COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and supporters of a new bill gathered at the State House Tuesday to argue for changes to existing DUI laws, in hopes of lowering what they say is South Carolina's record-high drunk driving fatality increases.
"Everyday we wake up and we have to fight to survive, we have to fight to get out of bed, we have to fight to put the next step forward," Ida Crosby said.
Crosby was one of those at the event and is seeking justice for her 19 year-old son who was killed in 2021 by an alleged drunk driver.
"This is our fight to make sure DUI reform comes to South Carolina, we are one of the worst states and we want to see those laws changed," Crosby added.
State Senator Tom Davis of Beaufort has authored of Senate Bill 852 that would include a comprehensive set of changes to existing DUI law.
"We have a problem here in South Carolina," Davis stated. "You can look at our drunk driving convictions, you can look at the fatalities as a result of drunk driving, we are one of the worst in the nation."
Which is why Davis wants to address aspects of South Carolina's current DUI law, like providing more flexibility around blood draw protocols and implementing near-perfect dash cam videos in law enforcement vehicles, in order to better secure convictions.
"Fifty percent of prosecutions do not result in conviction and in some counties it's as low as 17% in terms of convictions," Davis said. "So we do not have effective DUI laws in the books, we do not deter individuals from driving impaired, we demoralize law enforcement and prosecutors."
According to Davis, the weak laws have left many drunk drivers still on the roads. "Many of them do not bother bringing up the case because they know our DUI laws are too complex or too technical and they just give up on it," he explained.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, roughly 35% of South Carolina traffic fatalities in 2021 were caused by drunk driving. Within the same year, South Carolina had the most overall traffic fatalities than any year in its history.
"It got even worse during the pandemic, so we are having to work hard just to get back to numbers from 2018 and 2019 looked like bad numbers at the time," said Steven Burritt, the Regional Executive Director for MADD in the Carolinas.
Which is why Burritt is making it a priority to express support for Bill 852 by Senator Davis.
"It's a lot of things we have wanted for a long time all packed into the same bill," he stated. "Individually it gets into the weeds and details of SC DUI law but that's where the change happens."
The bill has been introduced to the Senate and is currently in committee.