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Moped drivers could face stricter requirements in South Carolina

By Mark Barber
By Mark Barber

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Bills have been prefiled in South Carolina that would create stricter requirements for moped drivers.

The two bills, prefiled in the House and the Senate, are reviving a divisive question: How much control should the government have in determining the balance between public safety and personal responsibility?

The bills would require moped drivers under 21 to wear helmets. At night, drivers would also have to wear reflective vests.

"I don't care what they wear, I just worry about how they drive," driver Dewone Taylor said.

The bills would lower the minimum age for moped drivers from 15 to 14. Drivers would also have to register with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed the bill earlier in 2016, saying adult drivers don't need the government telling them what they should wear for safety.

"She ought to look back at what we did with seat belts in the car," said William Crosby, who represents District 117 and sponsoring the bill in the House.

"If it's a situation like it is with mopeds and people are getting killed on a regular basis, you have to do something to stop that," he said.

Crosby told Channel 9 a loophole in the law allows anyone to drive a moped, even if they have been convicted of driving under the influence.

He thinks the bills would bring moped requirements in line with laws for other drivers. Still, some think moped safety is the responsibility of the driver, not the government.

"That's ridiculous, that's silly, I think that they need to have their thinking cap on and not no helmet," Taylor said.

The prefiled bills in the House and Senate will be introduced on the floors of both chambers when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

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