South Carolina City Gets Grant To Increase DUI Prevention Efforts

It is no secret that South Carolina has a drunk driving problem.  For decades, it has ranked in the top ten states by number of DUI arrests and accidents, despite its relatively small population.  The fact that visitors from out of state quickly realize that South Carolina is a lovely place to drink and a lovely place to drive accounts for only a small fraction of South Carolina’s DUI cases.  South Carolina laws about drunk driving resemble those of most other states; for example, any blood alcohol content (BAC) above 0.08 percent is considered driving under the influence (DUI), and judges often order people convicted of DUI to keep ignition interlock devices on their cars for a certain period as a condition of reinstating their driving privileges.  South Carolina needs better enforcement of DUI laws, though, and the South Carolina Department of Public Safety has issued a grant to at least one city to ramp up its DUI prevention efforts.  Meanwhile, if you have been injured in a drunk driving accident, contact a Columbia car accident lawyer.

The Trouble With DUI in South Carolina

The fact that South Carolina has such a high rate of DUI cases probably does not embarrass you if you have never driven drunk, but drunk driving crashes are physically devastating to people injured in them and emotionally and financially devastating to the families of accident victims and the families of people convicted in DUI.  Just how widespread is drunk driving in South Carolina?  Take the city of Easley, located on the border of Pickens and Anderson Counties.  Its area is less than 13 square miles, and its population is just above 20,000.  Despite this, it witnessed 110 DUI arrests in 2020 and 143 in 2021.  Assuming that some people may have been arrested more than once in this period, and that some of these DUIs involved collisions of two or more vehicles, at least one percent of the population of Easley has been affected by DUI in the past two years.

City of Easley Uses Grant Money to Increase Policing and Prosecution of DUI Cases

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety has issued a $230,000 grant to the city of Easley to support its DUI prevention efforts.  The city will use the money for the following purposes:

• Hiring a police officer whose entire job will be to patrol the roads in search of drunk drivers
• Buying a vehicle and other equipment for the new officer
• Hiring a lawyer at the prosecutor’s office whose entire job will be to prosecute DUI cases

By increasing the personnel dedicated to DUI cases, the Department of Public Safety hopes to reduce DUI accidents in Easley and elsewhere in South Carolina.

Let Us Help You Today

The car accident injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you stand up for your legal rights if you suffered personal injuries and financial losses after a DUI accident.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

wspa.com/news/local-news/easley-police-receive-grant-to-help-with-dui-enforcement/