Your Phone Behind The Wheel
S.C. Code 56-5-3890 — no holding the phone, a $100 fine, and no search because of it
- Holding or supporting a mobile electronic device with any part of the body, though an earpiece or a wrist device for voice calls is allowed.
- Reading, composing or sending any text, email, app interaction or website information.
- Watching video, a movie, a game or a video call.
Those are what a driver on a public highway may not do with a phone or similar device. The section does not apply while lawfully parked or stopped, to reporting an accident or emergency, to hands free navigation, audio or voice calls started without typing, or to equipment the vehicle's maker installed.
What an officer may not do. An officer may stop a driver for it only on reasonable suspicion from a clear and unobstructed view of the violation, and may not seize, search, view or require the forfeiture of the device, search or ask to search the vehicle or its occupants solely because of it, or make a custodial arrest solely for it.
A first offense is a fine of $100 and a second or later one $200 and two points, none of it suspendable; only offenses within three years count as prior. The section preempts local ordinances on the subject. Whether a particular use was lawful is a question for a licensed South Carolina attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- S.C. Code 56-5-3890 — Unlawful use of a mobile electronic device while operating a motor vehicle
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Carolina attorney.