Put Your Phones Down South Carolina Drivers, It Will Be Illegal Soon
South Carolina drivers have been prohibited from texting and driving for quite a while, but a ban on physical use of the phone while behind the wheel has never been…
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South Carolina drivers have been prohibited from texting and driving for quite a while, but a ban on physical use of the phone while behind the wheel has never been in place. That's about to end.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed the Statehouse's Hands-Free Driving Act May 12 that lawmakers just passed before the 2025 legislative session ended May 8.
Representative Bill Taylor of Aiken has tried for years to get the state to ban cell phone use while driving, citing the dangers of being distracted while behind the wheel.
One reason the state is acting on a hands-free driving act now comes on the heels of a letter sent to the state Department of Motor Vehicles and McMaster.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration notified them last year they either needed to pass legislation enacting the ban or risk losing up to $80 million in annual federal highway funding.
South Carolina stood to lose 4 percent of its federal highway grant funds if the state hadn't passed a hands-free law by July 2025. The percentage would grow to 8 percent for every year after that if a law wasn't passed.
A federal rule was put into place in 2011 that required all states to pass law banning handheld cellphone use for commercial drivers.
Georgia is one of 29 states with hands-free laws already in place. Georgia drivers have been required to be hands-free since 2018.
What Will it Cost to Ignore the Hands-Free Law
South Carolina's hands-free cell phone law will go into effect September 1.
Anyone caught violating the law will be ticketed.
- It's $100 for the first offense
- $200 for each additional violation during a 3-year period
- A second offense will also add two points to the driver's license, and that means an increase in insurance rates
What Will Still be Allowed
Under South Carolina's new hands-free law, voice-activated technology such as Bluetooth will be still be permitted while driving.
Phones cannot be in the driver's hand or even on the person's lap while operating a vehicle.
