S.C.'s safe drivers now paying less for coverage.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

COLUMBIA, S.C. _ South Carolina's safest drivers are now paying a little less for auto insurance, thanks to changes in state law that took effect Friday.

Drivers with good records as of March 1, 1999, no longer have to pay a recoupment fee, which represents 10 percent of their liability premiums. That means an average per-policy savings of about $34 a year.

"We're not talking about a huge amount, but it's the principle that's important," said Allison Dean Wright, executive director of the S.C. Information News Service. "People, for years, perceived the old system as unfair because they thought good drivers were subsidizing the bad drivers."

South Carolina passed legislation in 1997 that better enabled auto insurers to match rates to risk. The law set Friday as the day when recoupment fees for good drivers _ nearly 90 percent of licensed South Carolina drivers _ would be phased out. That means drivers with good records can renew policies at lower rates immediately.

"I'll definitely call and renew my policy," said Karen Rogers of Irmo, who just last week moved her family's auto coverage to The Hartford. "Any way I can save a few dollars a month is a blessing."

The recoupment fee was paid by all insured drivers to cover the losses of the S.C. Reinsurance Facility, which handled drivers classified as higher risk. Because of the way the system was designed, a sizable portion of South Carolina drivers _ more than 40 percent at one point _ were put into the reinsurance facility.

The new system is more fair, Wright said.