(A) Notwithstanding Section 56-5-4030 or another provision of Chapter 5 of Title 56, the Department of Transportation shall issue, under terms and conditions in the public interest for safety on the highways, a permit for the use on the public highways of cotton modular vehicles. The permit must be issued annually, and it allows movement on the highways at any time. For the purposes of this section, "cotton modular vehicle" is defined as a single motor vehicle used only to transport seed cotton modules, cotton, or equipment used in the transporting or processing of cotton. This cotton modular vehicle may not exceed a width of one hundred ten inches and may not exceed a length of fifty feet extreme overall dimensions, inclusive of front and rear bumpers and load. To be valid, the permit must be carried on the vehicle, and it is unlawful for a person to violate a provision, term, or condition of the permit. The fee for the permit is fifty dollars and authorizes the use of only one properly described cotton modular vehicle. Loaded cotton modular vehicles must not be operated on interstate highways.
(B) A person violating this section, a provision, term, or condition of the permit, or a regulation promulgated pursuant to this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days.
HISTORY: 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, Section 85A; 1997 Act No. 32, Section 1.