Senators push debate on strengthening SC’s DUI laws to 2026

COLUMBIA — Despite the Senate’s seemingly renewed focus earlier this year on curtailing drunken driving deaths, the effort is again being pushed to next year.

Bi-partisan legislation that aims to close the loopholes allowing people to escape convictions for driving under the influence won’t even reach the Senate floor before the 2025 session ends next month. After postponing debate on the bill at multiple meetings, the Senate Judiciary Committee decided last week to carry it over until 2026.

“It may be something that we have to make a big push for in January of ’26 as opposed to May of ’25,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, who sits on the full Judiciary Committee but wasn’t on the panel that advanced the bill in March. “I’m frustrated by that, but I think that’s where we are.”

In 2022, 474 people died in South Carolina as a result of drunken driving, ranking the state fifth highest nationwide in total numbers and the worst rate by population. The tally represents a 72% increase since 2019, according to a July 2024 report by South Carolina’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

“The designation of worst state in the nation for drunk driving is clear,” the report reads.

Part of the problem is the state’s video requirements, according to proponents for change.

By law, officers must start recording as soon as they turn on their blue lights. And recordings must include the entirety of field sobriety tests, arrests, breath tests, and suspects being advised of their Miranda rights, which start with the right to remain silent.

Any technicality — such as faulty audio that causes the Miranda rights not being heard, video that’s too dark, or somebody’s feet not being captured on camera — can lead to a case being tossed, say solicitors, sheriffs and victims’ advocates.

The proposal — lawmakers’ latest attempt at making the roads safer — would, among other things, change state law so that the video can be less than perfect. Under the bill, evidence could be suppressed if the officer fails to “substantially comply” with video recording requirements, to include “reasonably” documenting officers advising suspects of their rights.

Solicitors have been pushing for legislation de-emphasizing video in DUI cases for a decade.

“There are so many loopholes in our drunk driving laws that it’s very difficult for solicitors to successfully prosecute those cases,” said Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, the bill’s lead sponsor.

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His bill could bring the biggest changes to South Carolina’s DUI laws since 2008, when the Legislature passed legislation escalating penalties for higher alcohol concentrations and for multiple convictions. Passage came after then-Gov. Mark Sanford publicly accused senators of blocking the bill in a YouTube video featuring a South Carolina mom whose 5-year-old son was killed by a drunken driver.

A 2014 law required repeat offenders or first-time offenders who had a blood alcohol level of more than 0.15 to install ignition interlock devices, which prevent someone who has been drinking alcohol from starting the vehicle. A 2023 law that took effect last May expanded the requirement to anyone convicted of a DUI, no matter how high their blood alcohol level.

But, according to those pushing for change, getting a conviction is tough. In the past, defense attorneys have argued DUI cases aren’t pleaded down or dismissed due to video technicalities nearly as often as advocates for change suggest. And no agency kept track to prove it either way.

Between January 2019 and March 2024, MADD monitored the courts in seven large South Carolina counties: Berkeley, Charleston, Greenville, Horry, Lexington, Richland, and Spartanburg. In those seven counties, the conviction rate on first-offense misdemeanor DUI cases ranged from a low of 18% in Richland County to a high of 65% in Spartanburg County. Whether cases were dropped altogether or pleaded down to something else, often reckless driving, varied by county.

“Clearly, South Carolina falls behind most of the nation,” MADD concluded.

“We have got to address it and make sure we address it right,” Sen. Brian Adams, a co-sponsor of the bill, told the SC Daily Gazette.

The bill would also create enhanced penalties for DUI wrecks that cause “moderate bodily injury,” such as a bone fracture or dislocation. Under existing law, people can be charged with felony DUI only if they cause “great bodily injury” or death. The proposal would also increase penalties for convictions and for refusing to take a breath test.

“I thought we had a good bill,” said Laura Hudson, the executive director of the South Carolina Crime Victims Council.

Hudson, who has been advocating at the Statehouse for crime victims for more than four decades, said she was disappointed the bill didn’t get traction this year.

“It’s not like they didn’t have the time,” she said, noting the Senate bill was pre-filed in December for this year’s session.

She’s hopeful senators will keep their pledge to make it a top priority for 2026. Since this is the first of a two-year session, the bill does not need to be reintroduced.

Steven Burritt, the state director for MADD, said it’s a letdown that the bill he considers a game changer for DUI in South Carolina won’t pass this year. If more people are held accountable, South Carolina will be a safer place to drive, he said.

“I think all these things are connected,” Burritt told the SC Daily Gazette. “If we make the law easier to prosecute and enforce, I think we’ll hold people accountable for their actions. They’ll get more of the penalties that actually reduce the likelihood that it’ll happen again, and I think that is a very reasonable cause and effect that should lead to safer roads.”

If the Legislature truly passes a bill next year, the wait will have been worth it, he said.

“If the right bill gets passed for DUI reform, I’ll gladly wait until 2026,” he said. However, he added, he’s concerned the motivation will dissipate by January.