South Carolina Personal Injury Law Blog

Choosing reckless driving can leave you liable in a crash

Published on: April 20, 2015 | by Patrick E. Knie

Imagine for a moment that you’re driving on the freeway, doing the speed limit in the left lane when you realize that you’re quickly approaching the vehicle in front of you. You reduce your speed to avoid a collision and wait for the other driver to change lanes so that you may pass, as is common courtesy here in South Carolina. But the driver never does change lanes, causing a line of vehicles to form behind you.

If you’ve been involved in a situation such as this, you’ve probably also been angered by it. But the actions that you choose next could mean the difference between what is right and what could be considered reckless. This is an important distinction we’d like our Spartanburg readers to consider, especially because reckless driving could leave you liable in a crash.

As you can imagine, in a scenario such as this, you have a number of options. You could stay behind the person or you could change lanes instead. But the worst decisions you could make are to tailgate the other driver or worse still, weave in and out of traffic so that you can get ahead of the driver only to slam on your brakes. These types of behaviors are not only considered reckless but they can lead to a serious or even fatal accident. And in the end, you could be the one at fault, not the other driver.

Jury holds Chrysler liable for older car’s fatal design flaw

Published on: April 3, 2015 | by Patrick E. Knie

Just about everyone knows that before a vehicle is released on the market, manufacturers have to prove that the vehicle is safe and that it meets all government safety standards as well. But as we all know, safety standards are constantly being changed and updated. What was once considered safe 20 years ago might not be the case now.

This poses an important question to drivers of used cars then: if your vehicle is deemed unsafe now but wasn’t when it was first produced, can the manufacturer still be held liable in the event of a serious or fatal crash? It’s a question most people don’t get an answer to until after the unthinkable happens, which is not the way we want any of our readers to find out. That’s why in today’s post, we’d like to highlight an out-of-state case that may provide some clues as to how a personal injury claim involving an older unsafe vehicle might go.

The case we’d like to present to our South Carolina readers is the wrongful death claim against Chrysler which recently received a ruling in a Georgia courtroom. Just as we did above, this case raised the important question about a manufacturer’s responsibility for a vehicle that had been deemed safe but was no longer considered as such by today’s standards. After less than two hours of deliberation, the court had its answer: yes, a manufacturer can be held liable.

Do you have lower back pain? It may be a work-related injury

Published on: March 20, 2015 | by Patrick E. Knie

In South Carolina, workers have the right to compensation if they are injured on the job. The benefits they apply for can be used to cover medical expenses such as tests and visits to the doctor, medication costs, lost wages and even compensation for mileage if a person is forced to travel considerable distances to see a specialist or particular doctor.

But as you may already be aware, not all work-related injuries are the same. Some may be more obvious than others. And because many injuries can occur both inside and outside of work, some people may even find it difficult to determine whether their injury really was work related or not. That’s why, in today’s post, we wanted to look at one injury where this difficulty arises: back injuries.

Have you ever experienced back pain after lifting a heavy object or after turning your torso from side to side? If you said yes, then you can probably bet that you have some varying degree of a back injury. Back injuries are a common injury that do not occur in just one working environment but rather a variety of places.

Medical device linked to deadly bacterium outbreak in hospitals

Published on: March 6, 2015 | by Patrick E. Knie

If you’ve read a lot of our blog posts, then you probably look at news stories very differently than you used to. You may look at a story now and recognize situations where it may be necessary for victims to obtain a lawyer or when a case might lead to litigation. The latest case of two superbug-related deaths on the other side of the country may be no different as it sparks questions about liability and the possibility of personal injury lawsuits down the road.

Many people here in South Carolina may have heard about the deaths of two patients at a UCLA medical center. According to reports, the patients died after becoming infected with the superbug CRE, which is short for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The infection was linked to a particular endoscope that the Food and Drug Administration is now saying had not been approved by the agency for use on patients.

Although the makers of the medical device have since applied for FDA approval, the damage has already been done, which could leave many across the nation wondering if and how the victims will be compensated.

Are South Carolina drivers among the nation’s worst?

Published on: February 20, 2015 | by Patrick E. Knie

There are certain lists that you never want to see your state take the number one spot on. One such list is a “worst drivers” list. Unfortunately, a recent worst drivers list has South Carolina right at the top.

The list was compiled by Car Insurance Comparison. The score which determined a state’s overall ranking on this list was based off of comparisons of the states (and Washington D.C.) in five different categories: careless driving, drunk driving, speeding, failure to obey and fatality rate.

The list puts South Carolina and one other state, Montana, in a tie for having the worst drivers of any state.

South Carolina did particularly badly in the fatality rate, careless driving and drunk driving categories, ending up among the 10 worst states in all three of these categories. When it came to the fatality rate category (this category is based on how many traffic deaths occurred for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled), South Carolina did the worst of any state.

Has the government made working conditions for truckers unsafe?

Published on: February 4, 2015 | by Patrick E. Knie

Trucking is a huge part of the United States economy. According to statistics from the American Trucking Associations, in 2013, trucks accounted for 81 percent of the $682 billion in freight revenue. In order to generate this level of revenue though, trucking companies have to keep tight schedules, oftentimes requiring their drivers to work longer hours than they should. In many cases, drivers arrive at their destination fatigued only to have to turn around again to get another load.

A rise in the number of fatigued-driving cases across the nation among commercial truck drivers forced the federal government to act. New rules were put in place that reduced the number of hours a truck driver could operate before needing to take a rest break. The rules also increased the amount of rest time needed before returning to work. The thought was that the new regulations would reduce the likelihood of fatigued driving, thereby reducing the number of accidents as well.

But according to many in the trucking industry, the change in rest rules created another situation that may be just as problematic as fatigued driving. Truckers across the nation, including here in South Carolina, are now running into the problem of finding “legal, safe and well-lit parking places” in some cities across the nation. In some cases, truck drivers are forced to drive miles out of their way, sometimes at the risk of violating rest rules in order to find a safe place to park and rest.

Being in a vehicle makes a big difference in an accident

Published on: January 23, 2015 | by Patrick E. Knie

Whether you live here in South Carolina or another state, everyone knows the devastation that accompanies a motor vehicle accident. Although there is the physical damage to the vehicle or vehicles involved, the injuries suffered by passengers can be just as devastating. In more severe accidents, a person may even be killed, which can wreak havoc on a victim’s family and friends.

Although injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident can range from minor lacerations and abrasions to more severe and even fatal injuries, many consider pedestrian accidents to be the worst. That’s because, unlike victims of motor vehicle accidents, people involved in pedestrian accidents do not have the protection of a vehicle’s frame to absorb some of the impact. Instead, a pedestrian’s body is taking all of the force, oftentimes resulting in catastrophic injuries and a higher risk of death.

Pedestrians who are unfortunate enough to become victims of an inattentive or negligent driver may suffer a variety of injuries including, but not limited to:

Bruises
Lacerations
Broken bones
Damage to internal organs
Head and neck injuries
Spinal cord injuries

Are personal breath tests the answer to drunk-driving problem?

Published on: January 9, 2015 | by Patrick E. Knie

No matter what state you live in, whether it’s here in South Carolina or somewhere else, drunk driving is a huge problem. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, roughly 12,000 people die every year in alcohol-related crashes. But what makes this statistic perhaps most impactful is the fact that all of these accidents could have been prevented if the drivers had taken the necessary precaution and not gotten behind the wheel of a vehicle while intoxicated.

Most people think that counting drinks or basing their sobriety on “how they feel” will be enough to prevent a drunk driving accident. Unfortunately though, these methods are flawed and do not give an accurate representation of actual intoxication. In a number of drunk driving cases, accidents are the result of a driver mistakenly thinking that they are okay to drive when in fact they are not.

What technology hazards could put patients in danger in 2015?

Published on: December 24, 2014 | by Patrick E. Knie

Despite our highest hopes and the best efforts of hospitals across the nation, medical mistakes continue to occur. Although one of the reasons is because of negligence — both at the hospital level and the staff level — the other reason is that technology and procedural guidelines are simply not up to the standards yet that we expect to find.

That having been said, our readers are probably wondering what technology could put patients in danger in 2015. With the help of a top ten list provided by the ECRI Institute, we hope to answer this question and give a heads up about possible hazards in 2015.

Why getting compensation for your child is key after a crash

Published on: December 8, 2014 | by Patrick E. Knie

If you’re like most parents here in Spartanburg, then your children are probably incredibly important to you. If you could, you would do anything for them, including taking their place in the event of an injury-causing accident. Unfortunately, real life does not allow us to trade places with people, which means parents must do the next best thing after a serious accident: seek compensation for their child’s injuries.

From car accidents to cases of premises liability, injuries caused by someone else’s negligence happen all the time in South Carolina. In a number of cases, victims could be children who do not have enough life experience to know that they could be entitled to compensation for their injuries. That’s why it’s important for parents to not only know their own rights but the rights of their child as well.