The South Carolina Senate voted to ban a type of vehicle known as the Carolina Squat Truck. The vehicles could be seen cruising Ocean Boulevard, as well as, the streets of Myrtle Beach over the past few tourist seasons.
Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock, and Myrtle Beach City Council, desired to have the trucks banned.
Senators voted 39-2 on a measure restricting a vehicle’s back-to-front height difference to four inches — with fines of between $100 and $300 for violators. Chronic offenders could even have their license revoked.
“We’ve had, really, kind of a tragic problem with this in our community. It’s something that we’ve been dealing with and law enforcement’s been dealing with for a while,” state Sen. Greg Hembree, R- North Myrtle Beach, said at a Jan. 18 Senate Transportation Committee meeting.
A similar measure is up for vote in the S.C. House of Representatives. The ban is expected to overwhelmingly pass there as well.
The ban will take affect 180 days after it passes the House and is signed by S.C. Governor Henry McMaster.