Do you have to pull over in SC when you see police blue lights? What the law says

South Carolina drivers face heightened penalties next year if they fail to stop for blue lights or sirens.

The South Carolina General Assembly amended the failure to stop the law in 2024 and it takes effect in May 2026.

The new law does not change the penalty for a first offense if there is no bodily injury or death. It remains a misdemeanor with a $500 fine and 90 days to three years sentence.

The Department of Motor Vehicles must suspend the person’s driver’s license for at least 30 days.

The penalty changes come with second or more offenses or a serious injury, Erin Bailey, a Georgetown lawyer, said. A second offense is now a felony with up to 10 years in prison, increased from 5 years, and a 1-year license suspension.

The law also establishes a new felony charge for high-speed pursuits, which the law defines as increasing speed or taking evasive action after lights or sirens are activated. This carries up to 10 years in prison and a 1-year license suspension.

If bodily injury results, the penalty has increased from 10 to 15 years and if death results, the maximum sentence has been raised from 25 to 30 years.

“This is a major shift in how South Carolina treats eluding law enforcement — and the penalties reflect the state’s attempt to curb dangerous chases and hold drivers more accountable when they escalate an encounter,” Bailey said.

She said as a criminal defense attorney she’s seen cases of people failing to stop because they panic. Perhaps they have weed in the car or a child support warrant.

“But here’s the thing: those issues will still be waiting whether you pull over or not,” she said. “And if you don’t? You’ve potentially just added a felony charge to your record — and possibly turned a minor traffic stop into a life-altering legal situation.”

Kirk Truslow, a Myrtle Beach lawyer, said there are some reasons you can fight a failure to stop charge.

You or your lawyer will be trying to convince a judge or jury that you had good reason to not stop.

“One of the most common legal defenses for this offense is you or a passenger had an emergency,” Truslow said. “Another common legal defense is that there was no safe place to pull over.”

Adam Touma, a lawyer with offices in Columbia, Greenville and Anderson, said officers must have probable cause to pull you over. One defense in challenging the charge could be you did not see or hear the signal to pull over.

Generally, lawyers say, if you have reason to believe the blue lights are someone pretending to be an officer you should turn on hazard lights, slow down and call 911 to confirm, Chillico & Associates of Mount Pleasant said.

“Drive to a safe, public place like a police station or busy gas station,” Sterling Chillico said.

He said the most important thing to do is make sure the person trying to pull you over is a legitimate police officer.

“Some reasons to suspect an unwarranted officer include getting pulled over by an unmarked vehicle,” he said.

He also said you should not do anything to make the officer nervous so roll your window down all the way, turn off your ignition, and stay in the car.

“Keep your hands on the steering wheel and avoid reaching for your license and registration until the officer tells you to do so,” he said.

If the officer asks whether you know why you were pulled over, say you don’t.

“Some officers deliberately try to get you to admit to something you did or didn’t do in order to use it in court against you,” he said.

Don’t argue.

“Your goal of the interaction should be to be unmemorable,” he said. “This is because if you are issued a ticket and make a scene the officer is more likely to remember you and show up in traffic court, so your case cannot be dismissed. And, if you’re polite you might not even get a ticket, he said.?