COLUMBIA, S.C. — As the Carolina Squat Law takes full effect, auto repair shops are on standby to help bring vehicles up to code.
“The pandemic hit a lot of curveballs at us,” Joey Lemmon said.
Lemmon owns Hound Dog 4x4, an auto repair shop in Columbia. He said the pandemic was difficult for mechanic shops.
"We had a lot of parts not being able to get shipped and people were waiting on parts for weeks and months, multiple months. It was just really difficult, different to see how quick something could change just shutting everything down," he said.
“It could be six months to a year for some of the stuff we were waiting on, and most customers just forget about it by then or, whatnot, or change your mind about it," Lemmon said. "It really hurt a lot of businesses with that.”
Lemmon said the shop is back to where it was before the pandemic.
“We can get most of our stuff, if it's in stock with our distributors, within two to one to two days at most," he said. "We're back up to pretty much where we were; we can have just about any part there is within a week."
With the 180-day grace period for the Carolina Squat Law now over, mechanics are ready to help car owners comply with the changes, but it could be pricey.
“It can range anywhere from you could be looking at something as simple as $400 or $500 up into a couple $1,000 just depending on what all the vehicles gonna need to get to where it's within the within a regulations of the law,” Lemmon said.
Under the law, drivers whose car front fender is raised four or more inches above the height of the rear fender may face penalties.
The first offense will cost $100, the second $200, and the third comes with a $300 fine and the loss of driving privileges for a year.
“The goal was to hopefully prevent some collisions that have happened to where it could be a factor in the collision, they can't see, but they're making a turn and because their trucks is sitting the way it's sitting and they can't see how to turn or they don't see somebody in front of them because of the angle they're sitting," Master Trooper William Bennett with the South Carolina Highway Patrol said. "At night time, they're blinding other drivers. That could be a cause of some collisions happening and so that's ultimately, with us enforcing these laws, like the squat law, we're trying to prevent collisions from happening and that's the ultimate goal."