By Abraham Kenmore
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — Emma Longstreet of Lexington was killed nearly 12 1/2 years ago in a car accident involving a drunk driver while riding with her family on the way to Sunday church. She would have been 19-years-old this month.
A state law that may have prevented the then 6-year-old’s death is now being expanded.
Signed last July and taking effect this past Sunday, the newly expanded law will require ignition interlock devices, which prevent someone who has been drinking alcohol from starting the car, for anyone convicted of a DUI no matter how high above the legal limit their blood alcohol level is. It also will apply to certain other alcohol related offenses or suspected drunk drivers who refuse to take a blood alcohol content test.
Under a 2014 law, only repeat offenders or first-time offenders who had a blood alcohol level of more than 0.15 were required to have a device installed. This latest version will likely double the number of South Carolinians required to have the devices in their vehicles.
“Emma was our future,” Karen Longstreet told reporters on Friday. “I just miss all the things we missed, you know, we never got to see her finish first grade, we never got to see her ride her bike without training wheels.”
The driver who killed Emma admitted in court that an interlock device would have stopped him driving, said David Longstreet, Emma’s father. But the push to go from the 2014 version of the law to the current version was a long haul, he said.
“It took too long, it really should have been done sooner,” he said. “We were very happy it got to all (blood alcohol content) levels.”
David Longstreet also said he hopes the devices will eventually be required for people awaiting trial for a DUI as well.
Currently, there about 1,200 people in the state who are required to use the devices. T. Mark Childress, director of the ignition interlock device program for the state probation department, told reporters Friday that the expanded law will probably add 1,200-1,500 drivers to that number.
Users must blow into the devices, which detect if someone has a blood alcohol level over 0.02. Drivers have to test under that number to start the car and periodically while driving. Those who blow over the limit on one of these tests are hit with points on their driver’s license, which can add up to penalties including suspended driving privileges.
“The program that we have is not meant to be punitive; it’s meant to change behavior and to keep the public safe,” said Jodi Gallman, acting director of the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services said Friday.
Even with the current, less restrictive law, the probation department said interlock devices prevented 2,800 people in the state from starting their car after drinking in 2022 alone.
Under the new law, a first offense DUI requires an interlock device for six months. The length of time increases on additional convictions.
The devices cost about $130 a month, Childress said, but drivers who cannot afford it can apply to a fund to cover the expense.
Drunk driving continues to be a major issue in South Carolina, according to Steven Burritt, regional executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, one of the organizations hosting Friday’s press conference.
He pointed to numbers for 2022, released earlier this year, that showed a 17% increase in drunken driving fatalities over the previous year in South Carolina. At 406 fatalities, South Carolina had slightly more deaths from drunk driving than New York, a state with almost four times as many people.
“We were the 35th state to pass an all-offender ignition lock law, so there was plenty of research to tell us just how effective this would be,” Burritt said.
On average drunk driving deaths dropped 16% when states passed similar laws.
“We certainly need that,” Burritt said.
Abraham Kenmore is a reporter covering elections, health care and more. He joins the S.C. Daily Gazette from The Augusta Chronicle, where he reported on Georgia legislators, military and housing issues.
S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
