US EditionSouth Carolina’s new hands-free driving law now in effect
The law expands previous texting bans to prohibit all mobile device use while driving, with first offenses fined $100 and potential insurance impacts from license points.
- South Carolina's new hands-free driving law took effect on September 1, 2025, prohibiting drivers from holding or supporting mobile devices while driving.
- Lawmakers passed the law in May 2025 to reduce traffic collisions, fatalities, and dangerous distracted driving on state roadways.
- The law exempts first responders on official duty and allows device use when parked or reporting emergencies, while other distractions like eating remain legal.
- For the first 180 days, law enforcement issues warnings; afterward, a first offense incurs a $100 fine, and subsequent offenses carry a $200 fine plus driving record points.
- Enforcement aims for voluntary compliance, with officials emphasizing the goal of zero fatalities and urging drivers to put phones down for safer roads.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Cherokee Tribune Ledger News
Hands-free driving in South Carolina takes effect September 1
The "South Carolina Hands Free and Distracted Driving Act" takes effect September 1. The law restricts S.C. drivers from using any mobile device while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.
New law: Keep you hands off cell phones while driving - Charleston City Paper
South Carolina's "hands-free" cell phone law took effect on Labor Day to discourage people from holding or touching cell phones while driving. The post New law: Keep you hands off cell phones while driving appeared first on Charleston City Paper.
The SC law making it illegal to hold a phone while driving doesn’t go far enough
South Carolina's hands-free driving law took effect Sept. 1, 2025. (Stock photo by liver Helbig via Getty Images)The new hands-free driving law in South Carolina that takes effect Monday is long overdue. Thousands of lives have been lost while the legislation failed repeatedly. The first state to pass a law making it illegal for drivers to hold cellphones when driving was New York in 2001. More than two-thirds of states have followed. (South Car…
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