Charleston Injury Law Blog

Lisa Norris Causey of Loris, SC 23-years old, died Monday morning after she was ejected from her vehicle during a single car accident. The accident occurred around 12:15 a.m. on S.C. 410 in Horry County. South Carolina Highway Patrol says that Causey was attempting a left turn when her 2009 Pontiac ran off the right-side of the road. The car flipped several times causing fatal injuries to the driver.

Seat belts are designed to hold you in place in the car’s seat in the event of an accident. They reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury, ejection from the car, and most importantly death.

Click Here To Read More From a Charleston Personal Injury Lawyer On The Importance of Seat belts!

A recent study by the University of Utah finds that a small number of people are able to talk on a cell phone while driving a vehicle without being impaired. These people, deemed “supertaskers,” make up only 2.5% of the population.

The study assessed the performance of 200 participants to carry on a cell phone conversation while driving. The participants were first asked to perform a single task, simulated freeway driving. They were then asked to perform a more demanding task, carrying on a cell phone conversation while driving. During the conversation, participants were asked to memorize words and solve math problems. Their performance was measured in four areas: following distance, braking reaction time, memory, and math execution.

Not surprisingly, most of these areas worsened while participants simultaneously drove a car. To Read More About This Study From a Charleston Personal Injury Attorney, Click Here!

Insurance adjustors may attempt to devalue car accident claims if the injured party was not wearing a seatbelt.

The Argument: The injured party wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, so this makes the negligent driver “less” at fault for causing the car crash.

While I am certainly a very big proponent of wearing a seatbelt at all times and encourage all of my clients to do so, this is yet another meritless attempt to avoid paying claims by insurance companies.

The fact of the matter is, in South Carolina, failure to wear a seatbelt cannot be used as evidence of negligence or contributory negligence in a civil lawsuit. To Find Out What This Means From a Charleston Personal Injury Lawyer, Click Here!

I had a client ask me earlier in the week if he was entitled to punitive damages for his auto accident case. The client was involved in a rear end collision that knocked his vehicle off of the road and in to a ditch. He suffered a fairly serious injury, and his settlement was substantial.

However, not all accidents that cause injuries will provide for punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded as a punishment or “shame on you” to defendant’s whose negligence in causing an accident has risen to a higher level that the ordinary negligence or mistake that causes an accident. Their purpose is to deter the public from engaging in the particular negligence that caused the accident. For example, causing a wreck while texting and driving, or while under the influence of drugs or while drunk, would warrant the award of punitive damages. There are many other…Click Here To Read More From a Charleston Personal Injury Attorney!

Tom Tom Inc., the maker of GPS navigation devices, recently released their findings from a study on drivers’ speeds. The company analyzed speed data of customers from 45 states and Washington, D.C. The customers agreed to allow Tom Tom Inc. to collect anonymous information from the GPS devices to improve the quality of the device’s route guidance.

Believe it or not, the company found that most drivers abide by the posted speed limits. In 31 out of the 46 area studies, the average highway speeds fell between 65 and 70.1 mph. The state that averaged 70.1 mph was Mississippi, where the posted speed limit is 70 mph. Drivers in Virginia maintained speeds averaging 65 mph, which up until last month was the posted speed limit. The new posted speed limit in rural areas in Virginia is now 70 mph. It is not surprising that South Carolina was among the top 10 fastest states…Click Here To Find Out More From a Charleston Personal Injury Attorney!

Some insurance experts claim that insurance companies will soon investigate your social media accounts, digging in to your posts and other personal information online. Anything the insurance company finds, such as dangerous hobbies, comments you make, and posts, may be used as a basis for raising your premiums. What you say in your tweets and on your wall could cost you! I’ve been advising personal injury and accident clients for a couple of years now to be careful what they post and what is posted about them online, as it could be used against them in their accident case.

To Read More About This From a Charleston Personal Injury Lawyer, Click Here!

The National Highway Traffic Administration reports that an estimated 6,000 people die each year in accidents caused by distracted driving. And, testing drivers are 20 times more likely to have a car accident than those who are not distracted. Oprah has teamed up with American transportation officials to launch a public service announcement informing Americans of the fatal consequences of distracted driving. Oprah’s has officially declared April 30 as “No Phone Zone Day.”

Click here to read more about National “No Phone Zone Day”

Click here to read more from a Charleston personal injury lawyer about Oprah’s “No Phone Zone”