Friday, Feb. 3, 2017 News 12 NBC 26 at 6 O'Clock

AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) -- A feeling all too familiar for South Carolina drivers.

"We want our cars to not get torn up while we're riding on the roads," Jacquelyn McKinney said.

But the solution to fixing bumpy roads could come at the pump.

"We've got to do something, I travel the interstate everyday going back and forth to Columbia, it's terrible," S.C. Representative Bill Hixon said.

South Carolina Representatives like Hixon passed a roads bill this week that would raise the gas tax by ten cents over the next 5 years. The bill would put $600 million a year towards fixing roads.

"We're still going to be lower than Georgia and we'll always be lower than North Carolina," Hixon said.

Hixon says the ten cents gets added to the 16.75 cent tax gas stations already pay the state per gallon. The tax shows up at the pump when the station raises their prices, but he says it's a small price to pay to protect your car.

"When the tax fee got up to the full ten cents, it will cost them $50 to $60, which we know one tire costs more than that," Hixon said.

People in South Carolina also won't be the only ones paying.

"Between 30 and 32 percent of that will be paid by non-residents, that's people driving through our state," Hixon said.

The senate still has to pass the bill, but some say it's time the roads got fixed.

"I'm not a big raise the tax kind of person usually, but when it comes to things that are a neccesity like our roads system then I think in this case, it might be a good choice," McKinney said.

South Carolina's new Governor Henry McMaster also sent a letter to President Trump asking for more than $5 Billion towards South Carolina's roads. Hixon says there's a good chance South Carolina gets some of that $5 Billion.