Is An Extended Cab Vehicle Street Legal in South Carolina?
Full Question:
Answer:
There is no general ban on extended cab trucks in the state statutes. Please see the statutes below to determine applicability. We suggest contacting the Department of Transportation at the following link if you have doubts regarding the specifications of your vehicle:
http://www.scdot.org/contact/default.shtml
Please see the following SC statutes:
§ 56-5-4030. Width of vehicles.
(A) As contained in this section, "appurtenances" include:
(1) an awning and its support hardware; and
(2) an appendage that is intended to be an integral part of
a motor home, travel trailer, or truck camper and is
installed by the manufacturer or dealer which includes, but
is not limited to, vents, electrical outlet covers, and
window frames.
(B) The total outside width of a vehicle or the load on it
may not exceed one hundred two inches exclusive of safety
devices approved by the Department of Public Safety.
(C) Appurtenances on motor homes, travel trailers, and
truck campers in noncommercial use may extend to a maximum
of six inches on one side and four inches on the other
beyond the maximum width requirement contained in
subsection (B).
§ 56-5-4010. Size and weight limits shall not be
exceeded; powers of local authorities.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drive or move or for
the owner to cause or knowingly to permit to be driven or
moved on any highway any vehicle of a size or weight
exceeding the limitations stated in this article or
otherwise in violation of this article. The maximum size
and weight of vehicles herein specified shall be lawful
throughout the State, and local authorities shall have no
power or authority to alter such limitations except as
express authority may be granted in this article.
Provided, that municipalities and their franchisees
may operate combinations of vehicles of not more than four
units and not more than sixty-five feet in length on city
streets within their corporate limits and the operation of
such combinations of units shall be limited to speeds not
in excess of twenty miles per hour, and such combination
units shall be equipped with brakes meeting braking
requirements of § 56-5-4860 and the rear vehicle shall be
equipped with at least one stoplight.
"Section 56-1-10. For the purpose of this title, unless otherwise
indicated, the following words, phrases, and terms are defined as follows:
(1) 'Driver' means every person who drives or is in actual physical
control of a vehicle.
(2) 'Operator' means every person who drives or is in actual physical
control of a motor vehicle or who is exercising control over or steering a
vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle.
(3) 'Owner' means a person, other than a lienholder, having the
property or title to a vehicle. The term includes a person entitled to the
use and possession of a vehicle subject to a security interest in another
person, but excludes a lessee under a lease not intended as security.
(4) 'Department' means the Department of Motor Vehicles when the term
refers to the duties, functions, and responsibilities of the former Motor
Vehicle Division of the Department of Public Safety and means the
Department of Public Safety otherwise and in Section 56-3-840.
(5) 'State' means a state, territory, or possession of the United
States and the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(6) 'Highway' means the entire width between the boundary lines of
every way publicly maintained when any part of it is open to the use of
the public for purposes of vehicular travel.
(7) 'Motor vehicle' means every vehicle which is self-propelled, and
every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead
trolley wires but not operated upon rails.
(8) 'Motorcycle' means every motor vehicle having no more than two
permanent functional wheels in contact with the ground or trailer and
having a saddle for the use of the rider, but excluding a tractor.
(9) 'Nonresident' means every person who is not a resident of this
State.
(10) 'Nonresident's operating privilege' means the privilege
conferred upon a nonresident by the laws of this State pertaining to the
operation by the person of a motor vehicle, or the use of a vehicle owned
by the person, in this State.
(11) 'Conviction' means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, or a
determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law
in a court of original jurisdiction, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or
collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea
of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the payment of a fine
or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail,
regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or
probated.
(12) 'Cancellation of driver's license' means the annulment or
termination by formal action of the Department of Motor Vehicles of a
person's driver's license because of some error or defect in the license
or because the licensee is no longer entitled to the license; the
cancellation of a license is without prejudice, and application for a new
license may be made at any time after the cancellation.
(13) 'Revocation of driver's license' means the termination by formal
action of the Department of Motor Vehicles of a person's driver's license
or privilege to operate a motor vehicle on the public highways, which
privilege to operate is not subject to renewal or restoration, except that
an application for a new license may be presented and acted upon by the
department.
(14) 'Suspension of driver's license' means the temporary withdrawal
by formal action of the Department of Motor Vehicles of a person's
driver's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle on the public
highways, which temporary withdrawal shall be as specifically
designated.
(15) 'Automotive three-wheel vehicle' means every motor vehicle
having no more than three permanent functional wheels in contact with the
ground, having a bench seat for the use of the operator, and having an
automotive type steering device, but excluding a tractor or motorcycle
three-wheel vehicle.
(16) 'Alcohol' means a substance containing any form of alcohol
including, but not limited to, ethanol, methanol, propanol, and
isopropanol.
(17) 'Alcohol concentration' means:
(a) the number of grams of alcohol for each one hundred milliliters of
blood by weight; or
(b) as determined by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for
other bodily fluids.
(18) 'Motorcycle three-wheel vehicle' means every motor vehicle
having no more than three permanent functional wheels in contact with the
ground to include motorcycles with detachable side cars, having a saddle
type seat for the operator, and having handlebars or a motorcycle type
steering device but excluding a tractor or automotive three-wheel
vehicle.
(19) 'Low speed vehicle' or 'LSV' means a four-wheeled motor
vehicle, other than an all terrain vehicle, whose speed attainable in one
mile is more than twenty miles an hour and not more than twenty-five
miles an hour on a paved level surface, and whose GVWR is less than three
thousand pounds.
(20) 'All terrain vehicle' or 'ATV' means a motor vehicle measuring
fifty inches or less in width, designed to travel on three or more wheels
and designed primarily for off-road recreational use, but not including
farm tractors or equipment, construction equipment, forestry vehicles, or
lawn and grounds maintenance vehicles.
(21) 'Operator' or 'driver' means a person who is in actual physical
control of a motor vehicle.
(22) 'Person' means every natural person, firm, partnership, trust,
company, firm, association, or corporation. Where the term 'person' is
used in connection with the registration of a motor vehicle, it includes
any corporation, association, partnership, trust, company, firm, or other
aggregation of individuals which owns or controls the motor vehicle as
actual owner, or for the purpose of sale or for renting, as agent,
salesperson, or otherwise.
(23) 'Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings' means the Office of Motor
Vehicle Hearings created by Section 1-23-660. The Office of Motor Vehicle
Hearings has exclusive jurisdiction to conduct all contested case
hearings or administrative hearings arising from department actions.
(24) 'Administrative hearing' means a 'contested case hearing' as
defined in Section 1-23-310. It is a hearing conducted pursuant to the
South Carolina Administrative Procedures Act.
(25) 'Home jurisdiction' means the jurisdiction which has issued and
has the power to suspend or revoke the use of the license or permit to
operate a motor vehicle."
§ 56-5-120. Vehicle.
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is
or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except
devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon
stationary rails or tracks, is a "vehicle."
§ 56-5-361. Passenger car.
Every motor vehicle except motorcycles and motor-driven
cycles, designed for carrying ten passengers or less and
used for the transportation of persons is a "passenger
car".