republic-os/legislation/us/states/sc/2017-2018/h-3289.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-1930, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DISTANCE THAT MUST BE MAINTAINED BETWEEN VEHICLES TRAVELING ALONG A HIGHWAY, SO AS TO REVISE THE TERM \"DRIVER\" TO \"OPERATOR\" IN REGARD TO THESE VEHICLES, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO THE OPERATOR OF ANY NONLEADING COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE SUBJECT TO FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS AND TRAVELING IN A SERIES OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES USING COOPERATIVE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL OR ANY OTHER AUTOMATED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY. - ratified title"
description: "AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-1930, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DISTANCE THAT MUST BE MAINTAINED BETWEEN VEHICLES TRAVELING ALONG A HIGHWAY, SO AS TO REVISE THE TERM \"DRIVER\" TO \"OPERATOR\" IN REGARD TO THESE VEHICLES, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO THE OPERATOR OF ANY NONLEADING COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE SUBJECT TO FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS AND TRAVELING IN A SERIES OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES USING COOPERATIVE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL OR ANY OTHER AUTOMATED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY. - ratified title"
jurisdiction: "us/states/sc"
legislature: "South Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2017-2018"
identifier: "H 3289"
citation: "South Carolina H 3289 (2017-2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["G.R. Smith", "Knight"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 26
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2016-12-15"
last_action: "2017-05-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/57c706e9-51d5-48e1-ab97-e7cf258844bc"
source_url: "http://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=3289&session=122&summary=B"
source_hash: "49f8962d3a83623eaba8d108112df7e231ff96c788961a1a4442b11f1216dd47"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-sc"]
---

# South Carolina H 3289 (2017-2018) — AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-1930, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DISTANCE THAT MUST BE MAINTAINED BETWEEN VEHICLES TRAVELING ALONG A HIGHWAY, SO AS TO REVISE THE TERM "DRIVER" TO "OPERATOR" IN REGARD TO THESE VEHICLES, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO THE OPERATOR OF ANY NONLEADING COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE SUBJECT TO FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS AND TRAVELING IN A SERIES OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES USING COOPERATIVE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL OR ANY OTHER AUTOMATED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY. - ratified title

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **1/26/2017** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3289_20170126.htm)
2. **1/30/2017** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3289_20170130.htm)
3. **1/30/2017-A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3289_20170130a.htm)
4. **12/15/2016** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3289_20161215.htm)
5. **2/1/2017** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3289_20170201.htm)
6. **2/2/2017** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3289_20170202.htm)
7. **4/5/2017** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3289_20170405.htm)
8. **5/8/2017** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3289_20170508.htm)

## Votes

- Passage of Bill — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Concur in Senate Amendments — **101–0** (pass) · lower
- 2nd Reading — **38–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- G.R. Smith — primary (person)
- Knight — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-12-15** Prefiled `filing`
- **2016-12-15** Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-10** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-01-10** Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-25** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Knight
- **2017-01-26** Committee report: Favorable with amendment Education and Public Works `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-01-30** Scrivener's error corrected
- **2017-02-01** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2017-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-01** Roll call Yeas-96 Nays-0
- **2017-02-02** Read third time and sent to Senate `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-02-02** Scrivener's error corrected
- **2017-02-07** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-07** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-05** Polled out of committee Transportation
- **2017-04-05** Committee report: Favorable Transportation `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-05-08** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2017-05-08** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-05-08** Roll call Ayes-38 Nays-2
- **2017-05-09** Read third time and returned to House with amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-05-10** Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled
- **2017-05-10** Roll call Yeas-101 Nays-0
- **2017-05-15** Ratified R 101
- **2017-05-19** Signed By Governor `executive-signature`
- **2017-05-25** Effective date 5/19/17
- **2017-05-31** Act No. 66

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/57c706e9-51d5-48e1-ab97-e7cf258844bc`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Carolina legislature records).