South Carolina Driver’s License Suspension Codes: DUI, Points, Insurance

South Carolina’s driver’s license suspension codes fall into a handful of categories: alcohol and drug offenses, accumulated points, insurance failures, court-compliance problems, document fraud, commercial-vehicle violations, and habitual-offender status. Each category has its own suspension length, its own reinstatement fee, and its own conditions you have to satisfy before the SCDMV will restore your driving privileges. Knowing which one applies to you determines everything that follows: how long you’re off the road, what the device on your car will cost, whether you can get a limited license, and how much you’ll pay to get legal again.

Alcohol and Drug Suspensions

Alcohol offenses drive the most serious codes on the books, and the state has restructured how they work. Rather than serve a flat suspension, most drivers now enroll in the Ignition Interlock Device Program and drive on an interlock-restricted license for a fixed period tied to how many prior offenses they have.

DUI and DUAC

A DUI conviction triggers an automatic suspension that you end by enrolling in the interlock program. The device stays on your vehicle for:

Six months for a first offense
Two years for a second offense
Three years for a third offense, or four years if it falls within five years of the first
Life for a fourth or subsequent offense

A first-offense driver is not eligible for a standard provisional license and must use the interlock-restricted license.¹

Driving with an Unlawful Alcohol Concentration (DUAC) is a separate offense. A DUI requires evidence that alcohol or drugs impaired your driving; DUAC just requires proof that your blood alcohol concentration was 0.08% or higher, whether or not you appeared impaired. The suspension and interlock periods match DUI.²

Zero Tolerance for Drivers Under 21

Anyone under 21 faces a much lower threshold. A blood alcohol concentration of 0.02% or higher triggers a three-month suspension for a first offense, and one year if there’s a prior alcohol-related conviction or suspension within the preceding three years. Refusing the breath test brings a six-month suspension for a first refusal and one year for repeat refusals.³

Felony DUI

When impaired driving causes great bodily injury, the offense becomes a felony with a mandatory prison sentence of 30 days to 15 years. If someone dies, the sentence runs from one to 25 years. Your license is suspended for the entire time you’re incarcerated. After release, you enroll in the interlock program: three years with the device if great bodily injury was involved, five years if a death occurred.⁴

Implied Consent Refusal

By driving on South Carolina roads, you’ve already consented to chemical testing when an officer has probable cause to suspect impairment. Refusing triggers an automatic six-month suspension separate from any criminal DUI case. Before testing, the officer must warn you that refusal will result in at least a six-month suspension and can be used against you in court.⁵

You can end an implied consent suspension early by enrolling in the interlock program instead of waiting it out. You also have 30 days from the notice date to request a contested case hearing before the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings. Miss that window and you waive your right to challenge the administrative suspension.⁶

What the Interlock Actually Costs

The ignition interlock device prevents your vehicle from starting when it detects alcohol on your breath. It’s required after any DUI, DUAC, or felony DUI conviction, and for anyone who takes a temporary alcohol license after an implied consent suspension.⁷

Monthly leasing and monitoring costs typically run $65 to $100, on top of one-time installation and removal fees. A first offense at six months adds up to roughly $400 to $600 for the device. A second offense at two years runs $1,500 to $2,400. The duration is set from the SCDMV’s total count of alcohol-related offenses, and refusals and DUAC convictions all count toward that total, not just DUI convictions.⁷

Point Accumulation

South Carolina assigns points to traffic violations. Cross a threshold and your license is suspended:

12 to 15 points: three months
16 to 17 points: four months
18 to 19 points: five months
20 or more points: six months

Twelve is the point at which the state treats your record as evidence of dangerous driving.⁸

Point values by common violation:

Six points: reckless driving, passing a stopped school bus, hit-and-run with property damage only
Four points: speeding more than 10 but less than 25 mph over the limit, disobeying a traffic signal or stop sign, failing to yield right-of-way, following too closely
Two points: unsafe lane changes, driving in an improper lane

A single reckless driving conviction puts you halfway to the threshold.⁹

Points are cut in half one year after the violation date. You can also take an approved eight-hour defensive driving course to remove up to four points, but only once every three years. The course removes points from the SCDMV record; the underlying violation still shows on your driving history for insurance purposes.¹⁰

Insurance-Related Suspensions

Every registered vehicle in South Carolina must carry continuous liability insurance. Three different failures each trigger their own suspension code.

Lapsed Coverage

When a policy lapses, even briefly, the insurance company notifies the SCDMV electronically. The department then requires proof of new coverage or surrender of your plates. Do neither and both your registration and your license are suspended. Reinstatement is $200, and you may be required to carry SR-22 insurance for three years going forward.¹¹

The $200 fee can be waived through a sworn statement showing the vehicle wasn’t driven on South Carolina roads during the lapse and that the lapse was caused by military service or documented illness.¹¹

SR-22 Failures

Drivers convicted of DUI, caught driving without insurance, or hit with certain other violations must file an SR-22 certificate proving minimum liability coverage. If the SR-22 policy lapses for any reason, the insurer notifies the SCDMV and your license is suspended again until you provide proof of a new active policy and pay a $100 reinstatement fee. Any lapse resets the three-year SR-22 clock back to zero.¹²

The SR-22 filing itself runs around $25. The real expense is the premium, since drivers with a DUI on their record often pay over $1,000 more per year than they did before the conviction.

Uninsured Accidents

Being in a reportable accident without insurance triggers an immediate suspension. The SCDMV won’t reinstate until you settle the damages or enter a payment agreement with the injured party, pay a reinstatement fee of $600 (subject to annual adjustment by the Department of Insurance), and maintain SR-22 insurance for three years.¹³

Before the suspension takes effect, the SCDMV must offer you a contested case hearing before the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings. If you can show you actually had valid insurance at the time of the accident, the suspension won’t be enforced.¹⁴ The injured party may still file a claim with the state’s Uninsured Motorists Fund, and you remain personally liable for the damages either way.¹⁵

Court Compliance Suspensions

Several suspension codes have nothing to do with how you drive and everything to do with unresolved obligations. They stay in effect indefinitely until you clear the underlying issue.

Unpaid Child Support

Fall at least $500 behind and go 60 days without a payment, and your license becomes subject to suspension. The South Carolina Department of Social Services can request suspension of any state-issued license, not just your driver’s license.¹⁶

To get the license back, pay the overdue amount or set up a court-approved payment plan, then obtain a compliance letter from DSS. A special route-restricted license is available for $100 that allows travel between home and work, home and school, and required meetings. If after six months on the restricted license you haven’t made substantial progress on the arrears, DSS can suspend that license too.¹⁷

Unpaid Tickets and Failure to Appear

Failing to pay a traffic ticket or missing a court date results in an indefinite suspension. The SCDMV keeps it in place until you pay the fine, any late fees, and a $100 reinstatement fee. Multiple unpaid tickets mean multiple $100 fees, since each suspension has its own reinstatement.¹²

Missing a court date for a traffic or criminal offense also triggers a bench warrant. You’ll typically need a clearance letter from the court once you’ve appeared, submitted to the SCDMV with the $100 fee.

South Carolina participates in the Driver License Compact and the Non-Resident Violator Compact, so unpaid tickets from other member states can also trigger a South Carolina suspension.¹⁸

Document Fraud

Using false information or counterfeit documents to obtain a license triggers an immediate suspension. Possessing or attempting to use a fake license is a misdemeanor with fines and possible jail time. Lending your license to someone else can produce the same consequences. Reinstatement requires satisfying all legal penalties, completing any probation, and paying a $100 fee. In some cases you’ll appear before a hearing officer before driving privileges are restored.

Commercial Driver’s License Disqualifications

CDL holders face a separate and harsher penalty structure. Major violations disqualify you from operating any commercial vehicle, whether the offense occurred in a commercial or personal vehicle.

Major Offenses

Operating a commercial vehicle under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident, or using a commercial vehicle to commit a felony each result in a one-year disqualification for a first offense. If the vehicle was carrying hazardous materials, that extends to three years. A second major offense is a lifetime disqualification, though a state may allow reinstatement after ten years if the driver completes an approved rehabilitation program. A third offense after reinstatement is permanent.¹⁹

Refusing a breath or blood test carries a one-year disqualification under both federal regulations and South Carolina law, even without a DUI conviction.²⁰

Using a commercial vehicle to manufacture, distribute, or traffic controlled substances is a lifetime disqualification with no ten-year reinstatement option.¹⁹

Serious Traffic Violations

Speeding 15 mph or more over the limit, reckless driving, unsafe lane changes, and following too closely count as serious traffic violations for CDL holders. Two within a three-year period bring a 60-day disqualification. Three or more bring 120 days.²⁰

CDL holders cannot use point reduction courses or diversion programs. South Carolina follows the federal prohibition on “masking” CDL violations, so courts cannot reduce a CDL-related traffic offense through a plea deal and keep it off the commercial driving record. The offense must be reported as committed.

Medical Certificate Lapses

CDL holders must keep a valid medical examiner’s certificate on file with the SCDMV. If the certificate expires and isn’t updated, the SCDMV downgrades your commercial privileges. Your base license stays, but you cannot operate any vehicle requiring a CDL until the certificate is current.²¹

Habitual Offender Status

South Carolina can classify you as a habitual offender if your record shows a pattern of serious violations within a three-year period. The designation triggers a revocation beyond any individual suspension code. Two paths lead there:

Three or more major offenses, including DUI, reckless driving, hit-and-run causing injury, driving under suspension, vehicular manslaughter, or any felony involving a motor vehicle
Ten or more moving violations carrying four or more points each, or violations that qualify as major offenses

Multiple offenses on the same day count as one for this calculation. Out-of-state convictions for equivalent offenses count toward the total.²²

Unlike a points-based suspension that lifts after a few months, a habitual offender revocation cancels your license entirely, and the road back is significantly longer than for any single suspension code.

Penalties for Driving Under Suspension

Getting caught driving while your license is suspended creates a new offense on top of the existing one. Penalties escalate:

First offense: up to $300 fine, up to 30 days in jail, or both
Second offense: up to $600 fine, up to 60 days in jail, or both
Third or subsequent offense: $1,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail or home detention

The penalties climb further if the suspension was DUI-related. A first offense there carries a mandatory minimum of 10 days in jail (up to 30), and by the third offense the range is six months to three years of imprisonment.²³

The SCDMV also doubles your suspension. A fixed-period suspension gets that same period added again. A suspension without a set end date gets three additional months. A revoked license gets one full year added before you can even apply for a new one.²³

Limited-Privilege Licenses

Depending on why your license was suspended, you may qualify for a limited license that keeps you driving for essential trips. None of these are automatic; each requires an application and specific conditions.

For a first DUI or DUAC conviction with a breath test result of 0.14% or lower, you may qualify for a provisional license. Requirements: a valid South Carolina license with no other active suspensions, enrollment in the Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program (ADSAP), and a $100 fee. The provisional license covers the six-month suspension period without route restrictions.

For a second or subsequent DUI, or a breath test of 0.15% or higher, the route-restricted license is the option. It limits driving to travel between home and work, to school, to ADSAP meetings, and to court-ordered treatment. Route-restricted licenses are available only once in your lifetime.

For a child support suspension, a separate route-restricted license is available for $100 covering travel between home and work or school. DSS can suspend that license too if you haven’t made substantial progress on the arrears after six months.¹⁷

A driver convicted of driving under suspension can obtain a route-restricted license for $100 with the same home-to-work and home-to-school restrictions.²³

Reinstatement Fees

Every suspension has a reinstatement fee, and drivers with multiple suspensions owe a separate fee for each one. The standard fee is $100 per suspension unless a specific statute sets a different amount.¹²

Higher fees apply in specific situations: $200 for an insurance lapse, and $600 (subject to annual adjustment) for being involved in an accident while uninsured.¹¹¹³

These are only the fees for getting your license back. They don’t include the underlying fines, court costs, ADSAP enrollment, SR-22 premiums, or interlock expenses that may also be required. A DUI-related suspension can easily run several thousand dollars in combined costs before you’re legally driving again.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 56 Chapter 5 – Section 56-5-2990
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 56 Chapter 5 – Section 56-5-2933
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 56 Chapter 1 – Section 56-1-286
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 56 Chapter 5 – Section 56-5-2945
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-5-2950 – Implied Consent to Testing for Alcohol or Drugs
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-5-2951 – Suspension of License
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-5-2941 – Ignition Interlock Device
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 56 Chapter 1 – Section 56-1-740
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-1-720 – Point System Established; Schedule of Points for Violations
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SCDMV. Points System
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-10-245 – Per Diem Fine for Lapse in Required Coverage
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SCDMV. Pay Reinstatement Fees
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 56 Chapter 10 – Section 56-10-520
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 56 Chapter 10 – Section 56-10-530
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 38 Chapter 77 – Section 38-77-150
16
South Carolina Department of Social Services. Locating Absent Parents and Available Enforcement Remedies
17
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-1-171 – Suspension for Failure to Pay Child Support; Route-Restricted License
18
National Center for Interstate Compacts. Driver License Compact
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eCFR. 49 CFR Part 383 Subpart D – Driver Disqualifications and Penalties
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-1-2110 – Disqualification from Driving Commercial Motor Vehicle
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Medical
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-1-1020 – Habitual Offender Defined
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South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 56-1-460 – Penalties for Driving While License Cancelled, Suspended, or Revoked