COLUMBIA — A bill making it easier to convict drunken drivers advanced unanimously to the Senate floor on the opening day of the 2026 session, signifying legislators are serious about making changes after years of failed efforts.
The bipartisan legislation would remove loopholes that can allow driving under the influence charges to get tossed over minor videotaping issues and strengthen penalties when the driver injures someone else.
Victims of drunken driving rarely receive justice, said Steven Burritt, who leads South Carolina’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
“This is the best opportunity we’ve seen in a while to finally do something substantial that maybe would make a difference,” he told the SC Daily Gazette following Tuesday’s vote by the full Senate Judiciary Committee.
The bill, initially pre-filed in December 2024, saw no movement at all last year. But on senators’ first day back in 2026, they fast-tracked it from subcommittee to full committee to the floor.
South Carolina stands out as having the nation’s highest drunken driving fatality rate, according to a 2024 report from MADD’s state chapter. That reflects 474 DUI deaths in 2022, the fifth-highest number overall and worst rate based on population, according to the report.
Nearly half of all fatal crashes in South Carolina involve a drunken driver, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
“It’s very important to pull South Carolina up from the bottom,” said Laura Slade Hudson, executive director of the South Carolina Crime Victims Council. “We need to stop the gamesmanship that takes on in the courtroom, and that’s what this bill attempts to do.”
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey made clear ahead of the session’s start that tightening the state’s DUI laws is a priority this year.
The state needs to “make those criminal penalties more severe, try to crack down on the number of injuries and fatalities we’re having on South Carolina’s roadways,” he said last Wednesday during the Senate GOP Caucus’ question-and-answer session with reporters. “The fact is that our laws are way too weak, and there are too many people getting hurt because of it.”
State law requires an officer to videotape a drunken driving arrest in its entirety, starting from the moment officers activate their blue lights, to include a roadside sobriety test and a breath test, if the driver takes one.
Prosecutors have been pushing for changes for over a decade, saying the requirements result in drunken drivers escaping conviction just because an officer’s audio malfunctioned or the person stepped out of the camera’s frame during their sobriety test.
Under the proposed change, video that “substantially complies” with the filming requirements could convict.
The bill also adds a mid-level punishment possibility. Causing “moderate bodily injury” would be a second-degree felony that could send a driver to prison for up to 10 years. That can include fractures or dislocations, injuries that need to be treated with anesthesia, or if the victim loses consciousness for a “prolonged” period, according to the bill.
Existing law makes DUI a felony if the driver seriously injures or kills someone else, which can result in up to 15 years or 25 years in prison, respectively.
“If the penalty is low, it is not a deterrent for them hurting you,” Massey, R-Edgefield, said during the committee meeting.
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