<p> 1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 120th Session, 2013-2014 3 4 H. 4759 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Rep. J.E. Smith 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5113cm13.docx 11 12 Introduced in the House on February 20, 2014 13 Currently residing in the House Committee on Education and Public Works 14 15 Summary: Speeding 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 2/20/2014 House Introduced and read first time ( House Journalpage 40) 22 2/20/2014 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works ( House Journalpage 40) 23 24 25 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 26 27 2/20/2014 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 5651520, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH 12 CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO MAXIMUM SPEED 13 LIMITS THAT MAY BE IMPOSED UPON THE STATE’S 14 HIGHWAYS, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR AN ADDITIONAL 15 FINE THAT MUST BE IMPOSED UPON DRIVERS WHO ARE 16 CONVICTED OF DRIVING FIFTEEN MILES AN HOUR OR 17 MORE IN EXCESS OF THE SPEED LIMIT ALONG A ROAD 18 OR HIGHWAY, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE ALLOCATION 19 OF THE ADDITIONAL FINE. 20 21 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 22 Carolina: 23 24 SECTION 1. Section 5651520 of the 1976 Code is amended to 25 read: 26 27 “Section 5651520. (A) A person shall not drive a vehicle on a 28 highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under 29 the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential 30 hazards then existing. Speed must be so controlled to avoid 31 colliding with a person, vehicle, or other conveyance on or 32 entering the highway in compliance with legal requirements and 33 the duty of a person to use care. 34 (B) Except when a special hazard exists that requires lower 35 speed for compliance with subsection (A), the limits specified in 36 this section or established as hereinafter authorized are maximum 37 lawful speeds, and a person shall not drive a vehicle on a highway 38 at a speed in excess of these maximum limits: 39 (1) seventy miles an hour on the interstate highway system 40 and other freeways where official signs giving notice of this speed 41 are posted; </p><p>[4759] 2 1 (2) sixty miles an hour on multilane divided primary 2 highways where official signs giving notice of this speed limit are 3 posted; 4 (3) fiftyfive miles an hour in other locations or on other 5 sections of highways and unpaved roads are limited to the speed of 6 forty miles an hour; and 7 (4) manufactured, modular, or mobile homes must not be 8 transported at a speed in excess of ten miles below the maximum 9 posted speed limit when the maximum posted speed limit is in 10 excess of fortyfive miles an hour, and never in excess of fiftyfive 11 miles an hour. 12 (C) Thirty miles an hour is the maximum speed in an urban 13 district. ‘Urban district’ means the territory contiguous to and 14 including any street which is built up with structures devoted to 15 business, industry, or dwelling houses situated at intervals of less 16 than one hundred feet for a distance of a quarter of a mile or more. 17 (D) A local authority on the basis of an engineering and traffic 18 investigation may determine that the maximum speed limit 19 permitted under this article is less than thirty miles an hour in an 20 urban district. If this determination is made, the maximum speed 21 limit for the urban district is enforceable by all law enforcement 22 officers authorized to enforce the traffic laws in the urban district. 23 However, this subsection does not apply to highways within the 24 state highway system contained in Section 5651530. 25 (E) The maximum speed limits set forth in this section may be 26 altered pursuant to Sections 5651530 and 5651540. 27 (F) The driver of a vehicle shall drive, consistent with the 28 requirements of subsection (A), at an appropriate reduced speed 29 when approaching and crossing an intersection or railway grade 30 crossing, when approaching and going around a curve, 31 approaching a hillcrest, when traveling upon any narrow bridge, 32 narrow or winding roadway, and when special hazard exists with 33 respect to pedestrians or other traffic or by reason of weather or 34 highway conditions. 35 (G) A person violating the speed limits established by this 36 section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction for a first 37 offense, must be fined or imprisoned as follows: 38 (1) in excess of the above posted limit but not in excess of 39 ten miles an hour by a fine of not less than fifteen dollars nor more 40 than twentyfive dollars; 41 (2) in excess of ten miles an hour but less than fifteen miles 42 an hour above the posted limit by a fine of not less than twentyfive 43 dollars nor more than fifty dollars; </p><p>[4759] 3 1 (3) in excess of fifteen miles an hour but less than 2 twentyfive miles an hour above the posted limit by a fine of not 3 less than fifty dollars nor more than seventyfive dollars; and 4 (4) in excess of twentyfive miles an hour above the posted 5 limit by a fine of not less than seventyfive dollars nor more than 6 two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days. 7 (H) In addition to any other fine or penalty imposed under this 8 section, a fine of two hundred fifty dollars must be imposed upon a 9 driver who is convicted of, pleads guilty to, or pleads nolo 10 contendere to driving fifteen miles an hour or more above the 11 speed limit along a road or highway. A driver who has this 12 additional fine imposed upon him must be classified as a ‘super 13 speeder’. The additional fine must be placed in the state general 14 fund and allocated to Level I trauma centers in the cities of 15 Greenville, Spartanburg, Charleston, and Columbia. 16 (I) A citation for violating the speed limits issued by any 17 authorized officer must note on it the rate of speed for which the 18 citation is issued. 19 (I)(J) In expending the funds credited to the state general fund 20 from fines generated under subsection (G), the Department of 21 Public Safety first shall consider the need for additional highway 22 patrolmen.” 23 24 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 25 Governor. 26 XX 27</p><p>[4759] 4</p>