4 Points Back. “South Carolina DUI & Drunk Driving Deaths.” 4pointsback.com. Last updated July 22, 2026. https://4pointsback.com/south-carolina-driving-statistics/dui-statistics/
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Jump to: Quick Facts · SC vs. National Rate · What Counts as DUI · Arrests by County · 5-Year County Data · 2026 Reform Timeline · Methodology
South Carolina had the highest alcohol-impaired driving fatality rate of any U.S. state in both 2022 and 2023 — the two most recent years with finalized NHTSA data.
These South Carolina DUI statistics compile the most current federal and state impaired-driving data available, alongside a plain-language breakdown of current SC DUI law and a full timeline of the state’s failed 2026 DUI reform effort — built for journalists, attorneys, and researchers who need sourced, current figures.
Quick Facts
These South Carolina DUI statistics summarize what matters most right now:
- In 2023, South Carolina’s alcohol-impaired driving fatality rate was 0.68 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled — the highest in the nation, and nearly double the national rate of 0.38.
- In 2022, South Carolina’s rate was 0.80 per 100 million VMT (national rate: 0.42) — also the highest in the nation that year.
- An estimated 43% of South Carolina’s 2022 traffic fatalities involved an alcohol-impaired driver, tied with Rhode Island for the highest share of any state (national average: 32%).
- Per the 2023 SCDPS Traffic Collision Fact Book, “Driver Under Influence” was the primary contributing factor in 236 fatal collisions, resulting in 262 deaths, plus 2,074 injury collisions and 2,504 property-damage-only collisions.
- By SCDPS’s own historic format: one person is killed in a South Carolina DUI collision roughly every 21.2 hours.
- A major 2026 legislative push to toughen SC’s DUI laws passed the Senate unanimously but died in conference committee at the end of the session — current law remains unchanged as of this writing.
- DUI arrest rates vary by more than 600% across SC counties — from a statewide average of 26.8 arrests per 100,000 residents to 174.8 per 100,000 in Newberry County, the highest in the state (FBI UCR data, 2020–2024 average).
- Charleston County DUI warrants nearly doubled in one year, from 601 in 2023 to 1,155 in 2024, per the county’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
South Carolina DUI Statistics: SC vs. National Rate
These South Carolina DUI statistics show how the state compares to the national alcohol-impaired fatality rate over the two most recent finalized years.
| Year | SC Rate (per 100M VMT) | National Rate (per 100M VMT) | SC’s National Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.68 | 0.38 | 1st (highest) |
| 2022 | 0.80 | 0.42 | 1st (highest) |
Source: NHTSA State Alcohol-Impaired-Driving Estimates. Figures reflect the most recent finalized NHTSA data as of this writing; 2024 estimates had not yet been finalized by NHTSA at time of publication.
What Counts as DUI in South Carolina Right Now
Because the 2026 reform effort failed (see timeline below), the law described here remains current as of July 2026 — essential context for interpreting the South Carolina DUI statistics above.
The Legal Threshold
A BAC of 0.08% or higher is per se unlawful under South Carolina’s Driving with an Unlawful Alcohol Concentration statute (DUAC), regardless of visible impairment. DUI itself can also be charged based on observed impairment of normal faculties, separate from the BAC-based DUAC charge.
S.C. Code §§ 56-5-2930, 56-5-2933
Implied Consent
Driving on South Carolina roads constitutes automatic consent to chemical testing (breath or blood) if lawfully arrested for DUI. Refusing a test triggers an automatic license suspension and can be used as evidence in court.
S.C. Code § 56-5-2950
First-Offense Penalties
48 hours to 30 days in jail (or equivalent community service) and fines starting around $400, escalating to 30–90 days and roughly $1,000 for a BAC of 0.16% or higher (“aggravated” first offense).
S.C. Code §§ 56-5-2930, 2933
The All-Offender Ignition Interlock Law (2024)
Effective in 2024, South Carolina now requires an ignition interlock device (IID) for every DUI/DUAC conviction, including a first offense — previously IIDs were largely reserved for repeat offenders or BAC ≥0.15%. Required IID periods: 6 months (1st offense), 2 years (2nd), and longer for subsequent offenses.
S.C. Code § 56-5-2941
May 2024 Restricted-License Change
As of May 19, 2024, route-restricted licenses are no longer issued for suspensions based on a BAC of 0.15% or higher, or for an implied-consent refusal. Affected drivers must instead pursue a Temporary Alcohol License or enroll directly in the IID Program.
SC Department of Motor Vehicles
Felony Thresholds
A DUI becomes a felony if it’s a third or subsequent offense within a 10-year lookback period, or if the offense results in great bodily injury or death. Fourth-or-later convictions carry a mandatory minimum of six months up to six years in prison.
S.C. Code § 56-5-2945
South Carolina DUI Statistics by County: Where Arrests Are Concentrated
DUI arrest rates vary dramatically across South Carolina’s 46 counties — by more than 600% between the highest and lowest. The map below shows the ten counties with confirmed rates significantly above the state average, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data.
Enforcement data from individual counties shows the trend isn’t slowing. In Charleston County, DUI warrants nearly doubled year-over-year — from 601 in 2023 to 1,155 in 2024 — according to the county’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Local officials have attributed part of the increase to a mix of factors, including a 2024 change in state weapons law that shifted how the “unlawful carrying” charge was used, alongside a genuine rise in DUI incidents.
South Carolina DUI Statistics: All 46 Counties, 5-Year DUI Fatality Data
For full transparency and citability, every South Carolina county is listed below. Where we have independently confirmed the exact SCDPS “DUI (Alcohol or Drug) Involved” collision breakdown (Persons Killed, Federal Fiscal Year 2020–2024), the figures are shown directly and highlighted in gold. For every other county, we link straight to that county’s official SCDPS source document rather than estimate or approximate a figure — the same primary-source dataset SCDPS itself prepares for state Highway Safety Grant applications.
| County | FFY20 | FFY21 | FFY22 | FFY23 | FFY24 | 5-Yr Total Killed | Change* | Official Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeville | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Aiken | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Allendale | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Anderson | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Bamberg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | N/A* | Source ↗ |
| Barnwell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | N/A* | Source ↗ |
| Beaufort | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Berkeley | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Calhoun | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | +100%* | Source ↗ |
| Charleston | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Cherokee | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Chester | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Chesterfield | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 26 | +22% | Source ↗ |
| Clarendon | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Colleton | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Darlington | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Dillon | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Dorchester | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Edgefield | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Fairfield | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Florence | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Georgetown | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Greenville | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Greenwood | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Hampton | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12 | +50% | Source ↗ |
| Horry | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Jasper | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Kershaw | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Lancaster | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Laurens | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Lee | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Lexington | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Marion | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Marlboro | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| McCormick | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Newberry | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Oconee | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Orangeburg | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Pickens | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Richland | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Saluda | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 17 | +14% | Source ↗ |
| Spartanburg | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Sumter | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Union | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| Williamsburg | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
| York | See official 5-year data at source | — | Source ↗ | |||||
South Carolina’s 2026 DUI Reform Effort: Full Timeline
Strengthening SC’s DUI laws was a stated top priority for legislative leaders heading into the 2026 session. Here’s exactly what happened, in order, sourced to South Carolina Legislature Online, SC Daily Gazette, Live 5 News, and the Post and Courier — the piece of these South Carolina DUI statistics that changed the least this year, despite the loudest political push.
Republican legislative leaders publicly named DUI law reform a top priority for the 2026 session, alongside hemp/THC beverage regulation. Senate Bill S.52 was introduced to amend multiple sections of the DUI statute.
The Senate debated S.52 for three weeks. A central issue: a 2023 SC Supreme Court ruling had found warrantless, mandatory blood draws in felony DUI cases unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. S.52 responded by incentivizing voluntary breath/blood testing — increasing the license suspension for refusing a test from 6–15 months to 1–4 years, depending on prior convictions.
The full Senate passed S.52 without a single dissenting vote. Beyond the refusal-penalty changes, the bill also would have: permitted courts to impose both fines and incarceration together (rather than one or the other), required convicted persons to attend DUI victim impact panels, amended ignition interlock provisions, and created a new offense of “Felony Driving Under the Influence, Second Degree.”
The House made changes to the Senate-passed version (explained on the floor by Rep. Robby Robbins, R-Dorchester), setting up a divergence between the two chambers’ versions that would need to be reconciled.
The Senate printed an additional amended version of the bill, continuing negotiations over specific provisions, including cost structures for the state’s Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program.
With the House and Senate versions still unreconciled, a conference committee (Sens./Reps. J.E. Johnson, Robbins, and Rose) was appointed to negotiate a final version both chambers could pass.
Legislative leaders in the House and Senate failed to align on multiple provisions before the session’s end. S.52 died alongside a separate hemp/THC regulation bill on the same day — despite SLED Chief Mark Keel publicly urging the General Assembly to adopt the conference report. South Carolina’s DUI laws remain unchanged heading into 2027.
Safer choices behind the wheel start with training. If a moving violation has put points on your South Carolina license, eligible drivers can remove up to four points through our South Carolina defensive driving course for point reduction.
A Note on Our South Carolina DUI Statistics Methodology
The South Carolina DUI statistics on this page draw from multiple sourced datasets. Alcohol-impaired fatality rates cited here come from NHTSA’s State Alcohol-Impaired-Driving Estimates, which define “alcohol-impaired” as a fatal crash involving a driver with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. This differs from SCDPS’s own “Driver Under Influence” contributing-factor coding, which is based on investigating officers’ determinations and may not always align exactly with lab-confirmed BAC. Where the two sources differ, we cite each separately rather than blending them. NHTSA’s 2024 alcohol-impaired estimates had not yet been finalized as of this page’s publication; we will update this page when they are released.
DUI and impaired-driving crashes start with choices behind the wheel. Our 8-hour defensive driving course covers impaired and distracted driving, and eligible drivers can use it to remove up to 4 points from an SC license.