Editorial: SC DUI law is weak, but cities can and should do more to help (2024)

Neither of the two drivers charged with hit-and-runin the deaths of two young women along Morrison Drive has been charged with DUI, but it would not surprise us if either — or both — had been drinking: Both accidents happened late at night, and both drivers were charged with leaving the scene rather than calling for help. So we applaud Charleston Mayor William Cogswell's decision to crack down on drunken driving.

In a state that historically has been too slow to pass stricter laws to reduce the scourge of impaired driving, the city's action stands out as a refreshing change.

While we don't know where, when or how many new DUI checkpoints will be instituted, Charleston Police Chief Chito Walker said his officers will set them up on a daily basis, guided by "evidence-based data," according to a Post and Courier report. Despite those few details, the news still should make anyone think twice before drinking and then driving on city streets — and that's a good thing.

Especially in South Carolina, where lawmakers still have work to do to discourage motorists from getting behind the wheel after a few drinks.

The most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data show the number of people killed on S.C. highways by drunken drivers soared 16%, from 406 to 474, from 2021 to 2022, and we lose more people per capita to drunken driving accidents than all but four other states.

State lawmakers almost took a step backward this year when they flirted with reducing bar owners' responsibility for overserving impaired customers, but the bill fortunately died. And we hope to see progress soon from the new state law that expands ignition locks to all motorists who have been convicted on a DUI charge; while that law was enacted last year, its impact could show up soon in the next batch of DUI data.

But there's still a lot more the Legislature needs to do. We need a criminal dram shop law that would result in revoking the alcohol licenses and levying punitively heavy fines to establishments that continue to sell alcohol to already-drunk patrons — and we needundercover police enforcement that would stop inebriated people before they are allowed to leave a bar or restaurant, get in their car and potentially kill. We need the state to require training for bar owners and their staff who serve alcohol. Again, while punishing this behavior is important, it's even more important to prevent it.

Still, it's a mistake to look only to state lawmakers for help here. Sheriffs and police departments have a constructive role in enforcing existing laws and discouraging this risky behavior. Local governments also have important roles to play in the necessary work of making our streets safer places to drive, walk and bike.

Recent road safety audits addressed problematic streets where pedestrians and cyclists are getting struck and injured at the highest rates; some of those accidents involve drunken drivers, but many do not. The state is poised to begin work soon on changes to Calhoun, St. Philip and Meeting streets in downtown Charleston— and soon after on Ashley Phosphate Road in North Charleston; it's not too soon to begin looking at theneeds and potential modification to other streets.

The bottom line is we need better enforcement, better laws and better streets if South Carolina and its cities are to move away from the top of lists of people getting needlessly and tragically killed as they simply try to get from place to place. It's all important. It's all overdue.

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