Determine Your “Course” of Action

You can complete a South Carolina National Safety Council (SCNSC) Defensive Driving Course or an approved equivalent once every three years for a four-point reduction.

No Ticket Dismissal

Generally, courts don’t allow these courses for ticket dismissal.

Prevent License Suspension

You can complete a course to prevent license suspension. Just complete a course and provide the DMV with a copy of your certificate (see below) within 30 days of receiving your suspension notice.

Any later, and your license suspension takes effect.

Complete a SC Defensive Driving Course

Each college within the SC Technical College System offers an approved defensive driving course. The SC NSC helps you choose the one closest to you.

SC NSC courses are eight hours long. Each college sets its own price, but courses aren’t more than $100.

The course removes up to four points, and only applies to points received for violations that occurred before the date of course completion. For example, if you currently have two points, the course will remove those two points but will not credit the other two points to your record to use if you receive another violation.

NOTE: You don’t have to take a course from one of the colleges, but your course must still be affiliated with the National Safety Council to qualify for point reduction. Contact the SC NSC at (800) 733-6185 for more information.

Submit Requirements to the Court

Your method for submitting the completion certificate depends on the course you completed and any personal circumstances.

Technical College Course

Colleges send their class rosters to the SC NSC each week, which then submits the completion information to the DMV. So unless it’s an emergency (see below), you can just let the college handle it.

Other National Safety Course

To be eligible for point reduction, you must send your completion certificate and a $20 money order to:

• National Safety Council

• South Carolina Chapter

• 121 Ministry Drive

• Irmo, SC 29063

Or, you can fax a copy of the certificate and your credit card number (must be VISA, MasterCard, or Discover) to (803) 732-6757.

Emergency

If time is of the essence (your 30-day cushion between receiving your suspension notice and your license suspension actually happening), you can hand-deliver your certificate to the DMV’s Driver Service Window located at 1630 Shop Road in Columbus, South Carolina.

Check Your South Carolina Driving Record

The SC NSC forwards your completion certificate to the DMV, and typically the DMV applies the point reduction within 10 business days.

At that point, you can order your driving record to make sure the applicable number of points are removed.

If you find any problems, contact the DMV.

Get an Auto Insurance Discount

Your auto insurance provider might give you a discount for completing an approved course. Don’t just assume you’ll get a discount, though; if you’re completing the course solely for a discount, contact your provider first so there will be no confusion.