Expert South Carolina Car Insurance Advice (Compare Costs & Companies)

South Carolina is a state with an incredible amount of history, and one of the most historically significant spots in South Carolina is Charleston. Charleston was one of the first cities established in the U.S. in 1680. It’s got awesome architecture, a fantastic food culture, and the arts in abundance.

However, while Charleston is a truly magnificent city, there’s so much more to the state of South Carolina. There’s Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Columbia, and its world-class museums, Greenville, Beaufort, and many, many other beautiful locations.

If you want to check out all these places we’ve mentioned, you’re going to need a car, and you’re going to need car insurance.

We know that finding car insurance can be a pain, so we’re going to make it a lot easier for you to find the best car insurance possible. We’re going to provide you with a tool to see the cheapest car insurance that matches your needs.

In addition to giving you access to this tool, we’re going to show you some essential information about driving in South Carolina.

Keep reading to learn as much as you can about South Carolina car insurance so you can make informed, intelligent decisions about your insurance.

And start using our FREE tool to compare car insurance.

State Car Insurance Coverage and Rates

It’s certainly difficult to figure out which car insurance is necessary, and more specifically, which car insurance is necessary for you. It can be easy to get caught up in the various types of car insurance that are offered and be uncertain about which car insurance you need.

Not to worry, though: in this next section, we’re going to show you the car insurance that’s required in South Carolina and some options that may be useful to you depending on your needs.

In this particular section, we’re going to show you South Carolina’s car culture, the minimum coverage required for South Carolina drivers, forms of financial responsibility, premiums as a percentage of income, and many other topics that will help you have a better understanding of South Carolina’s car insurance.

South Carolina’s Car Culture

South Carolina has awesome Southern culture and gorgeous scenic streets. However, rapid growth has caused many of the cities to become larger at an unprecedented pace, which has put many more drivers on the road. Thus, despite the general friendliness of South Carolina citizens, there is a very high rate of road fatalities. Experts attribute this to poor road conditions and bad drivers.

South Carolina has a long and rich history in the road industry. In 1916, the Rock Hill Buggy Co. started making handmade sedans and five-passenger touring cars. When you think about all the machinery and all the engineering that goes into making a modern vehicle, the thought of making a handmade car is pretty astounding!

Some decades later, in 1950, South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway starting hosting Nascar racing events. The racing culture in South Carolina has continued to this day, with races at the Carolina Motorsports Park and the Myrtle Beach Speedway.

Currently, BMW has a very strong presence in South Carolina, with over 8,000 workers in the Spartanburg location. Volvo is rather large, too, as they are building a massive facility in Ridgeville that will produce 60,000 cars per year.

South Carolina Minimum Coverage

South Carolina follows the 25/50/25 law for its minimum coverage. This means that in an accident that you caused, you must be able to pay $25,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $50,000 for total bodily injury or death liability, and $25,000 for property damage per accident.

It’s also necessary that you know whether your state allows for electronic proof of insurance or not. So, we’ll happily tell you! South Carolina is the 31st state to allow for electronic proof insurance. That means you no longer need to carry around a physical copy of your proof insurance to prove your insurance.

Forms of Financial Responsibility

Based on South Carolina’s Financial Responsibility Act, drivers in South Carolina must have the following to prove financial responsibility:

• Surety bond.
• Real estate bonds with a combined value of $150,000 or more.
• Cash/Security Deposit in the amount of $35,000 or more.

Premiums as a Percentage of Income

Next, let’s check out premiums as a percentage of income from 2012-2014. In 2012, it was 2.74 percent, 2.84 percent in 2013, and 2.81 percent in 2014. As you can see, the highest percentage was in 2013, and the lowest percentage was in 2012.

Of the states that border South Carolina, North Carolina’s premium as a percentage of income was 2.07 percent in 2012, 2.19 percent in 2013, and 2.19 percent once again in 2014. Georgia’s premium as a percentage income was 2.78 percent in 2012, 2.87 percent in 2013, and 2.87 percent again in 2014.

According to this data, South Carolina’s premium as a percentage of income was mostly higher than North Carolina’s and pretty similar to Georgia’s.

Finally, if you were to compare South Carolina’s percentage to the national average, you would see that it was higher for all three years.

Core Coverage

This section details the core coverage for insurance in South Carolina based on data from the NAIC.

Let’s define some of these coverage types, so you’re more familiar with them. Collision coverage is auto coverage that reimburses the insured for damage sustained to their personal automobile because of the fault of the insured driver. Comprehensive coverage covers damage to your car caused by disasters other than collisions, and costs significantly less than collision coverage.

Finally, full coverage is the combination of collision coverage and comprehensive coverage (pretty simple, right?).

It’s also worth noting that the NAIC data is based on the state minimum.

Additional Liability

Let’s move along and check out additional liability loss ratios in South Carolina.

Here’s a video that explains loss ratios:

Now, here is a table that shows that data in South Carolina:

It’s important to understand some of these definitions to fully grasp what this section is about. First, a loss ratio is the ratio between insurance losses incurred and premiums earned during a given period.

An example of this would be if a company has a loss ratio of 75; this means a company spent $75 on claims for every $100 earned in premiums. If a company has a loss ratio closer to 100, this means that they are paying more claims, but they are losing money. Ideally, a company should have a loss ratio between 60 and 70.

The first category that we have for these loss ratios is Personal Injury Protection. Still, this category is irrelevant to South Carolina because there are no numbers listed for Personal Injury Protection. However, if you would like to learn more about Personal Injury Protection, check out this site.

The next category, Medical Payments, shows how much South Carolina insurance companies spend on costs for medical claims compared to how much they make from premiums on them.

And finally, we have uninsured/underinsured, which shows how much South Carolina insurance companies spend on these kinds of drivers in premiums as opposed to how much they make on these drivers from premiums.

Add-ons, Endorsements, and Riders

We’ve gone over a bunch of insurance options for you that will help protect you (and your wallet)! However, these are mostly the standard or required insurance types. Usually, you’ll need something more to keep you covered, so we’re going to list some other insurance coverages that can help you out when you drive.

• Guaranteed Auto Protection (GAP)
• Personal Umbrella Policy (PUP)
• Rental Reimbursement
• Emergency Roadside Assistance
• Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
• Non-Owner Car Insurance
• Modified Car Insurance Coverage
• Classic Car Insurance
• Pay-As-You-Drive car insurance

Male vs. Female Rates

Moving on, let’s check out Male vs. Female rates for South Carolina drivers. Though some states have banned allowing insurance companies to base their rates on gender, it’s still legal to do this in South Carolina. Therefore, it’s essential to know how your gender factors into the cost of your insurance.

The table below shows the various costs of South Carolina insurance companies based on gender, marital status, and age.

As you can see, the most expensive demographic, on average, is for a 17-year-old male. The most expensive company for a 17-year-old male is Progressive ($11,361.20). The next most expensive group is 17-year-old females, and the most expensive company for them is also Progressive ($10,287.93).

We can also see that marital status plays a significant role in determining the cost for insurance, as a 35-year-old single male, on average, pays considerably less than a 35-year-old married male.

Finally, we can see from these numbers that the least expensive demographic is a married 60-year-old female and that the least expensive provider for this demographic is USAA ($1,688.20).

Please note: the Quadrant data is based on actual purchased coverage by the state population and includes rates for high-risk drivers and drivers who choose to purchase more than the state minimum. This includes other types of coverage not required, such as uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance, Personal Injury Protection, and Medical Payments. 

Cheapest Rates by ZIP Code

Moving along, let’s check out the cheapest rates by ZIP code in South Carolina. Here is a table representing all the ZIP codes in South Carolina and their respective costs.

Based on this data, you can see that the most expensive ZIP code is 29933, which is in Miley, and the average cost of insurance for this ZIP code is $4,519.05. The least expensive ZIP code is 29672, which is in Seneca, and the average cost of insurance in this ZIP code is $3,115.58.

An interesting thing about South Carolina is that many of the rankings for ZIP codes are spread out through many cities as opposed to being clustered in a single city. Many times, especially for the higher rankings for costs by ZIP code, several ZIP codes in a singular city are in the top places on the list. But for South Carolina, the ZIP codes are from various cities.

Cheapest Rates by City

Next, we’re going to check out the cheapest rates by city in the wonderful state of South Carolina.

As you can see from this table, the most expensive city in South Carolina is Miley, and the average cost of insurance in that city is $4,519.05. The least expensive city in South Carolina is Seneca, and the average cost of insurance in Seneca is $3,115.58. The second and third least expensive cities in South Carolina are Central ($3,145.58) and Newry ($3,149.62).

Miley, the most expensive city, is actually a smaller, unincorporated community in Hampton, South Carolina. Interestingly, all of these towns are all quite small, with Seneca having a population of 8,340, Central having a population of 5,179, and Newry having a population that only consists of 172 people.

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Best South Carolina Car Insurance Companies

There are so many insurance companies out there, and it’s difficult to choose which company works best for you. Why waste your time searching through endless companies or looking at companies that you’ll never pick? Well, you won’t have to do either.

In this section, we’re going to show you the best insurance companies in South Carolina. Specifically, we’re going to check out the largest companies’ financial ratings, the companies with the best ratings, the companies with the most complaints in South Carolina, and much, much more.

The Largest Companies Financial Rating

Let’s take a look at the largest companies’ financial ratings, shall we? The source from which we are going to pull this information is from the highly credible A.M. Best.

Check out this video which explains more:

So to see how the 10 largest car insurance companies in South Carolina are doing, we’ve included the A.M. Best ratings for each.

Based on the information from this table, all these large companies in South Carolina have a pretty great financial rating. In fact, the lowest rating on this list is an A (which is impressive), and the highest rating is the fantastic A++. The majority of these companies have an A++ (State Farm, Geico, USAA, Travelers Group, and Auto-Owners Group). The company with the “lowest financial rating,” which isn’t all that low, is Liberty Mutual.

Companies with Best Ratings

In this section, we’re going to check out the companies with the highest customer satisfaction ratings based on information from J.D. Power. JD Power gave a survey to customers in different regions of the United States and asked them to give their insurance companies a rating. Here is a table displaying those ratings for the Southeast region of the United States, of which South Carolina is a part.

Based on this information, we can see that Farm Bureau Insurance is the highest rated insurance company on this list with a rating of 888. The next highest company on this list is Erie Insurance, with a rating of 870. The lowest rated insurance company on this list is Liberty Mutual, with a rating of 809. However, the average rating for this region is 841, so anything around that number or in the 800s is good.

Companies with Most Complaints in South Carolina

No company is perfect, so it’s possible to make a mistake that warrants a complaint. Yet, one should note a pattern of complaints or if there are a substantial amount of complaints about a particular company. So, we’ve compiled a list of the companies with the most complaints in South Carolina.

We can see from the table that the company with the most complaints is State Farm, with 1482, and the company with the lowest amount of complaints is Travelers Group, with two. That’s a pretty noticeable difference!

While knowing which companies have the most complaints is helpful, it does not necessarily mean that one company is better than the other based only on complaints.

For example, State Farm might seem like they have a lot of complaints, but they are one of the largest car insurance companies, so it makes sense that they would have more complaints because they have more clients. Make sure to learn about how a company deals with their complaints and the other benefits they provide, too.

Cheapest Companies in South Carolina

After taking a look at the companies with the most complaints in South Carolina, let’s see what the cheapest companies in South Carolina are.

If you’re looking for a cheap insurance company, it’d be best to get USAA, as their average cost is the cheapest at $3,424.76. But like the companies with the most complaints, cheaper doesn’t always mean better, so make sure to find the other benefits of these companies besides their prices.

Commute Rates by Companies

This next table examines how one’s commute rate affects their insurance cost. Given that most drivers use their cars to commute, this section could prove pretty important to you.

Many companies have the same rate for both the 10-mile and the 25-mile commutes, so it might be advisable to get the longer commute coverage just in case. These companies include Farmers, Nationwide, and Progressive. The cheapest 10-mile commute company is State Farm with a cost of $2,994.90, and the cheapest 25-mile company is also State Farm, with a price of $3,147.78.

Coverage Level Rates by Companies

When you buy insurance, there are various levels of coverage that you can purchase for your car. This list shows all the different coverage levels from the major car insurance companies and how much they cost.

As you can tell from this data, the most expensive coverage type is high coverage from Farmers at $5,200.86. The cheapest coverage is State Farm’s low coverage, which is $2,845.49. For some companies, like USAA, the coverage is less than two hundred dollars apart from medium coverage to low coverage, so it might be worth it to pay a little more for the extra coverage.

Credit History Rates by Companies

Let’s take some time to dive into credit history rates by company, shall we? Below is a table that shows how much each insurance company charges you based on your credit history (whether it’s good, fair, or poor).

Based on this table, we can see that the best company for bad credit is Nationwide, with $4,309.08 for a poor credit score. It’s interesting to see that Farmers ($4,148.55) and Progressive ($4,164.27) have rates for good credit that are almost the same for Nationwide’s poor credit.

South Carolina’s average credit score is 657, which falls in the fair range. So, the fair credit prices are the most pertinent to South Carolina drivers.

Lastly, here are the average costs for each credit score type based on all the insurance companies.

• Good: $2,998.92
• Fair: $3,446.39
• Poor: $4,898.09

Driving Record Rates by Companies

The final section we’re going to look at for rates by company is driving records. The table below shows how each car insurance company charges you based on your driving record. The marks on your driving record that companies usually factor in are DUIs, speeding tickets, and accidents.

As you can see, the most expensive mistakes are DUIs and accidents, which makes sense. The most expensive costs for these infractions are $5,418.24 for an accident if you have Farmers Insurance. If you have a DUI, it costs $4,719.15 if your insurance company is Geico.

The cheapest records to have are clean records, obviously. The cheapest companies, if you have a clean record, are Geico ($2,429.04) and USAA ($2,706.69).

Largest Car Insurance Companies in South Carolina

For this section, we’re going to check out the largest car insurance companies in South Carolina, and we’re going to take a look at some of their numbers.

We’re going to give you some definitions which will help you read the table. Direct premiums written are the total amount of an insurance company’s written premiums during a given year without accounting for the amount ceded to reinsurance. It can include policies that other affiliated companies write, but it does not include the premiums earned from the company’s role as a reinsurer.

Market shares are a bit simpler. A market share is the percentage of the market for a product or service that a company supplies.

So, from the data from this table, you can see that State Farm is the largest insurance company because they have the most direct premiums written ($949,692), and they have the largest market share (23.88 percent).

Of these ten largest insurance companies in South Carolina, the company that is the smallest is Auto-Owners Group, as they have $68,469 in direct premiums written, and their market share is 1.72 percent.

Number of Insurers in South Carolina

South Carolina has two different kinds of insurers available to customers; these two types are domestic and foreign.

The difference between domestic insurance and foreign insurance is that a domestic insurance company is based in South Carolina, and a foreign insurance company is based outside of South Carolina.

Onto the numbers! In South Carolina, there are 19 domestic insurers, and there are 993 foreign insurers. 

South Carolina Laws

It’s imperative that you know your state laws, but we know it’s tough to learn about laws because they’re often written about in legal jargon. Fortunately, we’ve found the most important South Carolina insurance and driving laws, and we’ve written about them in a way that is easy to read.

Below, we’ve written about car insurance laws, how state laws for insurance are determined, high-risk insurance, and much more to ensure that you’re knowledgeable about your state’s laws.

Car Insurance Laws

Up next: the ever-important car insurance laws. Keep reading to see the laws about car insurance in South Carolina, and how these laws are created.

How State Laws for Insurance are Determined

Ever wondered how laws are determined in South Carolina? Well, wonder no more. We’ll tell you. South Carolina is a flex rating state, which means auto insurers are allowed to adjust their rates up or down within a 5 percent band without seeking approval from the state’s insurance commissioner. This is a type of file and use law, which allows companies to change their rates before they get approval from the state.

This type of system may seem strange, but it encourages more auto insurers to do business in the state.

It’s also important to know that the South Carolina Department of Insurance is the main regulator for insurance and that any insurance-related questions should be directed towards them.

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Windshield Coverage

There are some important laws regarding windshield coverage in South Carolina that you should be aware of. In the Palmetto State, there is no deductible for windshields for private passenger vehicles, if you have comprehensive insurance.

A private passenger vehicle is essentially a vehicle that is used for your private, personal use only. So, this law means that if you have comprehensive insurance for your car, you don’t need to pay anything to have the windshield replaced. That’s a pretty great deal if you ask us.

High-Risk Insurance

Some drivers are required to purchase high-risk insurance. These “high risk” drivers can present a greater liability to insurers due to their driving record, the type of cars they drive, or even their credit history. Because of these factors, a driver must purchase one of three high-risk insurance types: SR-22, SR-22A, and FR-44.

• SR22 insurance is a type of car insurance that an insurance company files with the Department of Motor Vehicles. This means that the driver can be monitored for up to three years to make sure that they are proper auto insurance coverage. In South Carolina, you must have this form for three years. You must fill out the form, as it proves financial responsibility, and the DMV needs to have it on file.
• SR22A insurance is similar to SR22 insurance but is only for drivers in Texas, Georgia, and Missouri. It is for people who are repeat offenders of financial responsibility laws.
• Finally, FR-44 insurance guarantees that a high-risk driver can pay double the limits of the state’s minimum requirements. It’s also only required in Florida and Virginia.

Low-Cost Insurance

While South Carolina does have high-risk insurance programs, unfortunately, it does not have low-cost insurance programs. The only states that have these types of programs are California, Hawaii, and New Jersey.

Automobile Insurance Fraud in South Carolina

Like in many states, insurance fraud is a serious issue in South Carolina. You might think that insurance fraud doesn’t affect you directly, but it certainly does. The average American household pays $1030 every year in out-of-pocket-costs as a result of insurance fraud.

Insurance fraud can take many forms, but some common types of insurance fraud are misrepresenting facts about insurance applications or inflating or even fabricating claims altogether.

Here is a list of the most common forms of insurance fraud. Avoid doing these, as there are serious legal ramifications. You will also be hurting your fellow drivers.

• Underreporting the number of miles you drive on your auto policy.
• Failing to report an accurate medical history when applying for health insurance.
• An employee of a company who fakes or exaggerates injuries to avoid work and draws workers’ compensation payout.
• An auto accident victim who falsifies or overstates injuries–or even fakes the accident–to achieve a large settlement or award.
• Staging automobile accidents which result in inflated injury claims.
• An insured who draws accident and health insurance benefits because of exaggerated or even fabricated injuries or illness.
• Exaggerating the amount and value of items stolen from a home or business.

Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations is the amount of time you have to file for a claim after an accident. Each state has a specific amount of time within which you must file your claim. If you file after this time period, the claim has no legal power.

There are two types of claims that the statute of limitations applies to. The first is personal injury, and the second is property damage. Personal injury is if you were hurt in the accident, and property damage is if your property was damaged in the accident. In South Carolina, the statute of limitations for personal injury is three years, and for property damage, it is also three years.

State Specific Laws

South Carolinians, like residents of all the other states, have laws that are specific to them. Here are some of these laws. Read up on them: you never know when it might help you out.

This first law is for teens. If you are between 15-and-a-half and younger than 16, you may receive a conditional license if you meet certain driving requirements. However, there are some rules for this type of license.

• You cannot have more than two passengers under 21 in the vehicle with you unless you are with a licensed adult who is at least 21. The only exception is if you are transporting family members or students to and from school.
•  You may drive alone from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (8 p.m. during daylight savings time).
• You may drive with a licensed driver, who is at least 21, from 6 p.m. (8 p.m. during daylight savings time) to midnight.
•  You may drive after midnight to 6 a.m., but you must be supervised by any licensed individual listed in SC Code Section 56-1-100(A) (1-7).

Another interesting law specific to South Carolina is that a person may not drive any vehicle on a highway with any lamp or device on it that displays a red or blue light visible from directly in front of its center.

Finally, if you have an offensive sticker on your car, you may receive a fine. So be careful about what you put on your car.

Here, we’re going to check out some laws about licensing your cars. Read this section that so you can ensure that you can have (and keep!) your license for years to come.

South Carolina is, indeed, compliant with the Real ID Act. “What is the Real I.D. Act?” you may ask. Well, it’s basically a way for law enforcement to rely on government-issued documents to be able to identify who the person giving them the I.D. claims to be, and it sets standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver’s licenses.

Furthermore, it establishes minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the act’s minimum standards.

Penalties for Driving Without Insurance

In South Carolina, like in most other states, you absolutely must drive with insurance at all times. If you choose not to drive with insurance in South Carolina, you will be subjected to penalties.

The first time you are caught driving without insurance, you will receive a $100 to $200 fine and up to 30 days in prison. For the second offense, you will incur a $200 fine and spend up to 30 days in prison. Finally, if you are caught for the third time, you will get a $5 fee for every day without insurance and 45 days to six months in prison.

Do yourself a favor: just drive with insurance.

As far as proving your insurance, you may use your cellphone to show you have insurance because you are allowed to have electronic proof of insurance.

The state of South Carolina enforces the checking of insurance during traffic stops and after car accidents.

Finally, if you receive an “intent to suspend” letter, this means that you have not sent in proof of your insurance, so the DMV has suspended your insurance and sent you a letter asking for proof of insurance as well as a $14 reinstatement fee for clearing the suspension.

Teen Driver Laws

According to South Carolina graduate licensing laws, you must be at least 15 to get your permit and start the process of getting your license. There is a minimum holding period (having your permit) for six months, and you must have driven at least 40 hours, 10 of which must be at night. Finally, the age at which you can get your license in South Carolina is unique, as you can receive it when you’re 15 and a half years old.

Older Driver License Renewal Procedures

If you’re an older driver in South Carolina, you must renew your license every year. Older drivers must also get their vision checked every renewal, and they may renew either through mail or online. You can read further about this procedure on the IIHS’s website.

New Residents

If you’ve recently moved to South Carolina, there are some procedures you must follow if you want to receive the required South Carolina license. When you move to South Carolina, and you have an out of state license, you must apply for a South Carolina ID or license, and you must turn in your old license when you get a South Carolina I.D. Additionally, you have to transfer your registration within 45 days of moving to South Carolina.

License renewal procedures

If you’re part of the general population and need to renew your license, you must follow some procedures, too. You must renew or license every eight years, and there is a required vision exam for every renewal, regardless of your age. Finally, you may renew your license either online or through the mail.

Negligent Operator Treatment System (NOTS)

Though the Negligent Operator Treatment System is only applied in California, South Carolina has a policy where an irresponsible driver receives points on their license for infractions. You receive points if you break the law in South Carolina or another state, or if you receive a military court-martial for traffic convictions.

If you receive over six points on your license, this is considered an excessive amount of points on your license, and your license will be suspended.

If you take a defensive driving course, you may have some points taken off of your license. However, if your license was suspended for excessive points, you won’t get your license back.

Rules of the Road

Moving on, in this section, we will check out the rules of the road for South Carolina drivers. These rules are crucial to know because many of them involve the safety of South Carolina drivers.

Fault vs. No-Fault

According to NOLO, South Carolina is an at-fault state. This means that the driver who was at fault for causing the car accident is also responsible for any resulting harm. From a practical standpoint, the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier will pay for the losses, depending on policy limits.

Seat belt and car seat laws

The current seat belt laws in South Carolina were effective as of July 1st, 1989, and police officers were allowed to start stopping drivers or passengers and giving them tickets for not having a seat belt as of December 9th, 2005.

If you or your passenger is six years old or older (we hope you are!), you must wear a seat belt. If a passenger is younger than two years old, they must be in a rear-facing seat. Children two years and older need to be in a forward-facing restraint. Children four years old or older have to be in a belt-positioning booster until the child is eight years old.

Riding in the cargo area of a truck is not permitted if you under 15 unless you have an adult with the teenager in the vehicle.

Keep Right and Move Over Laws

When driving in South Carolina, it is important to be mindful of the Keep Right and Move Over laws. In South Carolina, drivers are required to drive at a reduced speed and leave the lane closest to the emergency stationary vehicle. This also includes tow trucks and recovery vehicles. You must also make sure to keep right if you’re driving slower than the average speed of traffic around you.

Speed Limits

It’s crucial that you adhere to the speed limits in South Carolina to avoid a ticket, and more importantly, to keep your fellow drivers safe. In South Carolina, the speed limit is 70 mph for rural interstates, 70 mph in urban interstates, 60 mph on other limited-access roads, and 55 mph on all other roads.

Ridesharing

As for ridesharing (AKA apps like Lyft and Uber), you must have the state’s minimum requirements for insurance, and you must also have special ridesharing insurance for your work car. For now, the only insurance company that covers ridesharing in South Carolina is Geico.

Automation on the Road

Autonomous vehicles are driverless cars, and they’re starting to come about in South Carolina. As for the laws surrounding automation on the road in South Carolina, the minimum following distance laws does not apply to any non-leading vehicle traveling in a platoon. A platoon is a term used for self-driving cars that describes a group of vehicles that travels in close proximity to one another, nose-to-tail, at highway speeds.

There are not a lot of laws about automated driving in South Carolina yet. But due to the rapid growth of self-driving cars throughout the country, keep an eye out for new laws that will be created in the coming years.

Safety Laws

For this next section, we’re going to examine some safety laws in South Carolina. Once again, we want you to avoid incurring any ticket fees, points on your record, or jail time, but more importantly, we want you to be safe.

DUI Laws

In South Carolina, it is imperative that you never drive drunk. Doing so is incredibly dangerous, and the punishments are, understandably, severe.

Drunk driving in South Carolina is driving with a BAC of .08 or higher. If you choose to drive with this amount of alcohol in your blood, you’ll receive a series of increasing punishments. For your first offense, you receive 48 hours to one year in jail, and the fine is $400 to $1000. Your license may also be revoked for up to six months.

On the second offense, you’ll spend five days to three years in jail. The fine is $2,100 to $6,500, and you are required to have two years with an installed ignition interlock device on your car.

Finally, if you get a third offense, you’d get 60 days to five years of jail time, a $3,800 to $10,000 fine, and you’d have to endure three years with an installed ignition interlock device.

It’s also important to know that for every offense, you must attend the Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program. If you’re a first time offender, you may be able to replace the other sanctions for community service, and a DUI with a BAC of .15 or above will result in extra license suspension time.

We know these punishments are harsh, but it’s important to have them to keep drunk drivers off the road so that South Carolina can be a safer state.

Marijuana-Impaired Driving Laws

In South Carolina, there is no specific drugged driving law. However, it’s good to know that Marijuana is fully illegal in South Carolina, and it impairs your driving.

Distracted Driving Laws

It is not illegal to speak on the phone in South Carolina while you drive. It is also legal for young drivers to use their cell phones while they drive. But, while you may use your phone for calling, you may not use your phone for texting in South Carolina.

Texting and driving are highly dangerous because your eyes are off the road, and it’s an offense that falls under a primary enforcement law. (This means that the police can cite you for texting without any other offenses taking place.)

Driving Safely in South Carolina

Driving is a necessary part of our lives, but there is always a risk when you drive. While this risk shouldn’t stop you from driving, it should make you a cautious driver. We know that making roads a safer place is a big task, but hopefully, the statistics in this section will help you become a safer and more aware driver.

In this section, we’re going to look at some statistics about vehicle theft, road fatalities, highway fatality statistics, and other categories to help you be a safer driver.

Vehicle Theft in South Carolina

The table below shows the top 10 cars most stolen cars in South Carolina. It shows the car type, its year, and the number of vehicles stolen (in the year 2015).

As you can see, the most stolen car was the 2006 full-size Ford pickup truck, and 586 of these vehicles were stolen. The least stolen car of these cars was the 2002 Ford Explorer; 146 of these cars were stolen.

The table below shows an FBI report on how many cars were stolen in each city in South Carolina.

Based on this information from the FBI’s website, you can see that Columbia has the highest amount of cars stolen, with 791 total cars stolen.

Road Fatalities in South Carolina

Moving forward, we’re going to check out the road fatalities in South Carolina. We know that this isn’t the most cheerful section, but it is necessary for you to know about these facts because it will help you be a safer, more aware driver.

Most fatal highway in South Carolina

When you’re driving on the highway, it’s always a bit dangerous, but there is a highway that is especially dangerous in South Carolina. This highway is I-95 (the same as North Carolina), and there are more than 24 crashes per year on this highway. In total, there have been 244 crashes and 301 fatalities on this highly dangerous highway.

Fatal Crashes by Weather Condition and Light Condition

The weather and light conditions in which you drive can have a major impact on your driving safety. This table shows how weather conditions and light conditions affect the fatality rates in South Carolina.

Based on this information from the NHTSA, you can see that most fatalities occur during the daylight in normal weather. This may seem strange, but it could be because there are more drivers during that time. And because there are more drivers, there are more chances for accidents to occur. The ratio of drivers to accidents occurring may be higher during a different weather condition and time of day.

Fatalities (All Crashes) by County

Now, let’s see the fatalities in car crashes by county. The following table displays this information.

We can see that Charleston and Greenville have the most fatalities in recent years; in 2017, Charleston had 71 fatalities, and Greenville had 74. In 2016, Greenville had even more fatalities at 87. The high rate of fatalities in each of these counties makes sense, as they are two of the most populated counties in South Carolina

Traffic Fatalities

In the following table, we’re going to look at the traffic fatalities for urban parts of South Carolina versus rural parts of South Carolina from 2008 to 2017.

This data shows that there are considerably more accidents in rural areas as opposed to urban areas, especially in 2008 and 2009. In those years, rural areas had 878 fatalities, and urban areas had 43 (2008) and 16 (2009).

Fatalities by Person Type

Here, we have some information that shows driving fatalities by person type in South Carolina.

These numbers have nothing to do with demographics; rather, they’re about the type of transportation a person was using when they were killed. The highest number on this table is for passengers of cars in 2017, with 375 deaths. Pedestrians also have a high fatality rate, with 154 deaths in 2017. The safest are bus riders, as there was only bus rider death in 2017, and there weren’t any in 2014.

Fatalities by Crash Type

For fatalities by crash type, we can see from this table that the most dangerous crash type is roadway departure because 575 people died from this type of crash in 2017.

Of these crash types, the type that results in the least amount of fatalities is a large truck crash. For this type of crash, there were 96 fatalities in 2017 and 64 in 2013.

Five-Year Trend For The Top 10 Counties

After seeing the data for individual years, it’s important to see the data as a trend so you can see how the fatalities change over time and how they’re heading. We’re going to show you the five-year trend for the top 10 counties to give you an idea of how the fatalities change.

As we can see, Aiken county has a steady rise in fatalities, with 37 fatalities in 2016 and then 39 in 2017 compared to the 26 in 2015. Conversely, Berkely county has been in the same range for the past few years, with 40 fatalities in 2014, 36 in 2015, and 34 in both 2016 and 2017.

Fatalities Involving Speeding by County

Speeding may seem like it’s not a big deal, but many deaths are linked to speeding. Here are some statistics about speeding deaths in South Carolina.

Charleston County and Horry County were tied for the most speeding-related deaths in 2017 with 26, and the county with the next highest speeding-related deaths was Richland. Remember: your life isn’t worth getting where you need to go on time!

Fatalities in Crashes Involving an Alcohol-Impaired Driver by County

Like speeding, driving drunk is an avoidable issue that kills lots of people every year. This table shows the alcohol-impaired driver deaths by county from 2013 to 2017.

On average, Greenville has the most alcohol-related deaths, with 35 in 2013, 22 in 2014, 24 in 2015, 26 in 2016, and 21 in 2017.

Teen Drinking and Driving

Drinking and driving are always bad for everyone, but it’s even worse for teens due to their inexperience. In South Carolina in 2016, there were 90 arrests for teen drivers for DUIs, which is 82 people total arrested per one million people. This arrest record puts South Carolina at 26th for most teens arrested for DUIs.

The national average for under-21 drunk driving deaths is 1.2 per 100,000. Unfortunately, South Carolina’s deaths for under-21 drunk driving are 1.8 out of 100,000, so they’re above the national average.

EMS Response Time

South Carolina does not have the information for EMS response times. We give you an update when we have this information.

Transportation in South Carolina

In this section, we’re going to explore transportation in South Carolina by showing you facts about car ownership, commutes, and traffic.

Car Ownership

Like most states, the average amount of cars that a South Carolina driver owns is two; around 40 percent of South Carolinians have two cars. The second-highest amount of cars owned in South Carolina is three cars at approximately 22 percent.

Commute Time

The average commute time for South Carolina drivers is 23.4 minutes, which is lower than the national average of 25.5 minutes. Of those commuters, 1.85 percent of drivers have a super commute, which is a commute that is over 90 minutes.

Commuter Transportation

As for commuter transportation, the most common form of transportation to work is driving alone (81.8 percent), followed by carpooling (9.49 percent). The least common “transportation” was working from home (4.66 percent).

Traffic Congestion

Lastly, let’s check out traffic congestion for South Carolina’s most populated city, which is Charleston.

Based on information from TomTom, the congestion percentage during the morning peak is 37 percent, and during the evening peak, it is 53 percent. The total congestion percentage for highways and non-highways is 42 percent.

Individually, the congestion percentage is 17 percent for highways and 25 percent for non-highways. The congestion level in Charlotte is 22 percent, and the extra travel time is 11 minutes in the morning and 16 minutes in the evening (these are both per 30 minutes trip).

Numbeo shows Charleston’s traffic index is 147.5, the time index is 31.62 minutes, and the inefficiency index is 139.93.

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Conclusion

Car insurance is a difficult subject to research by yourself due to all the complicated rules and confusing jargon. That’s why we’re here. We want to make your quest for finding car insurance as smooth and easy as possible. Did we miss anything that you would have found helpful? Let us know part of the article was most beneficial to you!

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