Impaired Driving Laws

In South Carolina, driving under the influence (DUI) is defined as operating a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, with penalties that escalate for repeat offenses.

DUI Laws in South Carolina

Please note that South Carolina’s DUI and related laws are not reproduced in their entirety and the wording used is not identical. The summaries below are intended as a public information service and are not a substitute for consulting the South Carolina Code of Laws as amended.

Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol

South Carolina law prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol to the extent that the person’s faculties to drive are materially and appreciably impaired. If you have a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher, it will be inferred that you were driving under the influence. If you have a BAC that is at least 0.05 percent but less than 0.08 percent, your BAC level may be considered along with other evidence to infer that you are under the influence. If you are convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, you face:

A fine of up to $400 ($992 with assessments and surcharges) and/or imprisonment from 48 hours to 30 days and suspension of your driver’s license for six months for a first offense.
A fine of $2,100 to $5,100 ($10,744.50 with assessments and surcharges) and imprisonment from five days to one year and suspension of your driver’s license for one year for a second offense.
A fine of $3,800 to $6,300 ($13,234.50 with assessments and surcharges) and imprisonment from 60 days to three years and suspension of your driver’s license for two years for a third offense. If the third offense occurs within five years of the first offense, your driver’s license is suspended for four years. If the third or subsequent offense occurs within 10 years of the first offense, the vehicle used must be confiscated if the offender is the owner or a resident of the household of the owner.
Imprisonment from one to five years and permanent revocation of your driver’s license for a fourth or subsequent offense.

(SC Code of Laws Sections 56-5-2930, 56-5-2950, 56-5-2990, 56-5-6240)

Driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration (illegal per se)

South Carolina law prohibits driving a motor vehicle with a BAC 0.08 percent or higher. If you are convicted of driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration, you face the same penalties as you would for a DUI conviction (see above). (SC Code of Laws Section 56-5-2933)

Felony driving under the influence

A mandatory fine of $5,100 to $10,100 ($21,119.50 with assessments and surcharges) and imprisonment from 30 days to 15 years when great bodily injury occurs.
A mandatory fine of $10,100 to $25,100 ($52,244.50 with assessments and surcharges) and imprisonment from one to 25 years when death occurs.

(SC Code of Laws Sections 56-5-2933)

Implied consent

South Carolina law states that any person driving in this state is considered to have given consent for testing of breath, blood or urine for the purpose of determining the presence of alcohol and/or drugs in the person’s system, if alleged to have committed a violation. If you refuse to submit to BAC testing, you face an automatic 90-day suspension (180 days if there is a prior alcohol-related conviction or suspension within the preceding ten years) of your driving privileges if you are 21 or older. (SC Code of Laws Section 56-5-2950 and 56-5-2951)

Open container (beer, wine)

South Carolina law prohibits having an open container of beer or wine in a moving vehicle of any kind, except in the trunk or luggage compartment. If you are convicted of violating this law, you face a fine of up to $100 or imprisonment for up to 30 days. (SC Code of Laws Section 61-4-110)

Open container (liquor)

South Carolina law prohibits having an open container of liquor in a moving vehicle of any kind, except in the luggage compartment. If you are convicted of violating this law, you face a fine of up to $100 or imprisonment for up to 30 days. (SC Code of Laws Section 61-6-4020)

Sober or Slammer

Sober or Slammer is a public education campaign to educate drivers about the dangers of drunk and impaired driving. Find out more about the Sober or Slammer safety campaign here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does blood alcohol concentration measure?: Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) describes the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood expressed as weight of alcohol per unit of volume of blood. For example, at 0.10 percent BAC, there is 100 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. For most legal purposes, however, a blood sample is not necessary to determine a person’s BAC. It can be measured much more simply by analyzing exhaled breath.

What is the effect of alcohol on driving skills and crash risk?: Alcohol causes poor judgment. It slows your reaction time and your ability to concentrate and make decisions. It impairs your eyesight. If your BAC reaches 0.08, you are three times more likely to have a traffic collision than if your BAC were zero. If your BAC reaches 0.25 percent, your chances of having a traffic collision are 25 times greater.

How many drinks does it take to reach significantly impaired BACs?: The effects of alcoholic drinks vary greatly because of the rate of absorption and BACs attained vary from person to person due to such factors as weight, amount of fat tissue, and stomach contents. Alcohol affects small or thin people sooner and stays in their systems longer than it does with heavier or larger people because the alcohol is more concentrated in the smaller person’s bloodstream.

Are beer and wine less impairing than hard liquor?: Impairment is not determined by the type of drink but rather by the amount of alcohol ingested over a period of time. There is a similar amount of alcohol in such standard drinks as a 12-ounce serving of beer, a 4-ounce glass of wine, and 1.25 ounces of 80 proof liquor. Beer is the most common drink consumed by people stopped for alcohol-impaired driving or involved in alcohol-related crashes.

Do alcohol related crashes differ by gender?: Crashes involving men are much more likely to be alcohol related than those involving women. Among fatally injured male drivers of passenger vehicles in 2000, 34 percent had BACs of 0.10 or more. The corresponding proportion among women was 18 percent. Alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is highest for men ages 21-40.

When do alcohol-related crashes occur?: They happen at all hours, but alcohol involvement in crashes peaks at night and is higher on weekends than on weekdays.

What’s the goal of alcohol-impaired driving laws?: Many people think the principal goal of such laws is to arrest and punish the drivers who put everyone else at risk. But arrest and punishment of offenders is a secondary objective. The most important objective is for the law to be a deterrent so that police find no alcohol-impaired drivers to arrest.

Why is deterrence so important and how can it be achieved?: Most impaired drivers are never stopped. Others are stopped, but police miss signs of impairment. It has been estimated that as many as 2,000 alcohol-impaired driving trips occur for every arrest and that, even when special impaired driving enforcement patrols are conducted, as many as 300 trips occur for each arrest. Because the police cannot catch all offenders, the success of alcohol-impaired driving laws depends on deterring potential offenders by creating the public perception that apprehension and punishment of offenders is likely. The key to creating this perception is enforcement. Enforcement efforts must be well publicized and create a realistic threat of apprehension.

Who can be stopped for impaired driving?: Although police cannot stop and test individual drivers without cause, they can investigate any driver who, based on established criteria, appears to have been driving while impaired by alcohol. Most alcohol-impaired driving arrests are made by officers on routine patrol who discern signs of impairment after stopping a driver for an ordinary traffic violation.

How do checkpoints work?: Police can use checkpoints to stop drivers at specified locations to identify impaired drivers. All drivers, or a predetermined proportion of them, are stopped based on rules that prevent police from arbitrarily selecting drivers to stop. In South Carolina, law enforcement officers conduct public safety checkpoints, checking for such things as driver’s license, vehicle registration, proof of liability insurance, and obvious equipment violations in addition to looking for impaired drivers.

Are checkpoints constitutional?: The U.S. Supreme Court has held that properly conducted checkpoints are legal under the Constitution.

What is implied consent?: This refers to statutes in which consent for a driver to submit to BAC testing is provided for by statute, not expressly by the driver. Any person operating a vehicle in South Carolina is considered to have given consent for testing of breath, blood or urine for purposes of determining the presence of alcohol or drugs or both in the person’s system, if alleged to have committed a violation.

What is administrative license revocation (ALR)?: This refers to statutes in which a person’s driver’s license may be automatically suspended for certain violations of law. In South Carolina, any person who refuses to consent to BAC testing or who has a BAC reading of 0.15 percent or higher (0.02 percent for persons under 21) will have his/her driver’s license automatically suspended.

What is illegal per se?: This refers to statutes which make it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a certain BAC level. In South Carolina it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher.

What is zero tolerance?: Persons under the age of 21 may not legally purchase, possess or consume alcoholic beverages. Zero tolerance refers to statutes which make it illegal for persons under the age of 21 to operate a motor vehicle with any measurable amount of alcohol in their system. Under South Carolina’s zero tolerance law, it is unlawful for any person under the age of 21 to operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.02 percent or higher.