South Carolina Traffic Camera Tickets: Why They're Banned

South Carolina does not have a red light or speed camera ticket program, and it can't lawfully have one for ordinary traffic enforcement. State law requires every uniform traffic ticket for speeding or for disregarding a traffic control device to be handed to the driver in person at the time of the stop, and separately bars those citations from resting on photographic evidence. Between the two rules, automated camera ticketing for speeding or red lights is off the table statewide.

The Two Rules That Ban Camera Tickets

South Carolina's ban works through two separate statutory requirements rather than a single sentence outlawing cameras. First, S.C. Code 56-7-35(A), for speeding, and (B), for traffic-control-device violations including red lights, require that a ticket be issued «incident to and contemporaneous with a traffic stop,» with the copy of the citation delivered directly to the offender at the time of the stop. Mailing a citation is separately and explicitly prohibited.

Second, the same subsections bar issuing a citation based, in the speeding statute's words, «in whole or in part» upon photographic evidence, and in the traffic-control-device statute's slightly narrower words, «based in whole upon» photographic evidence. Either way, the statute is explicit that this bar applies «whether the camera or other electronic device capturing the photographic evidence was attended or unattended.» Photo or video evidence can only be used to corroborate a violation an officer personally witnessed, not to generate a ticket on its own. 56-5-710(B) repeats this bar specifically against local authorities, closing off any attempt to run a camera program through a city or county ordinance instead of state authorization.

Together, these rules mean there is no lawful path in South Carolina for an unattended red light or speed camera to generate a mailed traffic ticket, for the state or for any city or county within it.

Where This Ban Came From

The ban dates to 2011 Act No. 65, effective June 17, 2011, and was amended by 2014 Act No. 274. It responded directly to the Town of Ridgeland's speed-camera-van program along Interstate 95, which drew statewide attention and criticism before the legislature acted to shut the practice down. The rule has remained stable since the 2014 amendment.

The One Camera Exception: Declared Emergencies

There is a single, narrow carve-out. S.C. Code 56-5-70(E) allows a photo-based speeding or traffic-control-device citation only for violations that occur while relief from federal motor carrier hours-of-service regulations has been granted due to a declared emergency, under 49 C.F.R. 390.23. This is not a general enforcement tool; it applies only during the kind of emergency-declaration period, such as evacuation or disaster response, where those federal relief provisions are in effect.

Even inside that window, the exception does not authorize an ordinary automated, mailed camera ticket. The second sentence of 56-5-70(E) requires that a person who receives a photo-based speeding or traffic-control-device citation «must be served in person with notice of the violation within one hour of the occurrence of the violation», unless a collision occurred and fault cannot be determined immediately, or the party who caused the collision is not immediately accessible because of medical treatment. In practice that keeps even the emergency carve-out an in-person, on-scene process rather than a notice that shows up in the mail weeks later.

What's Still Legal: Toll Cameras and School Buses

Two camera uses survive the ban entirely.

Toll collection is expressly excluded. 56-7-35(C)(1) states plainly that the section's rules «do not apply to» toll collection, so South Carolina's toll roads can continue to use license-plate photo billing for unpaid tolls. That is an administrative billing matter, not a traffic citation, and it is a different legal category from the red light and speed camera tickets this page covers.

School-bus stop-arm violations are also carved out. 56-7-35(C)(2) exempts citations issued under a separate statute, 56-5-2770, from the entire section, meaning the in-person-issuance rule and the photo-evidence bar do not apply to school-bus passing violations. That carve-out means camera-based enforcement of illegally passing a stopped school bus operates on different legal footing than the red light and speed cameras this ban targets; readers with a school-bus camera ticket should look to that separate statute rather than this page.

If You Get a Camera-Based Notice From Another State

South Carolina's ban only controls what South Carolina and its cities and counties can do inside the state. It does not shield a South Carolina driver from a red light or speed camera ticket incurred while driving in a state that does allow the practice. Owner-liability civil penalties from other states' programs travel by mail using vehicle registration lookups, and South Carolina's ban has no bearing on whether that out-of-state notice is valid.

Information last verified on 2026-08-12. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Related Resources

• Traffic Camera Ticket Laws by State
• How to Fight a Camera Ticket
• Do You Have to Pay a Camera Ticket?
• Hit and Run Laws in the United States
• South Carolina Police Bodycam Laws

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Last updated: 2026-08-12.

More South Carolina Laws

• South Carolina Car Accident Laws
• South Carolina Dashcam Laws
• South Carolina DUI Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Are red light and speed cameras illegal in South Carolina?

Effectively, yes, for ordinary traffic enforcement. State law requires every uniform traffic ticket for speeding or for disregarding a traffic control device to be issued in person at the time of a stop, and bars those citations from resting on photographic evidence, which together rule out automated camera ticketing statewide. The rule is written for those two violation types rather than traffic citations generally, and it does not reach toll collection or school-bus stop-arm citations issued under 56-5-2770.

Can a South Carolina city or county set up its own camera program by local ordinance?

No. S.C. Code 56-5-710(B) repeats the same bar specifically against local authorities, so no city or county ordinance can revive camera ticketing.

Are there any exceptions to South Carolina's camera ban?

One narrow exception exists for photo-based citations issued during a declared emergency where federal hours-of-service relief has been granted under 49 C.F.R. 390.23. It is not a routine enforcement tool, and it still is not automated: 56-5-70(E) requires that the driver be served in person with notice of the violation within one hour of the violation, unless a collision occurred and fault cannot be determined immediately or the at-fault party is not immediately reachable because of medical treatment.

Can South Carolina still use cameras to bill unpaid tolls?

Yes. Toll collection is expressly excluded from the ban, so photo-based toll billing on South Carolina's toll roads is unaffected.

What about cameras on South Carolina school buses?

School-bus stop-arm violations are carved out of the ban under a separate statute, 56-5-2770, so camera-based enforcement of illegal school-bus passing operates on different legal footing than the red light and speed camera ban.

Can I still get a camera ticket in South Carolina from another state's program?

Yes, if you were driving in a state that does allow camera enforcement. South Carolina's ban only controls what happens inside South Carolina; it does not invalidate a genuine out-of-state camera ticket.