Carolina Squat trucks are now illegal in North Carolina and Virginia. SC may be next
Take a ride down Ocean Boulevard in the summer months, and you’re sure to see at least one: A modified pick-up truck, the back end low enough to nearly scrape asphalt with its nose tilted up toward the Myrtle Beach sunshine.
Many have customized sound systems, flashy light panels and other bling to make them even more noticeable.
But it could only be a matter of months before these so-called Carolina Squat trucks are forced off South Carolina’s roads.
“They’re dangerous to operate. I mean some of them, the degree to what they’re lowered in the back, you can’t possibly see,” state Rep. Kevin Hardee, R-Loris, told The Sun News Dec. 21.
He’s pre-filed legislation that would restrict a vehicle’s front-to-back height difference to four inches with fines of between $100 and $300 for violators.
Chronic offenders could even have their license suspended.
The measure is identical to one that last year overwhelmingly made it out of the House and Senate but got derailed by a last minute amendment preventing it from reaching Gov. Henry McMaster before time ran out on the session.
If it becomes law, South Carolina would be the third state to prohibit the trucks: North Carolina and Virginia have already done so.
The Myrtle Beach City Council last week included a Carolina Squat truck ban on its list of legislative priorities.
“Two words, ‘public safety,’ city spokesman Mark Kruea said Dec. 21. “When vehicles are tilted in an extreme manner, the driver’s visibility is affected. Headlights are also usually tilted, blinding oncoming traffic.”
A pedestrian in the summer of 2021 was killed in the city after being struck by a Carolina Squat — an incident Myrtle Beach police discussed with lawmakers last year while testifying in favor of their ban.
Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock testified in January at a Senate Transportation Committee hearing where the Carolina Squat ban was being discussed.
Despite their regional moniker, Carolina Squat trucks have become something of a talking point within the automotive industry.
Ezra Dyer, a senior editor and columnist with Car and Driver, described the rides like this in a January 2021 piece.
“Now your truck looks like it was dropped off a five-story building with 10,000 pounds of bricks in the bed,” he wrote.
But Dyer told The Sun News he doesn’t agree with legislative intervention as way to end the Carolina Squat phenomenon.
“I predict that this trend has a finite lifespan, like they all don and probably the legislature doesn’t need to do anything about it because in a year or 18 months, there will be some other thing that catches on and this will seem lame and yesterday’s news,” he said. “Soon enough, everyone is going to realize this is dumb.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 11:31 AM.