COLUMBIA, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The South Carolina Senate is voting on an amendment to a bill that would cut liability compensation for victims. Senate Bill 533 would only force people to pay for damages they were deemed at fault for by a jury.

“I think you should have to pay for the damage that you cause,” says Republican State Sen. Shane Massey, a co-sponsor of the bill. “You should not have to pay for damage that I cause.”

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving says it could affect how victims of drunk driving are paid. The organization believes victims should be awarded 100% of the damages rather than just a portion of what another person or business caused.

“The drunk driver has no insurance, and a lot of the time has no money,” says Steven Buritt, the regional executive director for MADD. “So if you’re saying that the bar maybe is 50 percent responsible but the drunk driver can’t pay, and that bar only has to pay 50 percent because that’s the amount of fault that they were assigned. … That’s the fault, the amount of fault that people think they were, then the victims are going to get half of what they should get instead of everything.”

In the case of a drunk driver leaving a bar where they were served alcohol, the business could be held liable for any injuries the drunk driver causes.

MADD believes lawmakers should think about the victims while debating the bill — not just the businesses that could be found liable. The organization says only getting partial compensation for possible lifelong injuries would financially cripple the victims.

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“We’re basically putting the burden on them for the harm that somebody else caused to them,” Burritt said. “And I think as a state, we just need to say that’s not who we are. This is a moral choice where we’re saying that victims will come first and they’re going get what a legitimate court of law has decided they deserves and we’re not going to put economic interests of lawbreaking establishments ahead of them.”

The amendment passed 21-20 on Tuesday. The Senate was set to discuss the bill on Wednesday but adjourned early.

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