COLOMBIA, SC – If you are getting in the way of traffic on the freeway, it could become a fineable crime in South Carolina.
A bill is working in Columbia to crack down on the very slow direction in the left lane. However, both the House and the Senate did not agree on how much it would cost you.
“We want to make sure that we send bills to the Senate that are good and have a good chance of passing there,” said District 107 Representative Case Brittain. “We removed the colon because we didn’t want insurance to be a problem.”
Brittain was one of 108 lawmakers who unanimously decided to pass the bill, which would make traffic in the left lane without the intention of going through a $ 200 fine.
However, he and the rest of the House thought that taking two points off the license was a bit much.
Some Senate leaders think the consequences are still a little steep.
The Senate Transportation Committee revised the bill and changed it to a fine of just $ 25.
Senator Stephen Goldfinch is not on the committee, but he can see where they are coming from.
“I think it’s probably a good rate that keeps most of them out of court,” he said. “We already have enough delays in court, just like the pandemic.”
Pintassilgo also mentioned that, especially for this area, out-of-state people who get a fine in the left lane are unlikely to make the effort to return to court, which would delay other lawsuits.
Brittain is interested in seeing what the Senate’s final decision will be, because he thinks that $ 25 does not give the law enough weight.
“It takes teeth to make sure people notice,” he said. “There are people who are causing shipwrecks because they are trying to get around people who are driving very slowly in the left lane. It is supposed to be just to get through. “
The Goldfinch, however, thinks that being pulled by itself already has enough impact, and the smaller ticket makes it more applicable.
“To begin with, it is an inconvenience to be pulled,” said Pintassilgo. “Repeated offenders will receive that $ 25 fine every time. They will eventually learn their lesson or break in the process. “
Both lawmakers agree, however, that the bill itself is a necessity.
“If you have someone in the left lane who is going below the speed limit and someone behind him trying to get around, there is a specific problem that can have big consequences,” said Brittain.
Pintassilgo says this bill is likely to reach the Senate next week and return to the House for another vote before potentially going to the governor’s desk.
“We just have a culture in South Carolina that doesn’t seem to exist anywhere else where you can drive carelessly on the track for miles and miles,” he said. “At best, it is obstructing traffic. At worst, it is causing problems for emergency vehicles in the passage. “
Also at the State House …
- A legislative committee has approved spending $ 313,000 on devices that clean air from viruses and mold in the six buildings in the South Carolina State House. Authorities expect air ionization devices to be installed next month. The Post and Courier of Charleston reports that the state prison system has already installed some of the machines and said it immediately slowed the spread of COVID-19 among prisoners and workers. The devices can eliminate the coronavirus, but also other more common viruses that cause disease. They can also eliminate mold, an important consideration in a complex where each building is at least 40 years old.
- South Carolina’s attorney general sent four unresolved corruption cases to the Statehouse for a Republican prosecutor in Spartanburg County to resolve. The state Supreme Court ruled in January that Democratic prosecutor David Pascoe of Orangeburg exceeded his authority. The judges decided that Pascoe should not have continued his investigation beyond the few cases that Attorney General Alan Wilson gave him because of a possible conflict of interest. The cases involve accusations of perjury and obstruction of justice against political consultant Richard Quinn Sr., as well as lawsuits against three former Republican members of the General Assembly.
From reports by Zach Wilcox of the WMBF and The Associated Press