pedestrians, or railroad trains.

1 [1012] 4 1 (B) No A vehicle shall not be driven on the left side of the 2 roadway while attempting to pass another vehicle within one 3 hundred feet of a railroad grade crossing. 4 (C) When stopping as required at a railroad crossing, the driver 5 shall keep as far to the right of the highway as possible and shall 6 not form two lanes of traffic unless the roadway is marked for two 7 or more lanes of traffic on the driver’s side of the center line of the 8 highway. 9 (D) A vehicle may not be driven or towed through or over any 10 railroad grade crossing until the driver has determined that the 11 vehicle has sufficient under carriage clearance to negotiate the 12 railroad grade crossing.” 13 14 SECTION 9. This act takes effect upon approval by the 15 Governor. 16 ----XX---- 17

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