S 704

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 704
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION 56-5-1538, RELATING TO EMERGENCY SCENE MANAGEMENT, SO AS TO REVISE AND
CREATE CERTAIN DEFINITIONS, TO REVISE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF DRIVERS
APPROACHING EMERGENCY VEHICLES, AND TO ESTABLISH VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES; AND
BY AMENDING SECTION 56-1-720, RELATING TO THE SYSTEM OF POINTS ASSESSED AGAINST
A PERSON'S DRIVING RECORD FOR MOTOR VEHICLE VIOLATIONS, SO AS TO ESTABLISH
POINTS FOR CREATING HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS AT EMERGENCY SCENES.
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Section 56-5-1538 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
56-5-1538. (A) An emergency scene
is a special hazardlocation
designated by the potential need to provide emergency medical care and is
identified by emergency vehicles with flashing lights, rescue equipment, or
emergency personnel on the scene.
    (B)
An emergency scene is a special hazard location designated by the presence of an emergency vehicle
conducting a law enforcement activity, fire protection, the potential need to
provide emergency medical care, or the recovery or restoration of property, or
both, and is identified by emergency vehicles with flashing lights, rescue
equipment, or emergency personnel or both on the scene.
    (C)
An emergency scene is under the authority of the first arriving emergency
personnel, which includes emergency medical services personnel, until the
arrival of the fire or law enforcement officials having jurisdiction. All motor
vehicles passing through an emergency scene and pedestrians observing an
emergency scene must obey and not interfere with the duties of emergency
personnel. Motor vehicles and bystanders may not block access to or exit from
an emergency scene.
    (D)
The management authority of emergency medical services is limited to managing
patient care and preventing further injury to the patients and on-scene
personnel. This authority may be delegated by emergency personnel to provide an
adequate level of safety.
    (E)
A paid or volunteer worker at an emergency scene has proper authority to be at
and control the scene in a manner consistent with his training.
    (F)
The driver of a vehicle shall ensure that the vehicle is kept under control
when approaching or passing an emergency scene or authorized emergency vehicle
stopped on or near the right-of-way of a street or highway with emergency
lights flashing.  The exercise of control required for a driver to comply with
this section is that control possible and necessary by the driver to prevent a
collision, to prevent injury to persons or property, and to avoid interference
with the performance of emergency duties by emergency personnel, or interfering
with the operation of an authorized emergency vehicle.
    (G)
A person driving a vehicle approaching a stationary authorized emergency
vehicle that is giving a signal by displaying alternately flashing red, red and
white, blue, or red and blue lights, or amber or yellow warning lights shall
proceed with due caution, significantly reduce the speed of the vehicle, and unless otherwise directed by a law enforcement officer shall:
       (1)
yield the right-of-way by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent to that
of the authorized emergency vehicle, if possible with due regard to safety and
traffic conditions, if on a highway having at least four lanes with not less
than two lanes proceeding in the same direction as the approaching vehicle; or
       (2)
maintain a safe speed for road conditions, slow down. ifIf changing lanes is impossible or
unsafe not possible, drivers must reduce their
speed to:
  (a) twenty miles per hour below the
posted speed limit if the speed limit is twenty-five miles per hour or higher;
or
  (b) five miles per hour if the posted
speed limit is less than twenty-five miles per hour.
    (H)(1) A person who violates the
provisions of this section where no property damage results or where no person
at the emergency scene suffers personal injury is guilty of the misdemeanor of
creating a hazardous condition at an emergency scene and, upon conviction, must
be fined not less than seventy-five dollars and not more than two hundred
dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than thirty daysA person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty
of the misdemeanor of endangering emergency services personnel or operators of
authorized emergency vehicles and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than
three hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
       (2) A person who violates the
provisions of this section where property damage results or where any person at
the emergency scene suffers physical injury is guilty of the misdemeanor of
creating a hazardous condition at an emergency scene and, upon conviction, must
be fined not less than three hundred dollars and not more than five hundred
dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than ninety days.
       (3) A person who violates the
provisions of this section where any person at the emergency scene suffers
great bodily injury, as defined in Section 56-5-2945(B), is guilty of the
felony of creating a hazardous condition at an emergency scene and, upon
conviction, must be fined not less than five thousand one hundred dollars and
not more than ten thousand one hundred dollars and mandatory imprisonment for
not less than thirty days and not more than fifteen years when great bodily
injury results.
       (4) A person who violates the
provisions of this section where the injury to a person at the emergency scene
results in death is guilty of the felony of creating a hazardous condition at
an emergency scene and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than ten
thousand dollars nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars and mandatory
imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than twenty-five years.
    (I)
For purposes of this section:
       (1)
"Authorized emergency vehicle" means any ambulance, police, fire, rescue,
recovery, or towing vehicle authorized by this State, county, or municipality
to respond to a traffic incident.
       (2)
"Emergency services personnel" means fire, police, or emergency medical
services personnel (EMS) responding to an emergency incident.
       (3) "Person at the emergency scene"
means emergency services personnel and any other persons who are present at the
emergency scene regardless of whether they are responding to any emergency
incident.
    (J) A person who violates subsection
(H)(1) must have two points assessed against his motor vehicle operating
record.
    (K) A person who violates subsection
(H)(2) must have four points assessed against his motor vehicle operating
record if property damage results or an injury results to a person at the
emergency scene occurred at the time of the incident and the violation is the
sole proximate cause of the property damage or injury.
    (L) A person who violates subsection
(H)(3) or (4) must have six points assessed against his motor vehicle operating
record if a great bodily injury or death of a person at the emergency scene
occurred at the time of the incident and the violation is the sole proximate
cause of the great bodily injury or death.
    (M) No person shall be cited for
endangerment of emergency services personnel for any act or omission otherwise
constituting a violation under this section if the act or omission results, in
whole or in part, from mechanical failure of the person's motor vehicle or from
the negligence of emergency services personnel or another person.
SECTION 2.  Section 56-1-720 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
56-1-720.  There is established a point system for
the evaluation of the operating record of persons to whom a license to operate
motor vehicles has been granted and for the determination of the continuing
qualifications of these persons for the privileges granted by the license to
operate motor vehicles.  The system shall have as its basic element a graduated
scale of points assigning relative values to the various violations in
accordance with the following schedule:
VIOLATION  POINTS
Reckless driving  6
Passing stopped school
bus  6
Hit and run, property
damages only  6
Felony creating a hazardous condition at an emergency
    scene-
great bodily injury or death occurs  6
Driving too fast for
conditions, or speeding:
    (1)
No more than 10 m.p.h. above the posted limits  2
    (2)
More than 10 m.p.h. but less than 25
  m.p.h. above
the posted limits  4
    (3)
25 m.p.h. or above the posted limits  6
Disobedience of any
official traffic control device  4
Disobedience to officer
directing traffic  4
Failing to yield right of
way  4
Driving on wrong side of
road  4
Passing unlawfully  4
Turning unlawfully  4
Driving through or within
safety zone  4
Misdemeanor creating a hazardous condition at an
    emergency
scene-property damage or injury results  4
Shifting lanes without
safety precaution  2
Improper dangerous
parking  2
Following too closely  4
Failing to dim lights  2
Operating with improper
lights  2
Operating with improper
brakes  4
Distracted driving
(second or subsequent offense)  2
Operating a vehicle in
unsafe condition  2
Driving in improper lane  2
Improper backing  2
Endangerment of a highway
worker, no injury  2
Misdemeanor creating a hazardous condition at an
    emergency
scene-no property damage or injury occurs      2
Endangerment of a highway
worker, injury results  4
SECTION 3.  This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.
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This web page was last updated on December 10, 2025 at 02:23 PM