South Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: In Committee

S 854 — Safety Belt Violations

Last action — Referred to Committee on Judiciary

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 28, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Stalled 14% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 56-5-6540, RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR SAFETY BELT VIOLATIONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT VIOLATIONS ARE ADMISSIBLE AS EVIDENCE IN A CIVIL ACTION IF THE VIOLATION IS A PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THE CLAIMED DAMAGES.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

17 added · 11 removed

Plain-language change summary

The recent changes to Bill S 854 adjust how violations of safety belt laws are treated in civil legal cases. Previously, such violations were considered neither as negligence nor admissible as evidence if they played a part in causing damages. The amendment now allows these violations to be accepted as evidence in civil cases if they are directly linked to the damages claimed. This change matters because it could impact the outcomes of lawsuits related to accidents, potentially holding individuals accountable for not wearing seatbelts if it can be shown that this contributed to the damages incurred.

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2025-2026 Bill 854 Text of Previous Version (Jan.
28, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online South Carolina General Assembly126th Session, 2025-2026Bill 854Indicates Matter StrickenIndicates New Matter(Text matches printed bills.
Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)                 A bill   TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 56-5-6540, RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR SAFETY BELT VIOLATIONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT VIOLATIONS ARE ADMISSIBLE AS EVIDENCE IN A CIVIL ACTION IF THE VIOLATION IS A PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THE CLAIMED DAMAGES.
  Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
  SECTION 1.  Section 56-5-6540(C) of the S.C.
Code is amended to read:
      (C) A violation of this article is not negligence per se or contributory negligence, and is not admissible as evidence in a civil action if the violation is a proximate cause of the claimed damages.
  SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
----XX---- This web page was last updated on January 28, 2026 at 01:48 PM
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Action History

  1. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  2. Introduced and read first time

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 169 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (169)

169 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 169 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety transportation
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 854 do?
A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 56-5-6540, RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR SAFETY BELT VIOLATIONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT VIOLATIONS ARE ADMISSIBLE AS EVIDENCE IN A CIVIL ACTION IF THE VIOLATION IS A PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THE CLAIMED DAMAGES.
Who sponsors S 854?
S 854 is sponsored by Senator A. Shane Massey.
What is the current status of S 854?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 28, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 854?
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