That's when South Carolina's new legislation goes into effect lowering the legal blood alcohol concentration level from 0.10 to 0.08 and increasing the fines for driving under the influence of alcohol.

The new blood alcohol level applies to operating boats and firearms as well as motor vehicles.

With the new legislation, South Carolina joins 39 other states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, in lowering the blood alcohol level to 0.08, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"What we're hoping this new legislation will do is that it will make people think not just twice, but three, four and even five times before drinking and driving," said Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

The new fine for a first-time DUI offense will be $992, with a second offense increasing to a maximum of $10,744.50, according to the Department of Public Safety. A third offense can net as much as $13,234.50, the department said. A felony DUI will cost $21,119.50 and a DUI fatality will result in a $52,244.50 fine. All new fines are more than double their original values.

"Hopefully the mere cost will be a deterring factor," Gaulden said.

In addition, second-time DUI offenders will have their registration and license plate suspended on every vehicle they own for 30 days, according to the department.

The bill also requires that police read Miranda rights to DUI suspects.

The S.C. Department of Transportation stood to lose $9.5 million a year in federal road construction money if state legislators did not pass the law. According to the DOT, the department would have lost about $50 million total per year if the legislation did not pass.

Without that threat from the federal government, the law probably would not have gone into effect, said state Sen. Glenn F. McConnell, R-Charleston, who noted that there was sizeable opposition to the bill. McConnell voted for the bill for the sake of the funding, he said.

"Alcohol affects different people in different ways. I have a problem with the bill in that it is aimed at responsible social drinkers," McConnell said. "They're trying to come up with a one-size-fits-all regulation."

McConnell called the federal government's requirement "an underhanded way of subverting the 10th Amendment," which affirms the right of states to freely govern themselves in matters not governed by the Constitution. In times of tighter budgets, he said, police cannot afford to pull over everyone they suspect to have a .08 limit. The emphasis should be placed on the truly impaired drivers, he said.

McConnell said he did not have a problem with stiffer fines for repeat offenders. He had hoped that the S.C. Attorney General's office would file suit against the federal government over the national legislation that threatened to withhold road money if a state didn't lower its limit to .08.

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