Myrtle Beach sees drop in ‘Carolina Squat’ trucks as citations take effect

A truck modified with the popular “Carolina Squat” seen in Myrtle Beach (Courtesy: Myrtle Beach Cam)

 (WPDE) — It’s known as Carolina Squat, where a truck’s front fenders are raised above the rear.

South Carolina banned them and it’s been just over two months since citations began being issued on May 10.

The Myrtle Beach Police Dept. said they’re on the lookout for squatted trucks and even have tape measures in their vehicles ready to enforce the new law.

What we’re looking for to make sure the truck is not against the law is that the front fender is not four inches higher than the rear fender. You know, we keep tape measures in our car. We’ll measure from the ground to the center of both fenders. If it’s less than four inches, hey you’re good. But if it’s four inches or more then we have to have this education of why the vehicle can not be on the roadway, you know, and a ticket will be issued for that,” said PFC. Drew Longshore with the Myrtle Beach Police Dept. Traffic Unit.

Myrtle Beach Police said they have already seen fewer squatted trucks on the roads.

I’m not seeing as many, which is awesome. I’m hoping that people would have understood the new law and are complying with that new law and getting their trucks up to regulation,” said PFC. Longshore.

The law went into effect last November, but drivers had a six-month grace period.

Officers said this helped educate the public about the new law and gave people time to bring their trucks into compliance.

We’ve had 54 citations for the squatted truck law, and I think that number would have been higher had we not had the education period in place, and the proactiveness of our officers going out to talk to the people who had squatted trucks and making sure they knew there was a hard deadline for when that warning would become a ticket,” said Randolph Angotti, the Public Information Officer for the Myrtle Beach Police Dept.

Longshore said four inches may not seem like a big deal, but our streets are much safer with a ban on squatted trucks.

I truly believe those trucks are a hazard on the roadways,” said PFC. Longshore. He added, “You just can’t see things that are in front of you. You know, your trucks squatted down, you’re looking forward four inches higher than what the roadway is. You can’t see. If there’s little kids that are running in front of your car or traffic that may come to a standstill in front of you you’re looking up instead of straight ahead of you. So, it’s definitely a major concern for the citizens on our roadways.

If you still have a squatted truck, fines start at $100 and increase for subsequent offenses.

After the third offense, drivers risk having their licenses suspended.