A head on collision along Interstate 26 left five people injured and one dead on Sunday morning. A 46 year-old man was driving his Ford sedan along the interstate near mile marker 143. His car drifted across the center median and cable barriers and entered into oncoming traffic. He was in a head-on collision with a Chevy Impala. The impact then forced the Impala into a 2008 Honda driven by a North Carolina Man. The driver of the Impala was airlifted to Richland Memorial Hospital and her passenger was transported by ambulance.
The driver of the Honda and three of his passengers were also taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment. According to the South Carolina Highway Patrol in this news report, all passengers in the multi-vehicle crash were wearing seat belts. The crash closed down westbound lanes of Interstate-26 for almost 7 hours, forcing other drivers to reroute along U.S. 21 from exit 145.
The fatal car accident is still under investigation by the State Patrol at this time. It is not currently known whether the crash was caused by inattention, falling asleep at the wheel, impairment or a medical event. As a Columbia personal injury lawyer, I’m glad that everyone was buckled up, or else the results of this already fatal accident could have been even more catastrophic.
A Graniteville family is mourning the loss of their son who was killed in a car accident last week. On Thursday afternoon, the young man had been riding in a friend’s car after school. For some reason, the driver lost control of the vehicle at one point and crashed into a home. The accident proved fatal for the 17 year-old passenger. Investigators are still looking at the debris that was left scattered around the home and it’s yard to search for clues in the crash. However, they believe that either distracted driving or speed were a factor, according to this news report.
Some debris was found over 60 feet away from the initial crash point, leading investigators to believe speeding was to blame. “A car is a dangerous machine, and they really need to take care when they get into a car. It’s a serious thing that could happen,” claimed the victim’s father. It seems the 19 year-old driver is in good condition. The crash nearly hit and elderly man seated in the front of the home that was hit. Luckily, no one inside the home was hurt.
While the crash is still under investigation, the driver of the car may be charged if it is determined that their negligence ultimately lead to the fatal crash. As a South Carolina personal injury lawyer, my deepest condolences go out to the victim’s family during this difficult time. The father would like to send out a message to other parents, claiming, “Just show your love for your kids when you’re around them. Because mine knew I loved him.”
At this year’s Distracted Driving Summit, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood touted the fact that his work has led to a ban on commercial drivers from texting while driving. Last year, he proposed the legislature to make texting on the job illegal for commercial bus and truck drivers and talking on a cell phone illegal for train operators. That legislature is now in place. But are truck driver’s really the ones we have to worry about on the road? This article brings up some good points. Sure, trucking accidents typically have catastrophic outcomes considering their shear size, but truck drivers may be getting a bad rap.
The AAA Foundation conducted research on trucking accidents and compared that with information from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to come up with some statistics on such accidents. They found that in 73% of trucking accidents, the truck driver wasn’t acting negligently or unsafe, according to this article. In fact, car drivers are 10 times more likely to cause a head-on collision with a truck than vice versa, and are four times more likely to rear-end a truck than the other way around.
The drivers of passenger vehicles are also more likely to speed in poor road conditions, such as rain or fog, and are 8 times more likely to cause an accident due to drowsiness than truck drivers. As a personal injury lawyer in South Carolina, I thought this article brought up a very good point that truck drivers are “on the job” while operating a big rig. So they’re more likely to focus and act professional than someone who has just gotten off work and is running errands.
Don’t get me wrong though, I agree that commercial truck and bus drivers shouldn’t be allowed to text or use a cell phone while operating a vehicle. However, the distracted driving epidemic is overwhelmingly caused by car drivers, so shouldn’t tougher legislature target them?
Yesterday, I posted a tragic story in which the driver of a moped was rear-ended as he waited to make a left hand turn at an intersection. He was ejected from his moped and killed on impact, but the driver who struck him fled the scene immediately. Yesterday, the South Carolina Highway Patrol was still on the lookout for the hit-and-run suspect. She turned herself in the following afternoon.
The suspect is a 21 year-old female from Campobello. When she saw news of the motorcycle accident the following morning, she suspected that it was she who was to blame and she turned herself in. According to this news report, her attorney stated in court that, “[She] was not aware that she might have hit someone, hit a person. This morning when she heard the news, heard that it may have been a possibility, she took steps to turn herself in.” She is currently charged with driving too fast for conditions and leaving the scene of an accident with death.
As a Columbia personal injury lawyer, it’s hard for me to understand how someone could not realize that they had struck someone and just continue on. This tragedy has taken the life of a father, brother, husband and son. According to the victim’s sister, “She has destroyed our family. She took my father’s son from him. She has destroyed us.” Right now, she is being held on a $50,000 cash or surety bond.
A drunk driver was to blame for a bus accident that sent six students to the hospital yesterday afternoon. A 36 year-old man got behind the wheel of his 1987 Volkswagen Jetta though he was legally impaired. As he drove along Bible Church Road, he swerved across the median and into oncoming traffic. An approaching District 2 school bus from Spartanburg was unable to stop in time and collided with the Jetta.
The force of the impact caused the Jetta to slide off the side of the highway and rollover onto it’s roof in a nearby field. The passenger in the Jetta was not injured but the driver was taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center for treatment. He was also cited for driving under the influence by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, according to this news report.
Onboard the school bus were a total of 43 students and the driver. As a South Carolina personal injury lawyer, I was relieved to hear that no one was seriously injured in the crash. However, 6 students were taken to the hospital as a precaution when they complained of headaches. There has been a lot of debate over whether school buses should be required to provide seat belts lately, but some studies show that students are still 8 times safer riding in a school bus than in their parent’s vehicle.
South Carolina is one of only two states in the country that doesn’t require drivers to carry auto insurance, the other state being Virginia. Instead, drivers have the option of foregoing insurance by paying a $550 fee to the Department of Safety. Of that fee, $100 goes towards reducing recoupment and enforcing anti-discrimination laws. The rest is for reducing uninsured motorist coverage for other drivers in the state.
As a personal injury lawyer in North Charleston, I think it’s important for people to realize that the average cost for liability auto insurance in South Carolina is $475, much less than the fee people choose to pay. It goes without saying that this amount is way less than a driver would pay if they were involved in a car accident as well. Residents in South Carolina should definitely consider purchasing uninsured motorist insurance, considering other drivers aren’t required to carry insurance themselves.
At this point, about one in every 10 drivers in South Carolina doesn’t carry insurance. Though that number has come down significantly over the last decade. In 2000, the state had a 28 percent uninsured motorist rate, which dropped to 9 percent by 2007, according to this press release. I regularly see the life-changing effects of a serious car accident. Without insurance to protect you, your whole livelihood could be at risk, even if you weren’t to blame for the accident.
As if defective vehicle floor mats or eggs tainted with salmonella weren’t enough, now we have to worry about feeding infants formula riddled with insects. According to the FDA, Abbott has issued a voluntary recall for some of it’s Similac powder infant formulas that were sold in the U.S., Guam, and some Caribbean countries.
The company discovered beetles in a certain area in their production facility, obviously not meeting their quality control standards. In this press release, the FDA assures consumers that the presence of trace amounts of beetle parts don’t pose a serious personal injury or health risk. However, if an infant consumes some of the contaminated formula, they may experience intestinal discomfort which can lead them to stop eating. If you notice these symptoms with your infant, it is recommended to take them in to see their pediatrician within a few days.
The products at risk of contamination include some of the Similac powder formulas packaged in 8oz, 12.4oz, and 12.9oz containers. To find out if the product in your home is part of the affected lot, you can contact (800)986-8850. Keep in mind that the liquid formulas have not been tainted and are not included in this voluntary recall.
As a Columbia personal injury lawyer, I’d like to remind you that children and infants are particularly vulnerable to health issues and have compromised immune systems. It’s not worth putting your child’s health at risk so we suggest that you stop using your Similac formula right away and contact the company for a full refund.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol is still searching for the driver responsible for the death of a moped rider late last night. According to this news report, the motorcycle accident happened just before midnight on Wednesday. A man driving a moped was stopped at the intersection of Highway 123 and 2nd Avenue, near Greenville. As he waited to make a left-hand turn, a car struck him from behind causing him to be ejected from the moped.
Tragically, the moped rider, a 41 year-old man from Greenville, was pronounced dead at the hospital due to blunt force trauma. The coroner ruled his death to be an accident, though the driver fled from the scene immediately. Detectives are searching for what they believe to be a light grey, medium sized car with damage to the front driver’s side corner. If you witnessed this accident or believe you might have any helpful information, you can contact the South Carolina Highway Patrol at (864)241-1000.
According to this report, the moped rider was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. As a personal injury lawyer in South Carolina, I can’t say whether the man would have survived the accident had he been wearing a helmet. However, your chances of survival always increase by wearing a helmet and taking all necessary safety precautions.
We are now right in the middle of National Child Passenger Safety Week and I came across this great article which has some tips about child car seats that aren’t normally included in other articles. It is highly recommended to read the car seat user manual thoroughly in order to see what is accepted or not, since every manufacturer has different directions. Do you know if the carrying handle is allowed to be kept up while the safety seat is secured in the car? With some models this is okay but with others the baby may hit the handle in a car accident or it may break into pieces.
That being said, not all models are allowed to touch the back of the seat in front of it, known as ‘bracing.’ For instance, Evenflo seats are not supposed to do those though it’s okay with other models. Regardless of the model, you must make sure that the harness straps are not twisted. A twist in the strap can make for a weak point and in the event of an accident, the force of the impact may not be distributed evenly which can cause injuries.
As a personal injury lawyer in South Carolina, I urge you to familiarize yourself with the tethers and anchors in your car. The tether on the top, back portion of the car seat should be used on all forward facing and even some rear-facing seats in order to minimize movement in an accident. In Canada, it’s actually illegal not to use this tether, according to this article. If your car doesn’t have a good anchor, you can have one put in at the dealership for a very minimal cost.
A new study set out to determine if teenage drivers realize just how dangerous it is to send text messages while driving. In reality, sending a text and taking your attention off the road impairs you just as much if not more as being drunk or on drugs. The study conducted by State Farm Insurance questioned 700 teenagers on their thoughts about distracted driving. While 55 percent believe that drinking and driving can result in a fatal car accident, only 36 believe that texting and driving can kill.
In general, teens think there is less of a chance of being in a car accident, either fatal or non-fatal, if they are texting as opposed to drinking and driving. According to a State Farm representative in this article, “We have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to helping teens understand that texting while driving can be every bit as dangerous as drinking and driving. It’s an awareness gap that must be addressed.”
In a report from the US Department of Transportation, it was found that of all the fatal crashes involving teenage drivers under 20 years-old, distracted driving was to blame. As a South Carolina personal injury lawyer, I truly believe that this is an epidemic that is only going to get worse in the near future unless something drastic is done. More and more states are getting on board with legislature that bans using hand held cell phones while driving, which is great but only the beginning.
