COLUMBIA, SC - A bill Friday aimed at cracking down on youths' access to alcohol, was signed. The General Assembly is asked to toughen South Carolina's DUI laws.

Governor Sanford's office said the signed bill increases fines and penalties for underage-drinking offenses, and will make it easier for police to find out who bought kegs at parties where underage drinking occurred, will allow minors to help police by participating in stings of bars and convenience stores, and requires repeat DUI offenders to pay for an ignition interlock device system to be installed in their cars.

However, the bill "does nothing to address the state's real problem with DUI, a loophole-ridden DUI law."

"Let's be very clear - there's much more work to be done if we're going to stop the carnage that occurs on our state's roads because of our anemic DUI laws," Gov. Sanford said. "South Carolina consistently ranks near the top in the nation for DUI deaths, and it's largely because of a DUI law that, as one solicitor has said, is tougher to prosecute than a death penalty case. The tragic reality is that there are some in the legislature who profit from the current loopholes in the system, which is why the Senate needs to follow the House's lead quickly next year in passing a bill that prevents so many from being killed on South Carolina's roads."

From 2004-2006 in SC, there were more than 1,500 crashes involving underage driver under the influence, resulting in 1,200 injuries and 150 fatalities. One alcohol-related death occurs on our nation's roads every 31 minutes, and one alcohol-related injury occurs every two minutes, according to Sanford. South Carolina ranked 7th in 2005 in vehicle deaths per 100,000 miles driven, with alcohol being a significant factor in these deaths. South Carolina is 9th in the country for the percentage of drunk drivers in fatal crashes. 40% of repeat DUI offenders in South Carolina plead guilty to lesser offenses, said the Governor.