All motorists, even first offenders, arrested for driving under the influence in South Carolina who have a blood alcohol content of .15% or higher, or refuse to submit to breath tests, will have their driver’s licenses suspended. The new law does establish a 30-day window to apply for a temporary ‘alcohol license’.

The severity of additional South Carolina DUI penalties is influenced by a driver’s BAC. With a BAC of .08% to less than .10% a first offense will result in a $400 fine and 48 hours spent either in jail or performing community service. With a BAC of .10% to less than .16% the penalties increases to a $500 fine and 72 hours of jail or community service. With a BAC of .16% or higher, the fine is $1,000 and the motorist must spend 30 days in jail or performing community service.

In cases of DUI related accidents resulting in death or severe bodily injury, felony charges will be filed and the fine will be between $5,100 and $10,100. With death the potential jail sentence ranges from 1 year to 25 years.

Underage drinkers will have their licenses suspended for six months on first offense. A second arrest within five years will result in loss of license for one year.

The stricter DUI legislation was prompted by statistics showing South Carolina as one of the worst states in the nation for alcohol related traffic fatalities.

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The law establishes a tiered system of penalties, with increased consequences for elevated blood alcohol content. Penalties will be imposed for any motorist who refuses to submit to a breath test when driving under the influence in South Carolina is suspected. Both first time and repeat offenders will experience greater consequences if convicted, and the option of community service has been eliminated for second or subsequent offenses.

The goal of the legislation is to give law enforcement the tools to make the roads safer, and to reduce the legal strategies often used by South Carolina DUI defense attorneys. The new law goes into effect in 2009.

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His statement was influenced by a newspaper investigation into South Carolina DUI sentencing that showed about 40% of all repeat offenders received reduced plea bargains. The number rose to 60% for offenders with three or more DUI arrests.

The answer may come in the form of legislation proposed by a South Carolina Department of Public Safety study group created to outline potential changes to DUI laws. That group advocates a tiered approach to drunk driving: the higher the blood-alcohol content, the more severe the penalty.

Similar legislation gained no traction during last year’s legislative session, though the legislator who introduced the 2005 bill, State Rep. Jim Harrison, said that a tiered penalty system is needed. “We hear so much about social drinkers not being the problem in this state, that it's the heavy drinkers that cause most of the fatalities," he said. "I think this statute recognized that those with a high blood-alcohol content deserved stiffer penalties.”

Other legislative considerations include increasing fines, requiring alcohol abuse treatment for first-time offenders and dropping the requirement of reading Miranda rights to a DUI suspect prior to a field sobriety test. South Carolina is the only state that requires that latter action.

One of a study group members felt the tiered DUI penalty system would gain favor during the next session of the South Carolina Legislature and indicated plans to pre-file a bill soon.