To crouch or square. The time is up for banned SC vehicles. Will property owners choose to risk fines?

The red Silverado 4×4 that Noah Flowers drives was already squatted when he bought it, but that didn’t stop him from getting a warning ticket in early April.

The 18-year-old Conway man was stopped by Horry County police early last month and issued a warning ticket for his truck.

The flower truck, commonly known as the Carolina squat truck, has been banned in South Carolina. And although police are only writing warning tickets now, on May 10, truck drivers will face heavier fines and quite possibly the revocation of your driving license.

But there doesn’t appear to have been a rush for owners of occupied trucks to have their vehicles unoccupied.

Flowers said he may vacate his truck for a bit, but doesn’t plan on modifying it much. On May 1st, his truck was still the same.

The Carolina squat is a modern alteration usually found on a pickup truck or SUV that raises the front of the vehicle and lowers the rear.

“It kind of sucks,” Flowers said of his stint. “Not everyone drives (like) an idiot.”

Tonya Gatquard with T&R Trucks and Car Repair in Myrtle Beach said the store received a few calls, but no one showed up to modify their truck to make it legal.

“I’m surprised,” said Gatquard. “They are so dangerous.”

Typically, those who fill their trucks do so themselves, according to Tammy Cassidy of C&G Auto and Truck in Myrtle Beach.

“People who have these trucks think they’re going to stay under the radar,” Cassidy said. “(We) won’t see any until they give out tickets.”

From May 10th, drivers will be able to receive fines for infractions under the new law. The first offense is a $100 fine; a second offense costs $200 and a third offense carries a $300 fine and license suspension by the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles for 12 months from the date of conviction.

The fines are for illegally raising or lowering a motor vehicle by more than 15 centimeters due to modification or alteration in the physical structure, with the exception of pickup trucks. However, the height of a pickup truck’s front fender cannot be raised or lowered 4 or more inches more than the height of the rear fender.

South Carolina joined Virginia and North Carolina in banning the popular squat trucks.

Although the law took effect on July 1, the General Assembly included the declaration that the law would not take effect until 180 days after the governor’s approval. After these 180 days, which was in November, only warning tickets will be issued to violators of the law.

It’s unclear how many warning tickets have been issued since November. Myrtle Beach Police said their warning tickets “do not track” if the vehicle is a squat truck and were unable to provide the number of tickets. A Freedom of Information Act request to the Horry County Police regarding the number of warning tickets issued had not been completed by press time.

Ocean Boulevard in the Myrtle Beach area may look different this summer as Myrtle Beach has always been a refuge to squat trucks, which can be seen traveling down the city’s busy main street.

Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock played a key role in the truck ban, testifying multiple times during state committee hearings. One incident used to encourage the ban was the death of a pedestrian, who was struck and killed by a Carolina truck in the city during the summer of 2021.

If people choose to vacate their vehicles, Scott Fedan, owner of Scott’s Garage in Lorissaid they will probably do it in their own backyards.

But the more likely option, he said, is “they’ll just get through.”