SC lawmakers tweak ‘hands free’ texting while driving bill, stiffening penalties
South Carolina lawmakers say they are ready to pass legislation this year that would ban the use of a cell phone while driving.
The S.C. Legislature returned to work on Tuesday, where a state Senate Transportation Subcommittee amended legislation — S. 273 — that lawmakers and law enforcement hope will crack down on motorists who use their phones while driving.
As it stands now, the S.C. “Hands-Free Act” would outlaw the use of a phone for almost any reason, mirroring a law the Georgia General Assembly passed and enforced in 2018 which prohibits drivers from holding a phone at all, even if a driver is making a call.
Drivers already can’t text and drive under S.C. law.
But law enforcement leaders have said the state’s $25 fine is too small to keep drivers from using their phones and can be almost unenforceable because drivers can argue they were using their phones to navigate or make phone calls — both legal.
Senators agreed to stiffen the bill’s penalties for using a phone while driving. Drivers would be fined up to $150 for the first offense and up to $400 for the second. Drivers also would be penalized by two points on their license for the first offense and four points for the second. The law would be phased in gradually and would take effect three months after it passes.
The law would have exceptions including for drivers who are parked or lawfully stopped on the side of a road.
State Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, who chairs the subcommittee, told The State the penalties as written in the bill could change.
Climer said it is his goal to pass the bill before the full Transportation Committee meets at the end of the month.
Transportation Committee chairman Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, told The State last week he supports the measure.
“I think it stands a good chance of passage (this year).”
Advocating in favor of the legislation on Tuesday was Chapin resident and mother Traci Wolfe, who lost her 18-year-old son, Kenny Wolfe, in 2007 when he died in a head-on vehicle collision. Wolfe said investigators could not pinpoint exactly what Kenny was doing that led to the accident, but said he was driving very fast.
“He had just finished high school (at White Knoll),” said Wolfe, who started a foundation after her son. “Unfortunately, Kenny’s action caused the consequence of him being killed. We’re putting them (kids) in a vehicle and we’re not giving them enough education.”
