Oct 7, 2013 | Bicycling Accidents, Boating Accidents, Bus Accidents, Car Accidents, Uncategorized
The central idea behind the theory of negligence is that people must exercise reasonable care when they act (any activity from driving your car to laying asphalt). This takes into account the fact that
any act may cause the harm of another person. If an injured person proves that another person acted negligently, the action of which caused injury, the plaintiff may claim monetary damages.
Negligence cases are very fact specific, where the plaintiff has the burden of proving that the defendant’s accidental injury not only caused the harm, but was followed through in an unreasonable manner. Further, damages must be proven.
Now, where do we start? In South Carolina, the statute of limitations during which suit may be brought on the theory of negligence is three years. This means that if a period of three years has passed since the negligent act, suit may no longer be brought. Further, South Carolina uses the doctrine of modified comparative negligence to assign fault.
This system has two important aspects: (1) the injured party may recover only if he or she is less than 50 percent at fault; and (2) if the injured party was also negligent, the originally negligent party is only liable for the percentage of damages he or she caused.
Therefore, if the jury finds that a driver is 70 percent negligent and the other driver is 30 percent negligent, the person who is 30 percent negligent will collect 70 percent of his or her damages. Also, if either driver is more than 50 percent negligent, that driver will recover nothing.
If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident in South Carolina that may have been the result of someone’s negligence, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP at 803-548-4444, or 877-374-5999.
Oct 1, 2013 | Car Accidents, Criminal Defense, Uncategorized
The answer to the question is yes, you can be criminally charged when you leave the scene of an accident that you are involved in.
In the state of South Carolina, it is a misdemeanor, and perhaps a felony, to leave the scene of an accident after being involved in one.
If the accident is a minor one, then you will probably just be charged with a misdemeanor, unless there has been serious bodily injury or death. The only exception for leaving the scene is in the event you did so looking for emergency attention. You must then return to the scene with the other victim involved.
In that event, you will be charged with a “felony leaving the scene of the accident,” with fines ranging anywhere from $5000 to $25,000, and up to 25 years in a federal or state prison. These penaltites are typically tacked on when a person is subsequently being charged with reckless homicide or felony DWI.
It is important to know that when you do contact an emergency entity, you are being recording, so under such circumstances, you should monitor your excited utterances. You may or may not be the cause of the accident.
Whether you are the victim in a personal injury suit, or whether you are the person at fault and allegedly being called the defendant, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken, and Hightower, LLP toll-free for 877-374-5999 for more information
Sep 30, 2013 | Car Accidents, Criminal Defense, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
So what is the penalty for a Felony DUI in South Carolina when someone is killed during an intoxicated crash?
There is actually a difference in causing great bodily injury to someone vs. reckless homicide for a Felony DUI.
Accordingly, the South Carolina statute states that ” for causing great bodily injury, the following defendant will:
(1) Spend anywhere from 30 days to 15 years in jail under the mandatory imprisonment requirement. This jail time would be spent in either a state or federal prison, not a local prison. This means that your loved ones maybe sent anywhere in the state, and to visit them you may have to drive multiple hours as opposed to a few minutes.
(2) There will be a mandatory fine the defendant is required to pay anywhere from $5000-$10,000 dollars
(3) And lastly, the defendant’s driver’s license will be suspended during the term of imprisonment (obviously) and then three additional years after his release.
The three aforementioned requirements are for someone who has again caused “great bodily injury;” however things change for causing death during a Felony DUI.
Accordingly, in the case at hand, the defendant will be forced to abide by the following requirements:
(1) He will spend anywhere from 1 year to 25 years in mandatory imprisonment in a state or federal jail, as discussed above. No local” jail” will be permitted here.
(2) His fine is exponentially higher, ranging anywhere from $10,000-$25,000 dollars.
(3) And lastly, his driver’s license will be suspended five years after his release from prison, unlike the three years for great bodily injury.
If you have been charged with a DUI in the South Carolina, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken, and Hightower, LLP toll-free at 877-374-5999 for more information on your case.
Sep 26, 2013 | Car Accidents, Criminal Defense, Felony DUI, Uncategorized
The Highway Patrol of South Carolina is currently investigating an accident that occurred overnight in Dorchester County. Sadly, this accident turned to be a fatal one.
Saturday night, around 11:30 p.m., two friends had been out drinking and one of them decided to call it a night. The 21-year-old defendant male was driving his Jeep home under dark and damp conditions with a female passenger, also age 21.
There were two cars traveling northbound on I-17, fairly close to the Highway 61 intersection. One of those cars had the 21-year-old intoxicated driver behind the wheel. The drunk driver was attempting to pass the car that was traveling parallel to him when the Jeep and the other vehicle made contact with one another.
The impact must have been quite severe, because the Jeep was thrown off the road, flipped over twice, and a female passenger was ejected out of the vehicle. The female was pronounced dead by the time the EMTs arrived. Neither of the people in the Jeep was wearing their seatbelt at the time of the incident.
The male has been charged with a Felony DUI, due to the severity of the condition his passenger was found in.
What is a Felony DUI in South Carolina?
In the state of South Carolina, a felony charge of a DUI has three requisites that must be met in order for the defendant to be properly charged as such.
The first element is that the person must have operated a vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol or both.
The second element requires that the person was doing something either illegal or unlawful. This could mean anything from a violation of a traffic law or failure to uphold your responsibility to the court, such as failure to appear or pay a fine. The most common illegal act is found when the person is intoxicated, and the officer is given reasonable suspicion through the defendant failing to maintain his vehicle in his lane, or acting negligent or reckless with his driving behavior.
Lastly, the serious injury or death must have been the proximate cause of the great bodily injury or death to any person other than himself, including passengers, pedestrians, and other motorists.
Sep 24, 2013 | Car Accidents, Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI, Uncategorized
A pedestrian was pronounced dead after he was hit by a speeding vehicle in the middle of the road Saturday night.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol stated that the vehicle was travelling on Highway 17, near Market Street, around 11:35 p.m., when the accident occurred.
Apparently, the defendant was a 44-year-old woman was driving down the road way, when she struck and killed a pedestrian who was wearing dark clothing. The defendant stated that the pedestrian was in the roadway, and the driver could not see her.
She said that she tried to swerve to avoid hitting the pedestrian, but the pedestrian stumbled towards the car, according to the defendant. Moreover, there were three passengers were in the car with the defendant at the time of the accident; carrying with her both her son and her two young grandchildren, when they all saw ” something” near the set of the train tracks.
The pedestrian and all of the people that were in the defendant’s vehicle were all taken to the closest hospital at Carolinas Medical Center. The defendant was not intoxicated, and states that “she did not mean to hit the pedestrian and is sorry for the family’s loss.”
The pedestrian’s name has not been released; and no one on the defendant’s vehicle was injured. The South Carolina Highway Patrol is still currently investigating the crime.
The state of South Carolina has adopted what is called ” comparative negligence.” According to S.C. Gen. Stat 15-38-15, the liability and responsibility on behalf of the defendant if for less than fifty per cent of total fault will be abolished. In other words, if the plaintiff is found to be at more fault then the defendant, then the defendant will not be held liable for the damage he causes unless his actions were willful, wanton, or the defendant was grossly negligent due to alcoholic beverage or drugs .S.C. Gen. Stat 15-38-15( 2012).
Moreover, in an action to recover damages resulting from personal injury or wrongful death resulting from tortious conduct where there are two or more defendants, the damages are divisible and to be determined by who was the proximate cause, if one was in fact more liable then the other.
This decision rests in the hands of the fact-finder. If there can be no proximate cause appointed to one or the other defendant, then the defendants will share in the liability jointly and severally. A defendant whose conduct is determined to be less than fifty percent of the total fault shall only be liable for that percentage of the indivisible damages determined by the jury or trier of fact. S.C. Gen. Stat 15-38-15(2012).
Losing a love one is a terrible tragedy to handle. Furthermore, it is not one that should be handled alone. Contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken, and Hightower, LLP toll-free at 877-377-5999 and speak to one of our personal injuries or wrongful death attorneys today.
Sep 24, 2013 | Car Accidents, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, Uncategorized
The Local Police Department has just released the details to a terrible tragedy where an 18-year-old girl lost her life in a single-car accident.
Accordingly, the young girl was driving her 1998 Honda Accord southbound on the highway, right before she reached the city’s limits. She was met by a sharp curve that she was not anticipating, and in an attempt to over-correct her vehicle, she lost control and went off the left side of the road, where she ultimately struck a tree.
As stated above, the wreck was just inside the city limits. Sadly, there was nothing the Medics could do when they arrived, and the young girl was pronounced dead on scene.
The next morning, hundreds of students from her high gathered together in memory of their beloved senior and friend.
There are no definite answers yet aside from the over-correcting of why the accident occurred. It may be assumed that if she was unprepared for the curve, then she was driving too fast under the conditions, and thus maybe though to of been recklessly driving. There are no details as to whether alcohol or any of substance was a factor.
In a situation as the aformentioned one, there is a possible claim for ” wrongful death.”
According to the South Carolina State Stautue 15-51-10, the civil action for a wrongful act that results in death is defined as ” whenever the death of a person shall be caused by the wrongful act, neglect or default of another and the act, neglect or default is such as would, if death had not ensued, have entitled the party injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, the person who would have been liable, if death had not ensued, shall be liable to an action for damages, notwithstanding the death of the person injured, although the death shall have been caused under such circumstances as make the killing in law a felony.” S. C. Gen Stat. 15-51-10( 2012).
In other words, a person operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol may be held liable for a civil action under a ” wrongful death claim.” The intent of the defendant has no bearings on the result.
Moreover, wrongful death actions in South Carolina are successful, only if the victim would have won the case if he had not perished. Furthermore, if the defendant dies, the victim’s family is still entitled to bring a civil suit agaisnt the defendant’s personal representative or estate.
If you or someone you know has been involved in a serious car accident, or charged with reckless driving, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken, and Hightower, LLP toll-free at 877-374-5999 and talk to us about your situation. Call today or visit our homepage at www.rjrlaw.com.
