2021 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 56 - Motor Vehicles
Chapter 19 - Protection Of Titles To And Interests In Motor Vehicles
Section 56-19-10. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter and Chapter 21, Title 16, the following terms are defined as follows:

(1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" means vehicles of the fire department, police vehicles, and the ambulances and emergency vehicles of municipal departments or public service corporations designated or authorized by the chief of police or governing body of a municipality.

(2) "Bicycle" means a device propelled solely by pedals, operated by one or more persons, and having two or more wheels, except childrens' tricycles.

(3) "Bus" means every motor vehicle designed for carrying more than ten passengers and used for the transportation of persons and every motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation.

(4) "Dealer" or "motor vehicle dealer" means both "dealer" and "wholesaler", as defined in Chapter 15 of this title.

(5) Reserved.

(6) "Essential parts" means all integral and body parts of a vehicle of a type required to be registered under this title, the removal, alteration, or substitution of which would tend to conceal the identity of the vehicle or substantially alter its appearance, model, type, or mode of operation.

(7) Reserved.

(8) "Farm tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing machines, and other implements of husbandry.

(9) "Foreign vehicle" means every vehicle of a type required to be registered under this title brought into this State from another state, territory, or country, other than in the ordinary course of business by or through a manufacturer or dealer, and not registered in this State.

(10) "House trailer" means:

(a) a trailer or semitrailer which is designed, constructed, and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode, or sleeping place, either permanently or temporarily, and is equipped for use as a conveyance on streets and highways; or

(b) a trailer or a semitrailer whose chassis and exterior shell is designed and constructed for use as a house trailer, as defined in subitem (a) of this item, but which is used instead permanently or temporarily for the advertising, sales, display, or promotion of merchandise or services or for another commercial purpose except the transportation of property for hire or the transportation of property for distribution by a private carrier.

(11) "Identifying number" means the numbers and letters, if any, on a vehicle designated by the Department of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of identifying the vehicle.

(12) "Implement of husbandry" means every vehicle, including mobile barns, designed and adapted exclusively for agricultural, horticultural, or livestock-raising operations or for lifting or carrying an implement of husbandry and in either case not subject to registration if used upon the highways.

(13) "Lienholder" means a person holding a security interest in a vehicle.

(14) "Mail" means to deposit in the United States mail, properly addressed and with postage prepaid.

(15) "Manufacturer" means every person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling vehicles of a type required to be registered under this title at an established place of business in this State.

(16) Reserved.

(17) Reserved.

(18) Reserved.

(19) Reserved.

(20) Reserved.

(21) Reserved.

(22) "Pole trailer" means every vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections.

(23) "Previously registered vehicle" means a vehicle registered in this State on January 1, 1958, or a vehicle whose last registration before that date was in this State.

(24) "Reconstructed vehicle" means every vehicle of a type required to be registered under this title materially altered from its original construction by the removal, addition, or substitution of essential parts, new or used.

(25) "Registration" means the registration certificate or certificates and registration plates issued under the laws of this State pertaining to the registration of vehicles.

(26) "Road tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used for drawing other vehicles and not constructed to carry any load on it, either independently or any part of the weight of a vehicle or load drawn.

(27) "School bus' means every motor vehicle owned by a public or governmental agency and operated for the transportation of children to or from school, or privately owned and operated for compensation for the transportation of children to or from school.

(28) "Security agreement" means a written agreement which reserves or creates a security interest.

(29) "Security interest" means an interest in a vehicle reserved or created by agreement and which secures payment or performance of an obligation, conditional sale contract, conditional lease, chattel mortgage, or other lien or encumbrance, except taxes or attachment liens provided for in Section 29-15-20. The term includes the interest of a lessor under a lease intended as security. A security interest is "perfected" when it is valid against third parties generally, subject only to specific statutory exceptions.

(30) "Semitrailer" means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle.

(31) "Special mobile equipment" means every vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and only incidentally operated or moved over a highway including, but not limited to: ditch-digging apparatus, well-boring apparatus, and road construction and maintenance machinery, such as asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, tractors other than truck tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth-moving carryalls and scrapers, power shovels and draglines, and self-propelled cranes and earth-moving equipment. The term does not include house trailers, dump trucks, truck-mounted transit mixers, cranes, or shovels, or other vehicles designed for the transportation of persons or property to which machinery has been attached.

(32) "Specifically constructed vehicle" means every vehicle of a type required to be registered under this title not originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model, or type by a generally recognized manufacturer of vehicles and not materially altered from its original construction.

(33) "Trackless trolley coach" means every motor vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails.

(34) "Trailer" means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle.

(35) "Transporter" means every person engaged in the business of delivering vehicles of a type required to be registered under this title from a manufacturing, assembling, or distributing plant to dealers or sales agents of a manufacturer.

(36) "Truck" means every motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property.

(37) "Truck tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not constructed to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load drawn.

(38) Reserved.

(39) "Mobile home" means every vehicle which is designed, constructed, and equipped principally as a permanent dwelling place and is equipped to be moved on streets and highways, but which exceeds the size limitations prescribed in Section 56-3-710 and which cannot be licensed and registered by the Department of Motor Vehicles as a "house trailer".

(40) "Odometer" means an instrument for measuring and recording the actual distance a motor vehicle travels while in operation; it does not include an auxiliary instrument designed to be reset by the operator of the motor vehicle for the purpose of recording the distance traveled on trips.

(41) "Odometer reading" means actual cumulative distance traveled disclosed on the odometer.

(42) "Odometer disclosure statement" means a statement, as prescribed by item (d) of subsection (1) of Section 56-19-240, certified by the owner of the motor vehicle to the transferee or to the Department of Motor Vehicles as to the odometer reading.

(43) Reserved.

(44) Reserved.

(45) Reserved.

(46) "Commercial truck" or "commercial motor vehicle (CMV)" as defined by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport passengers or property if the motor vehicle:

(a) has a gross combination weight rating or gross combination weight of 11,794 kilograms or more (26,001 pounds or more), whichever is greater, inclusive of a towed unit(s) with a gross vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight of more than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds), whichever is greater;

(b) has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight of 11,794 or more kilograms (26,001 pounds or more), whichever is greater;

(c) is designed to transport sixteen or more passengers, including the driver; or

(d) is of any size and is used in the transportation of hazardous materials as that term is defined in 49 C.F.R. Section 390.5.

(47) "Motor home" means a vehicular unit designed to provide temporary living quarters built into an integral part of or permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis or van which unit contains permanently installed independent life support systems other than low voltage meeting the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A119.2 Standard for Recreational Vehicles and provides at least four of the following facilities: cooking with onboard power source; gas or electric refrigerator; toilet with exterior evacuation; heating or air conditioning with onboard power source separate from the vehicle engine; a potable water supply system including a faucet, sink, and water tank with an exterior service connection; or separate 110-125 volt electric power supply. For purposes of this definition, a passenger-carrying automobile, truck, or van without permanently installed independent life support systems, including at least four of the indicated facilities, does not constitute a motor home.

(48) "Permanently installed" means built into or attached as an integral part of a chassis or van and designed not to be removed except for repair or replacement. A system which is readily removable or held in place by clamps or tie downs is not permanently installed.

(49) "Low voltage" means twenty-four volts or less.

(50) "Special mobile equipment" means every vehicle, with or without motive power, not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or pay-load property and incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including farm tractors, road construction and maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, well-boring apparatus, truck cranes or mobile shovel cranes, and similar vehicles; this enumeration is deemed partial and does not operate to exclude other vehicles which are within the general terms of this definition.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-139; 1957 (50) 595; 1972 (57) 2712; 1973 (58) 203, 348; 1974 (58) 2117; 1980 Act No. 385, Section 3; 1983 Act No. 118 Sections 9, 10; 1986 Act No. 528, Sections 13-16; 1991 Act No. 94, Section 8; 1992 Act No. 486, Sections 9, 10; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1490; 1996 Act No. 459, Sections 232, 246A; 2000 Act No. 375, Section 10; 2008 Act No. 317, Section 2, eff June 19, 2008; 2016 Act No. 245 (H.5089), Section 1, eff February 1, 2017; 2017 Act No. 34 (S.444), Sections 6, 7, eff November 10, 2017; 2017 Act No. 89 (H.3247), Section 31, eff November 19, 2018.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, the amendments made by 2017 Act No. 34 and 2017 Act No. 89 were read together.

Effect of Amendment

2017 Act No. 34, Section 6, reserved (44), which related to the definition of "automotive three-wheel vehicle".

2017 Act No. 34, Section 7, reserved (45), which related to the definition of "motorcycle three-wheel vehicle".

2017 Act No. 89, Section 31, reserved (5), (16) to (21), (38), and (43) to (45), which had related to the definitions of "driver", "motor vehicle", "motorcycle", "motor-driven cycle", "nonresident", "operator", "owner", "vehicle", "moped", "Automotive three-wheel vehicle", and "Motorcycle three-wheel vehicle", respectively; and made nonsubstantive changes.