Drunken drivers will start facing different penalties depending on whether they're tipsy or trashed.
A new law that takes effect today ties tougher sentences to the amount of alcohol in drivers' bodies. It increases penalties for repeat drunken drivers and closes some legal loopholes that critics said allowed suspects to escape punishment.
The law creates a tiered penalty system based on how many times drivers are convicted and how much alcohol they have in their system. The blood-alcohol limit is 0.08 percent. The new penalties get harsher at 0.10 percent and again at 0.16 percent.
In Rock Hill, city solicitors have hosted training sessions to help police officers understand the changes.
"Beforehand, it didn't really matter if you blew a .16 or an .08," said assistant solicitor Anna Miller. "Now, the fine is going to be much higher if you blow a higher amount. The higher you blow, the higher your fine could potentially be."
Gov. Mark Sanford said Monday the new law will help make South Carolina's roads safer. The Legislature approved the changes last year. But some law enforcement officials think the law remains too complicated. That includes York Police Chief Bill Mobley, who said it has too many nuances.
Under the new law, once a jury declares a defendant guilty, it must determine the blood-alcohol level as registered on the Breathalyzer machine.
"When you really look at the thing as a whole, there's so many ins and outs, it's going to be almost impossible to convict anybody," Mobley said. "The statute is something like 36 pages long if you run it off the computer. Why does something have to be so complicated?"
In the view of 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett, the changes bring some much-needed clarity compared to the previous DUI law. Now, for example, officers must read Miranda rights to a suspect once instead of three times.
"It's not everything that prosecutors and law enforcement hoped for," Brackett said. "But it's a substantial improvement over what we had before."
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