South Carolina Hands-Free Driving Law Now in Effect

Starting this month, things are changing for drivers in South Carolina. On Monday, September 1, law enforcement began placing more restrictions on handheld devices in the driver's seat.

WCBD News 2 reports that due to the high amount of car crashes happening every year, officials want to control the amount of distracted driving happening on the roadways. South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Nick Pye says distracted driving is the leading cause of many of these roadway accidents.

"You can be a great driver 99.99% of the time, but that small percentage that you do something wrong, like pick that cell phone up and take your eyes off the road for just a split second, it can ultimately cost you your life," said Pye.

Did you know that cell phones are one of the most common distractions on the road? Well, now South Carolina officials say that drivers cannot have phones in their lap or any other part of their body.

"Driving is the most dangerous thing a normal person will do on a daily basis. Any time that you do something that we tell you not to do. Whether that's distraction, speeding, driving under the influence, the percentage of you getting into a wreck is going to drastically increase," said Pye.

Wondering what drivers can do now? You can still communicate with earpieces or wrist devices, as long as you are keeping your eyes on the road too.

Police will issue warnings for the next six months to violators to help educate them about the new law. After that, citations will be fair game for anyone who violates.

Under this new law, drivers are prohibited from:

After a 180-day warning period, penalties include:

Learn more about this change here.