South Carolina DUI Laws (2023 Guide)

When you drive on the roads of South Carolina, the law states that your decision to use the state’s roads means you are implicitly consenting to submit to a chemical test if there is probable cause to believe you are impaired by drugs or alcohol.

Like in most states, if you fail to submit to a BAC test after a lawful arrest for impaired driving, you face the immediate suspension of your driver’s license under South Carolina”s implied consent laws. Drivers who take the required BAC test but who subsequently have a blood alcohol concentration above 0.15% also face an immediate license suspension.

The license suspensions for a BAC test refusal or for a BAC above 0.15% are administrative suspensions. Unlike with criminal penalties, you do not have to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to be subject to these consequences. You do have the right to request an administrative hearing to contest the suspension, though, but you must act within 30 days.

In addition to the civil penalties that result in the suspension of your right to drive, you also face criminal penalties if found guilty of an impaired driving offense.