YORK - S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill Thursday that makes it easier to charge people with drunken driving.

The law lowers the blood alcohol content standard from 0.10 to 0.08 and puts the state's DUI regulation in line with the majority of states. The law may also make the state eligible for certain federal highway funds.

"The ultimate effect of this law is saving people's lives," Sanford said at a press conference at the Moss Justice Center in York.

The law goes into effect Aug. 19 and increases the fine for a first offense by $100, to $400. The six months' license suspension remains the same.

South Carolina has historically been reluctant to pass tough anti-DUI laws. Still, it passed the bill after the federal government, in 1998, required states to adopt the 0.08 standard by Oct. 1, 2003, to be eligible for certain highway construction aid. The law said states must apply the 0.08 standard to their automatic license suspension policies, as well.

A 0.08 blood alcohol content is the equivalent, for a 170-pound man, of drinking four beers in an hour's time.

South Carolina's law may not be strict enough to keep the state in compliance with federal rules and eligible for the $60 million in federal highway money.

Sanford said he signed the law because he's committed to saving lives, not because of the threat of losing out on federal money. "That is simply the icing on the cake," he said.

Legislators, law enforcement officers from every jurisdiction in York County and members of the S.C. Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) attended the signing.

York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant said the law is another tool for law enforcement officers to better protect the public.

"Things are gonna change," Bryant said. "We're gonna take a firmer stance on alcohol."

Jeanne Mejeur, research manager for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said that as of late May, 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had set their limits at 0.08.

South Carolina was one of the last states to make it illegal to drive with an alcohol concentration measured at or above an established level. The legislature passed the 0.10 standard in 2000. It took 14 years for the legislature to approve the 0.10 limit.

In an interview after the press conference, Sanford said signing the bill was a personal act as well as a political one.

"It goes back to having four young boys," he said. "I could imagine nothing more traumatic than getting a phone call from some hospital saying, `One of your boys has been hit by a drunk driver and killed.' "

In his State of the State address in January, Sanford pledged to sign a bill adopting the 0.08 standard.

The state's road deaths are about double the national average, and South Carolina had the worst alcohol-related traffic death rate in the nation in 2001, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study.

Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, has pushed for highway safety measures during his 18 years in the legislature.

"It's been a battle we've been fighting for years," Hayes said. "This is a major, major step forward in our laws."