Automobile Accident Attorney: What to Do After a Car Crash

Unsure when to contact an automobile accident lawyer in Red Bank, SC? Learn the best time to seek legal help to protect your rights. Call Salley Law Firm today!

In a court of law, expert witnesses are the only individuals that are entitled to give their opinions on matters that they have not personally observed or witnessed themselves. In order to qualify as an expert witness, an individual must have a special knowledge or proficiency in a field of study that is not common to the ordinary individual. Many times in personal injury actions, even though an accident may seem straight forward, expert witness will be required to help prove your case to a jury or to insurance claims adjusters to ensure that you are being fully compensated for your damages. There are several different types of expert witnesses one can utilize in proving your personal injury damages. 1) Medical Experts. These experts will be the most familiar to you as they will be your doctors and other health professionals that will testify about the injuries you have sustained in the accident. They will tell the juries and/or adjusters about the treatments you have received and your expected recovery. They may also testify about the treatments you will need in the future and about the pain, suffering, and mental anguish you have suffered as a result of your injuries. 2) Economist. Many times when you have been in a serious accident, you will miss work. When you miss time from work, you will likely suffer other adverse consequences such as the loss of promotions and loss of pension benefits. An economist will calculate and testify about the cost of your lost wages, medical expenses (past and future), and your diminished earning capacity if you have a permanent disability. 3) Highway Safety Experts. In some cases it may be necessary to hire an engineer to testify about the road conditions that existed at the time of your incident using the road designs and construction expertise. 4) Accident Reconstructionists. An accident reconstructionist will recreate the accident in order for the jury or the adjuster to see just how severe it really was. They will likely use models or computer programs to rebuild the scene and present the physics of the accident to show the speed and force of the crash. These experts are very useful in illustrating how an impact can cause significant, life altering injuries. If you have been seriously injured in a car accident, please contact Salley Law Firm for your free consultation at (803) 356-5000. We also offer weekend and evening appointments. We have been serving injured people and their families for over 20 years.

A personal injury claim is one based on the physical harm to an individual caused by an at-fault party’s recklessness or carelessness and is thus classified as a tort. A tort is simply a civil wrong perpetrated by one individual against another and is based on the legal doctrine of negligence. In order to state a successful personal injury claim against another individual, the plaintiff must establish the following four (4) separate elements by a preponderance of the evidence: 1) The defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff under the circumstances presented; 2) The defendant breached that legal duty by acting or failing to act as the circumstances required; 3) The defendant’s actions were the actual cause of the plaintiff’s injuries; and, 4) The plaintiff has suffered damages as a result of the defendant’s breach. The duty of care varies by situation but is generally such that a reasonably prudent person in the same situation as the defendant would have acted differently given the same or similar circumstances. Resolution of a personal injury action is usually resolved by either a settlement or a jury trial. If the defendant is found liable for the plaintiff’s injuries, a monetary award is given to the plaintiff to restore him/her to as nearly as possible the state they were in before the accident. Types Of Personal Injury Personal injury claims come in a variety of different forms and depend on the circumstances of each case and how the injury occurred. Some common types of personal injury actions stem from: • Automobile accidents • Motorcycle accidents • Pedestrian accidents • Tractor-trailer accidents • Slip and fall accidents • Workplace accidents • Animal bite accidents Additional Matters to Consider Per the South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 15-3-520 provides for a three year statute of limitations on personal injury actions. This does not mean to wait until three years after your accident to contact a lawyer. Should you be in an accident, it is best to contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. A lawyer will be able to help advise you on getting your damages taken care of in the most efficient manner so that you may begin recovering. The at-fault driver’s insurance carrier will attempt to speak with you very soon after the accident. Do not accept any settlement offer from the at-fault driver’s insurance until you have consulted with an experienced personal-injury attorney. You cannot get any additional recovery after you have settled with the insurance carrier no matter how much worse your injuries become. Further, the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier will also attempt to have you give them a statement as to what happened immediately before, during, and after the accident. Do not make any statements, recorded or otherwise, to the insurance carrier until you have consulted with an experienced personal injury attorney. You should take your time and reflect on the accident so that you are not pressured into misremembering details of the accident on such short notice. Further, you may still be recovering from the accident in either the hospital or at home and on painkillers. Immediately after the accident is not time for you to handle insurance negotiations on your own. Understanding your rights is essential to protecting yourself, your family, and your property. If you have been injured by someone else’s recklessness, it is best to consult with an attorney about the specific circumstances of your injury. Please know that our firm works on a contingency basis in personal injury actions. This means that we will not be compensated unless we get a recovery for you. Thus, there are no up-front or out-of-pocket costs for you. After consulting with us, if we believe that your case has potential for success, and you want us to represent you, only then will we enter into an agreement that identifies the percentage of compensation and costs our firm will retain in the event of your successful settlement. If you would like to speak to one of our attorneys about any injury you have sustained, please do not hesitate to call us at 803-356-5000 or toll free at 1-800-321-6125. Salley Law Firm has been representing injured people and their families for over 20 years.

South Carolina is a fault-based liability state. That means, if you are in an automobile accident and where another driver caused the collision, then the other driver should be responsible for the injuries. This however gets significantly more complicated when there are multiple parties involved and multiple insurance policies.

When individuals are injured and consult with an attorney, one of the main questions for those individuals is what is my case worth? Many, many factors will affect what and how much an individual’s claim will ultimately be worth. Many factors will be used to calculate just how much your claim will be worth in the eyes of the insurance company including such factors as: • Medical costs and expenses, past and future • Lost wages • Property damage, and • Physical pain and emotional suffering However, another major aspect of valuing your claim comes from a term called Maximum Medical Improvement or MMI. Maximum Medical Improvement is where you have reached the full potential of recovery from the injuries you have sustained. In other words, time, effort, and medical treatment will no longer improve your condition. This is the point where you have reached your “full recovery” or you have suffered a permanent disability. Many times during the process you may feel like your attorney is not doing enough to pursue your claim. This however is not the case. It is important for you to reach MMI before your attorney can pursue all of the damages you are entitled to receive. MMI is extremely important to reach before you receive compensation because if you have sustained a permanent disability, you will need to receive compensation for it. This means that you will need and be entitled to compensation for future medical costs and expenses in your recovery. If you settle your claim before you have reached MMI, you will lose hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars because you are only entitled to “one bite at the apple” or in other words, recover one time from the at-fault party’s insurance company. Furthermore, if you settle early and still need treatment or surgery, you will then have to pay for those medical expenses out of your own pocket. Thus, it is important to be patient during the claims process and focus on your recovery until you have reached MMI . After you have reached MMI, you and your attorney will sit down and have a conversation about the true value of your claim and for how much you will be willing to settle. Issues such as these are why it is extremely important to have an experience attorney in your corner. Experienced attorneys will fight for you and protect your rights. You were injured, let us fight for you. Please contact Salley Law Firm today at (803) 356-5000.

Unfortunately, boating accidents are fairly common in South Carolina and can often result in very serious injury. As such, it’s never too early to be prepared in case the worst scenario happens. If you plan on boating in South Carolina, the Department of Natural Resources (“SCDNR”) has a list of required safety equipment that you must have on your boat at all times. Also, unless accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older, any boat operator under the age of 16 must complete a boating course approved by SCDNR if the boat has a 15 horsepower engine or greater. Every boating accident must be reported to SCDNR whenever the accident results in loss of life, loss of consciousness, medical treatment or disability in excess of 24 hours, or property damage. Not surprisingly, alcohol is the leading cause of boating accidents in South Carolina. While South Carolina does not have a law that prohibits open containers of alcohol on boats, an operator of a boat can certainly still be charged with Boating Under the Influence (“BUI”). Any person who operates a boat on South Carolina waterways has already given implied consent under South Carolina law to undergo either a chemical test or an analysis of his or her blood or urine to determine if they are operating the vessel over the .08 legal limit. If you are found to be over the legal limit, you are subject to a large fine and up to three years imprisonment in addition to the successful completion of an alcohol and drug safety action course and a boating safety course at your own expense. If you are injured in a boating accident in South Carolina, your accident will be governed by either South Carolina’s negligence law or it will be governed by federal maritime law. The difference is a result of where the accident actually takes place. Generally, if your accident took place in a landlocked lake, South Carolina negligence law will apply. However, if your accident took place on a body of water used for interstate or international commerce such as the Intracoastal Waterway for one example, it will fall under the jurisdiction of federal maritime law. It is important to understand the rights and procedures of each and how they will affect your rights. If you have been injured in a boating accident, please do not hesitate to call our firm to discuss your case. Your consultation is free and we also offer evening and weekend appointments.

Let’s face it, we’ve all thought about whipping around that slow moving tractor-trailer truck or wondered why we even need trucks when we have planes and trains. But according to the American Trucking Association, tractor-trailers move roughly 71% of the nation’s freight by weight. Further, the Department of Transportation (“DOT”) has reported that growth in online shopping is increasing the amount of truck traffic on the nation’s highways. DOT has projected that by 2040, freight volume in the U.S. will increase by 45 percent to 29 billion tons. So basically, without the trucking industry, we wouldn’t be able to have and enjoy the things that we use on a daily basis as shelves would be empty overnight causing panic everywhere. So, tractor-trailers are here to stay for the foreseeable future. As such, it is vitally important to understand more about these 10,000-80,000 pound beasts of machines that are carrying our goods and what you should do in the event that you or a loved one is in an accident with one. WHAT ARE THE MAIN CAUSES OF TRACTOR-TRAILER ACCIDENTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA? Truck drivers are required to comply with a number of state and federal safety regulations such as maintaining a professional commercial driver’s licenses, checking their load frequently to ensure the load is carefully balanced and of course, operating their vehicle so as to avoid injuring other drivers and pedestrians. But let’s face it, truck drivers are humans just like we are. And they can make just as careless of mistakes as we can when under pressure to satisfy both employer’s, as well as, customer’s demands for on-time deliveries. In South Carolina, the leading causes of tractor-trailer accidents are a result of: • Distracted driving; • Unbalanced loads; • Driver fatigue; • Blind spots; • Speeding; • Jackknifing; • Mechanical failure or defects in equipment; • Under-riding; or • Poor driver training WHO CAN BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR AN ACCIDENT CAUSED BY AN AT-FAULT TRACTOR-TRAILER DRIVER? There are a number of parties that can potentially be held liable for an accident involving a tractor-trailer. Generally, a truck driver will be considered an employee of the trucking company by which he/she is employed and thus, both the driver and the company may be held liable for your injuries. However, many times companies will claim that the truck driver is an independent contractor in an effort to avoid company liability. The trucking company will often make this claim as they are usually in a better position financially and hold higher insurance policies to pay for the grave injuries that these accidents cause. Further, while a trucking company may be held liable for the negligent actions of its employee, it may also be held liable for its own negligent actions. This is a separate claim apart from the employee’s negligent act and can come in a number of forms including: • Negligent hiring; • Negligent training; • Negligent supervision; • Negligent entrustment; • Negligent retention; and/or • Negligent maintenance The purpose of these claims is to hold trucking companies responsible for what they knew or should have known about their drivers and their tractor-trailer trucks and equipment when they cause an undue risk of harm to the public at large. While the truck driver and the trucking company are the most likely to be held responsible for a tractor-trailer wreck, the circumstances may also justify bringing suit against the company that performed maintenance on the truck, the company that owned the cargo, or the manufacturer of the truck or individual components equipped thereon. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ARE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WITH A TRACTOR-TRAILER TRUCK? First, call 911 immediately. Emergency services, including both police and EMS, will be dispatched to the scene of the accident. While you may not feel like you need to help of either initially, it is important to have yourself checked out immediately by qualified paramedics and to have the scene documented by a police report. If you are unable, have someone call for you. Second, if you are able, get all of the driver’s information that you possibly can. This will include the driver’s name, phone number, address, driver’s license number and vehicle tag number. This will also include the make and model of the driver’s vehicle. You should then attempt to document the scene as best as you can by taking photographs of the accident scene including all of the vehicles involved and any other pertinent evidence such as tire skid marks or traffic signs around the area. Third, if any individuals are hanging around the scene, ask them what they may have witnessed and if they saw the accident itself, get their information, names and addresses, so that statements may be taken at a later date. Finally, get medical attention! One of the best ways to protect yourself is with evidence and an emergency room report or a report from your primary care physician is an invaluable piece of evidence to prove your damages. ADDITIONAL MATTERS TO CONSIDER 1) Per the South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 15-3-520 provides for a three year statute of limitations on personal injury actions. This does not mean to wait until three years after your accident to contact a lawyer! Should you be in an accident, it is best to contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. A lawyer will be able to help advise you on getting your damages taken care of in the most efficient manner so that you may begin recovering. 2) The at-fault driver’s insurance carrier will attempt to speak with you very soon after the accident. DO NOT accept any settlement offer from the at-fault driver’s insurance until you have consulted with an experienced personal-injury attorney! You cannot get any additional recovery after you have settled with the insurance carrier no matter how much worse your injuries become. Injured parties only get one bite at the apple, make sure it counts! Further, the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier will also attempt to have you give them a statement as to what happened immediately before, during, and after the accident. DO NOT make any statements, recorded or otherwise, to the insurance carrier until you have consulted with an experienced personal-injury attorney. You should take your time and reflect on the accident so that you are not pressured into misremembering details of the accident on such short notice. Further, you may still be recovering from the accident in either the hospital or at home and on painkillers. Immediately after the accident is not time for you to handle insurance negotiations on your own. 3) Even if you may have contributed to the accident, you should still consult with an experienced personal injury attorney to see if you might be able to recover part of your damages. South Carolina uses a comparative fault system. This simply means that your award of damages may be reduced by the percentage of fault that you contributed to the accident, as long as you were less than 51% responsible. Thus, if you were 25% at fault for the accident, your award will be reduced by 25%. However, if you were more than 51% responsible, you will recover nothing. The good news is that this type of fault system only matters when and if your case goes to trial. This is why it is so important to consult with and have an attorney involved so that they can negotiate a more just settlement for you. Understanding your rights is essential to protecting yourself, your family, and your property. If you have been injured by someone else’s recklessness, it is best to consult with an attorney about the specific circumstances of your injury. Please know that our firm works on a contingency basis in personal injury actions. This means that there are no attorney fees unless we get a recovery for you. Thus, there are no up-front or out-of-pocket costs for you. After consulting with us, if we believe that your case has potential for success, and you want us to represent you, only then will we enter into an agreement that identifies the percentage of compensation and costs our firm will retain in the event of your successful settlement. If you would like to speak to one of our attorneys about any injury you have sustained, please do not hesitate to call us at 803-356-5000 or toll free at 1-800-321-6125.

Both drivers and pedestrians must exercise what is called ‘a duty of care’ when either operating a vehicle or walking alongside a roadway. This means that both must use reasonable care to protect their own safety as well as the safety of others. Reasonable care means such care as a watchful, attentive, cautious, and prudent person would use in the same or similar circumstances and is proportionate to the danger involved. An individual, who negligently operates a vehicle, including such actions as speeding, distracted driving, or driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, may be liable to the injured party for their personal and property damages caused by their own negligence. A pedestrian who fails to exercise reasonable care while walking along a roadway, including failing to use crosswalks or by darting into the roadway, may be comparatively negligent if they contributed to their injuries or to the accident in any way. South Carolina uses a comparative fault system. This simply means that your award of damages may be reduced by the percentage of fault that you contributed to the accident, as long as you were less than 51% responsible. Thus, if you were 25% at fault for the accident, your award will be reduced by 25%. However, if you were more than 51% responsible, you will recover nothing. The good news is that this type of fault system only matters when and if your case goes to trial. This is why it is so important to consult with and have an attorney involved so that they can negotiate a more just settlement for you. What should you do if you have been in a pedestrian-vehicle accident? First, call 911. Emergency services will dispatch both police and appropriate emergency medical services to your location. If you are unable, have someone call for you. Second, get medical attention. A personal injury attorney will try to help you recover your expenses from the at-fault party later. The best way to protect yourself is with evidence. An emergency room report and doctor’s bills are invaluable pieces of evidence to prove your damages. Third, if you can, get the driver’s information. This includes getting the driver’s name, phone number and address. It should also include getting the driver’s license and tag numbers as well as the make and model of his or her vehicle. If you are able, also take photographs of the accident scene and vehicle. Finally, if any witnesses are hanging around the scene, ask them what they witnessed and get their information so that statements may be taken at a later date. ADDITIONAL MATTERS TO CONSIDER 1) Per the South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 15-3-520 provides for a three year statute of limitations on personal injury actions. This does not mean to wait until three years after your accident to contact a lawyer. Should you be in an accident, it is best to contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. A lawyer will be able to help advise you on getting your damages taken care of in the most efficient manner so that you may begin recovering. 2) The at-fault driver’s insurance carrier will attempt to speak with you very soon after the accident. DO NOT accept any settlement offer from the at-fault driver’s insurance until you have consulted with an experienced personal-injury attorney. You cannot get any additional recovery after you have settled with the insurance carrier no matter how much worse your injuries become. Further, the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier will also attempt to have you give them a statement as to what happened immediately before, during, and after the accident. Do not make any statements, recorded or otherwise, to the insurance carrier until you have consulted with an experienced personal-injury attorney. You should take your time and reflect on the accident so that you are not pressured into misremembering details of the accident on such short notice. Further, you may still be recovering from the accident in either the hospital or at home and on painkillers. Immediately after the accident is not time for you to handle insurance negotiations on your own. Understanding your rights is essential to protecting yourself, your family, and your property. If you have been injured by someone else’s recklessness, it is best to consult with an attorney about the specific circumstances of your injury. Please know that our firm works on a contingency basis in personal injury actions. This means that we will not be compensated unless we get a recovery for you. Thus, there are no up-front or out-of-pocket costs for you. After consulting with us, if we believe that your case has potential for success, and you want us to represent you, only then will we enter into an agreement that identifies the percentage of compensation and costs our firm will retain in the event of your successful settlement. If you would like to speak to one of our attorneys about any injury you have sustained, please do not hesitate to call us at 803-356-5000 or toll free at 1-800-321-6125.

South Carolina is a fault-based liability state. That means, if you are in an automobile accident and another driver caused the collision, then the other driver should be responsible for the injuries. However, this gets significantly more complicated when there are multiple parties involved and multiple insurance policies. WHAT IF THE OTHER DRIVER WAS UNINSURED? Generally, the driver who caused the accident should be responsible for paying for the injuries caused by their negligence. However and unfortunately, not everyone who drives a vehicle is insured. If you were in a vehicle driven by another individual and you were in an accident, you have a couple of options. One, you may sue the other driver. This however will not be beneficial if the other driver has no insurance or other assets to pay a judgment. Second, you may file a claim for “uninsured motorist coverage” with the insurance of the driver of the car you were in. That does not mean you are suing the driver, it only means that you exercising your right as a passenger to coverage the driver has purchased. Remember, it was for this very purpose that the state of South Carolina mandates that the driver carries uninsured motorist coverage. WHAT ABOUT MY HEALTH INSURANCE? If you have been in an accident as a passenger, it is best to get the treatment you need immediately and place any medical expenses on your own health insurance. Your health insurance is designed for this purpose and you should take advantage of it. Do keep in mind that once you have filed a claim and begin recovering, your insurance will then usually require that you reimburse all or some of the benefits you have received from them through any recovery that is made from the at-fault parties insurance. In many cases, they will directly recover from the at-fault parties insurance through a subrogation claim. WHAT IF THE DRIVER OF THE CAR I WAS IN IS PARTIALLY AT-FAULT? South Carolina uses a modified comparative negligence system. This means that even if your driver was partially to blame for the accident, you may still be able to recover for your injuries. This will usually be accomplished through a combination of the at-fault parties insurance and your driver’s insurance coverage. If you have been involved in a car accident, please contact the experienced attorneys at Salley Law Firm for a free consultation at (803) 356-5000. There is no fee unless we recover for you. We also offer after hours and weekend appointments.