South Carolina § 56-1-220 - Vision screenings required for initial license; certification of minimum standards for renewal; unlawful operation of vehicle with defective vision; penalty.

§ 56-1-220. Vision screenings required for initial license; certification of minimum standards for renewal; unlawful operation of vehicle with defective vision; penalty.

(A) Unless otherwise exempted, the department shall require vision screening for all persons obtaining an initial license and upon license renewal. The vision screening must be offered by the department, however, a person's screening must be waived upon the submission of a certificate of vision examination dated within the previous thirty-six months from an ophthalmologist or optometrist licensed in any state.

(B) Active-duty members of the Armed Services are exempt from the requirements of this section, provided they provide the department with a Leave and Earnings Statement dated within thirty-one days of applying for or renewing their driver's license and a nonexpired military identification card.

(C) The renewal license forms distributed by the department must be designed to contain a certification that the vision of the person screened meets the minimum standards required by the department or have been corrected to meet these requirements. The certification must be executed by the person conducting the screening. A Certificate of Vision Examination form must be executed by the certifying ophthalmologist or optometrist and must be transmitted to the department electronically pursuant to its electronic specifications. The minimum standards of the department shall not require a greater degree of vision than 20⁄40 corrected in one eye. Persons using bioptic lenses must adhere to the provisions contained in Section 56-1-222.

(D) A person whose vision is corrected to meet the minimum standards shall have the correction noted on his driver's license by the department.

(E) It is unlawful for a person whose vision requires correction in order to meet the minimum standards of the department to drive a motor vehicle in this State without the use of the correction.

(F) Unless otherwise provided in this section, any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 46-169.1; 1965 (54) 649; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 1302; 2003 Act No. 51, SECTION 14; 2016 Act No. 275 (S.1258), SECTION 16, eff July 1, 2016; 2017 Act No. 6 (H.3358), SECTION 6, eff April 5, 2017; 2018 Act No. 220 (H.4672), SECTION 1, eff October 1, 2020; 2023 Act No. 51 (S.549), SECTION 38, eff May 18, 2024.

Editor's Note

2023 Act No. 51, SECTION 40(A), provides as follows:

"SECTION 40. (A) SECTION 1 and Section 56-1-220 take effect twelve months after the approval by the Governor."

Effect of Amendment

2017 Act No. 6, SECTION 6, in (A), substituted "The department shall require vision screening for all persons obtaining an initial license" for "Vision screenings are required for all persons before having their licenses renewed by the Department of Motor Vehicles"; deleted former (B) and (C), relating to a certificate from an ophthalmologist or optometrist and exceptions relating to the year 2008; redesignated the remaining paragraphs accordingly; and in (B), inserted "if a screening is required", and added the fourth sentence.

2018 Act No. 220, SECTION 1, in (A), in the first sentence, inserted "and upon license renewal", and in the second sentence, substituted "must be offered by the department, however, a person's screening must" for "may"; and in (B), in the first sentence, deleted "if a screening is required" at the end, and inserted the third sentence, relating to the execution of a Certificate of Vision Examination form.

2023 Act No. 51, SECTION 38, in (A), in the first sentence, substituted "Unless otherwise exempted, the" for "The", and in the second sentence, substituted "thirty-six months" for "twelve months"; and inserted (B) and redesignated former (B) to (E) as (C) to (F).