What to do if Someone Hits Your Boat While You’re on the Water

A boating accident can be a traumatic and dangerous event with severe consequences. In 2020, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) reported 153 boating accidents in South Carolina, of which 21 were fatal.

Serious accidents often have long-term repercussions, including physical injuries and emotional distress. Your boat is also likely to sustain damage after a collision, costing you thousands in repairs or replacement.

If you enjoy recreational boating in South Carolina, you should know what steps to take in case of a boating collision. These actions include obtaining medical attention and contacting a team of skilled South Carolina boating accident lawyers to explore your legal options.

What to do after an incident

Boating accident safety procedures begin long before a collision occurs. Anyone who intends to take a boat trip in South Carolina should familiarize themselves with accident protocols. If another vessel hits your boat, take the following actions to ensure you obtain necessary medical attention and protect your rights to compensation.

Stop the boat

If you’re operating the boat when an accident occurs, immediately bring it to a stop. Stopping your vessel makes it easier to control, reducing the risk of injuring an overboard passenger or colliding with a nearby vessel.

Check on the safety of all passengers

The next step is to check on passengers’ well-being. Take a headcount, determine whether anyone has fallen overboard, and assess injuries that require emergency treatment.

If anyone falls into the water, avoid jumping in to help unless their life is in danger. Use rope, a buoy, or flotation equipment to help them return to safety instead. If you must enter the water, wear a life jacket.

Once you account for all passengers, consider dropping anchor to stabilize the boat. Dropping your anchor helps keep the boat from shifting, allowing you to focus on tending to the needs of injured passengers.

Contact emergency services

Call 911 to report the accident and request assistance as soon as possible. If your cell phone becomes inaccessible, use your very high frequency (VHF) radio to notify the nearest emergency service of your situation. Use your VHF to contact the coast guard, marine police, or fire department to obtain emergency aid for yourself or your passengers.

Record details about the boating accident

Although it may be difficult, given the stressful circumstances, it’s critical to collect as much information as possible following an accident. This information is necessary to build your case against the party responsible for the incident. Record the following details:

• Name and address of any other boat operators involved in the collision
• Make and model of any other boats involved
• Registration number of any other boats involved
• Photos and videos of all vessels involved
• Photos and videos of boat damage
• Eyewitness contact information

Report the accident

Reporting an accident is essential to ensure the safety of those involved in an accident. In addition, federal law requires you to report boating accidents if they result in:

• A death
• Someone is injured and needs medical assistance beyond first aid care
• A passenger disappears
• Boat and property damage reaches or exceeds $2,000
• A vessel is totaled

In South Carolina, you must report boating accidents to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). For all boating collisions that result in death, serious injury, or disappearance, you must report the incident within 48 hours. You must report the accident within 10 days for all other required reporting circumstances.

Visit a doctor

Schedule a doctor’s appointment to diagnose potential injuries. Some injuries may not be noticeable immediately but could cause a long-term disability. For example, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) may take days or weeks to show symptoms, so receiving immediate care can reduce an injury’s impact on your life.

Your legal team can use your medical records and recommended treatment plans as evidence in a personal injury case. These documents can prove the extent of your injuries and help you pursue maximum compensation for your medical expenses.

Filing for Compensation

All boaters are responsible for the safe operation of their vessel. If you’re injured due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. If you sustained injuries in any of the following circumstances, schedule a free consultation with Joye Law Firm today:

• Another boat operator was piloting while intoxicated
• A negligent boat operator caused the accident
• Your boating accident was a result of defective parts
• Faulty maintenance played a role in your boating collision
• Negligent boat operations resulted in the death of a loved one

Proving negligence can be challenging, particularly if you are still recovering from the accident. Hiring the services of a professional accident lawyer can help you build a strong case and maximize the compensation you receive for your injuries. The attorneys at Joye Law Firm have nearly 250 years of combined experience representing personal injury clients across South Carolina.

Schedule a Free Consultation Today

Our no-hassle, no-obligation consultation policy ensures that you can meet with a qualified lawyer about your case without worrying about upfront fees. Let us put our legal experience to work for you; contact Joye Law Firm today for your free initial case evaluation.

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Who Is Liable for a Semi-Truck Crash?

When a commercial semi-truck crash occurs, many parties might be at fault. However, this can also make it challenging to determine who is liable for damages in a semi-truck crash.

In the event of a truck crash in South Carolina, an experienced personal injury lawyer from Joye Law Firm can determine liability. A lawyer can ensure you receive adequate compensation to pay for injuries, property damages, and other losses.

Who Are the Liable Parties in a Semi-Truck Crash?

There may be multiple parties to blame for an accident involving a truck. These parties include, but are not limited to:

Truck driver

All commercial truck drivers must follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) federal trucking regulations. These regulations govern truck drivers’ safety on interstate highways and roadways.

They include the number of service hours they should work and a ban on drinking alcohol four hours before they begin work. An at-fault truck driver is liable if their negligence, such as fatigued driving or alcohol intoxication, led to a collision.

Truck employer

Truck companies handle training their drivers, conducting background checks on their drivers, and screening them for drugs and alcohol. If the truck driver is an employee of a trucking company, the company is liable because the driver acted as their representative on the road.

If they don’t have driver safety, training, and truck maintenance policies, the company can also be liable. A trucking company may be held directly liable for damages if it hires, retains, or supervises a negligent driver.

Truck owner

A trucking company may lease the trucks from another company rather than own them. If a leasing company fails to inspect, repair, or maintain the truck and the failure leads to an accident, the leasing company may be held liable.

Cargo shipper

Besides the truck driver, the cargo shipper may be the party responsible for loading cargo into the truck and must ensure all cargo is in place. These regulations are important, especially for securing hazardous materials in the truck.

A truck loaded with goods might become uncontrollable and roll because of its unbalanced weight. The shippers or owners of hazardous goods may be held liable for injuries caused by the shipment.

Truck manufacturer

Like all manufacturers, truck manufacturers must ensure their products are safe. Their failure to do so could result in serious crashes. For instance, a faulty steering mechanism can cause the driver to lose control and cause an accident. The manufacturer of a defective steering wheel may be held responsible for damages if the steering wheel fails because of the defect.

Drivers on the road

It is possible that other drivers on the road contributed to the truck collision. Drowsy driving, distracted driving, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or speeding are all potential risks that can cause truck accidents. One of our experienced South Carolina truck crash lawyers can analyze the facts of the case to determine if the driver caused the collision due to negligence.

How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Determine Liability in a Semi-Truck Accident?

Your attorney can determine the number of multiple parties in a truck crash in a few ways:

Ask witnesses for their testimonies

A lawyer may strengthen your case with testimonies from onlookers who witnessed the semi-truck crash. Their testimonies can significantly affect your case by having your attorney ask them for details about the accident.

Review photos and videos from the accident scene

The crash may have been captured on traffic cameras, dash cams, or private surveillance cameras. You can have your lawyer obtain the footage so that they can review it and decide on the liable parties.

The lawyer may also use photos of the accident scene to determine liability by observing the extent of any injuries, skid marks, and the point of impact on the vehicles in the accident.

If it is clear who is at fault in a semi-truck crash, your lawyer can help you pursue a claim against one or more insurance companies to recover the costs of medical care and vehicle replacement or repair.

Contact a South Carolina Truck Lawyer for Legal Help

It is difficult to determine all of the liability parties in a semi-truck accident without the help of a lawyer. Joye Law Firm’s experienced truck accident lawyers are ready to work with you and represent you in court, if necessary. Call us today for a free consultation with a member of our team.

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Does Motorcycle Gear Really Help in a Crash?

As a motorcyclist, you have a higher risk of injury or death if you’re in an accident. There are about 58 motorcycle fatalities annually in the United States for every 100,000 registered motorcycles. This is over four times higher than the 12.4 death per 100,000 for car drivers.

Despite most motorcyclists being careful riders, your safety often depends on others’ behavior. This includes car drivers, pedestrians, other motorcycle riders, and even road maintenance (or lack thereof). Many states have mandatory helmet laws for motorcycle riders to prevent injury. But some riders may wonder if wearing protective gear is actually helpful in a crash?

Essential Protective Gear for Motorcyclists

There are several items of protective gear that have been proven effective at reducing the severity of injuries due to motorcycle accidents, including:

Helmets

The most essential piece of protective gear you can wear while riding your motorcycle is a helmet. If you’re ejected from your motorcycle during a crash, injuring your head has the potential to cause the most severe injuries and death. With head injuries being the leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes, wearing a helmet reduces your risk of head injury by 69%, while your risk of death goes down by 42%.

South Carolina does not have universal helmet laws. Only riders 20 years old and younger are required by law to wear a helmet.

Gloves

Even minor motorcycle accidents can cause painful injuries. Riders who fall off their motorcycles can land on their hands or use them to break the fall. This can cause road rash as well as broken fingers and knuckles. Some armored riding gloves even come with wrist armor that can save you from a break.

With broken wrists taking up to eight weeks or more to heal, investing in a pair of high-quality armored riding gloves can prevent a debilitating injury that could result in significant financial losses due to medical costs and loss of income.

Boots

Riding boots play a similar protective role as gloves, protecting your ankles and feet from breaks and scrapes. Steel-toed riding boots can help you avoid broken toes, and their reinforced structure can prevent cuts and painful twists.

Jacket and pants

Opting to wear a jacket and pants specially made for motorcyclists can save you some serious pain and anguish from road rash and lacerations. Jackets with armor plating and leather pants will keep you from sustaining injuries to your skin and bones. Research supports that riders wearing protective clothing have shorter hospital stays, and their overall recovery is shorter.

Common Injuries

Injuries from a motorcycle accident can range from a minor sprain or bruised limb to broken bones and traumatic brain injury. Other common motorcycle accident injuries include:

Road rash

Road rash is an abrasion caused by friction between your skin and the road. In some cases, road rash can cause an infection that requires immediate medical attention by a doctor. Signs that the abrasion is infected include swelling, increased pain, pus, warmth, foul-smelling drainage, and flu-like symptoms.

Broken bones

Statistics show that over a third of all fractures in motorcycle accidents are to the tibia or fibula, two major bones in the leg. With a broken leg taking anywhere from six weeks to several months to completely heal, taking all necessary precautions should be a priority for all motorcyclists.

Head injuries

With 21% of unhelmeted riders suffering a traumatic brain injury from their accidents, being proactive about head safety will help you safeguard your brain. Concussions are also a concern in motorcycle accidents as the brain can swell, causing anything from slurred speech to blurred vision and memory loss.

You Deserve Compensation

Ensuring your well-being when riding a motorcycle starts with taking all the necessary precautions and careful, defensive driving. If you’re proactive about safety and still get into an accident, it’s likely that another party was careless or broke the law.

If you find yourself with a damaged motorcycle and serious injuries, the person at fault should be held accountable for any expenses you incur and for the pain you suffer from the event.

Contact our law firm for a complimentary consultation if you’re looking for a South Carolina motorcycle accident lawyer due to sustaining injuries and property damage from someone else’s reckless behavior.

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Can Passengers of Drunk Drivers Get Compensation in Crashes?

Sustaining injuries in a car accident is a frightening experience regardless of whether you are the driver or the passenger. According to the CDC, someone dies in a drunk driving accident every 50 minutes in the U.S. Impaired driving accounts for 33% of all fatal crashes and leaves thousands of people injured and disabled per year.

If you suffer injuries in a drunk driving accident as a passenger, you have a right to seek compensation from the driver. Explore your options as an injured passenger in an impaired driving accident by contacting the experienced South Carolina car crash lawyers at Joye Law Firm.

Your Rights to Compensation as an Injured Passenger

As a passenger in a car crash, you have a right to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, physical pain, and mental and emotional distress caused by the negligent actions of a drunk driver. You may be able to file a claim with the insurance company of the driver of the vehicle you were in or the driver of the other vehicle’s insurance company, depending on who was at fault.

However, the insurance companies for each driver involved in a collision may argue that the other driver was completely, or at least partially, at fault. Therefore, each insurance company will claim that it is the other driver’s responsibility to compensate you.

Even if the driver of the car you were riding in was intoxicated, this may not mean they are completely at fault for causing the accident. Your claim will not be settled until the insurance companies involved agree on who is liable, and each driver’s percentage of fault.

To negotiate claims with multiple insurance companies, you need a qualified and knowledgeable attorney.

Factors that May Affect Your Compensation

Every drunk driving accident is different. Several factors affect your compensation, such as the details leading up to the collision and each person’s role.

South Carolina is a tort state, which means it uses a fault-based system for determining- liability in car accidents. Under a fault-based system, drunk drivers can be held liable for the costs others incur from crashes the drunk driver causes.

However, the circumstances of the accident are important in determining the comparative fault of each party. Comparative fault is the percentage of negligence or fault of each person involved in the collision.

Modified comparative fault states that you must not be more than 50% at fault for your injuries to receive compensation. If anything about your behavior contributed to the accident, your compensation is reduced by the percentage you were at fault.

While passengers are usually not at fault for a crash, the other side may argue that you might be partially responsible for your own injuries, because you got in a car with someone you knew was drunk, and thus who was more likely to get into a wreck. They may examine your ability to have taken different transportation. Furthermore, if you were not wearing a seatbelt or were behaving in a way that distracted the driver to the point that it may have contributed to them losing control of the vehicle, the other side will try to emphasize your contributions to the crash.

Carefully considering all aspects of the accident with an experienced lawyer can help you avoid pitfalls.

Importance of Obtaining Legal Counsel

A drunk driving accident can be complicated, and your right to be fully compensated can get lost in the process. If multiple parties are making claims, things can get even more complex.

Additionally, the three-year statute of limitations that applies in most cases means you will have to act promptly. The sooner you get legal counsel, the better you will be able to gather evidence and witness accounts.  

Hire an Attorney Who Really Knows Drunk Driving Cases

There are many variables in an accident where the driver is drunk. If you are a passenger and sustain injuries, you deserve compensation from the driver’s insurance. Passengers are rarely at fault for a crash, but the other side can build an argument to support otherwise if you don’t have an equally savvy lawyer defending you.

Navigating a complicated case where multiple vehicles and multiple passengers are involved requires a highly qualified attorney that can reduce or eliminate your percentage of fault, and identify who is liable for your injuries and how much you’re owed. If you are looking for the best South Carolina drunk driving crash lawyers, contact Joye Law Firm today to receive a free consultation.

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What is “Dooring” When Talking About Bicycle Crashes?

Bicyclists face potentially dangerous situations when sharing the road with motor vehicles. One of these situations is dooring, where a driver or passenger opens a car door into the path of another road user, such as a bicyclist, without checking to make sure the way is clear.

If you were hit by an open car door while riding your bicycle, ‌seek immediate medical care for your injuries. After that, contact a South Carolina bike injury attorney who can help you protect your rights and recover your damages.

How Common Are Dooring Accidents?

In many major cities throughout the country, dooring accidents have become commonplace over the past decade.

• According to Boston’s 2013 Cyclist Safety Report, dooring accidents make up 11% of bicycle accidents.
• Chicago reported 300 incidents of dooring in 2015, an increase of 50% over the previous year.
• In San Francisco, dooring accidents accounted for 16% of all bicycle crashes resulting in injuries in 2015.

Although South Carolina does not track dooring incidents, there were 4,570 recorded bicycle crashes on state roads, an average of 508 a year, from 2009 to 2017. During this time, 90.7% of all bike crashes resulted in injuries, 6.1% caused property damage, and 3.2% of the crashes were fatal.

Common Injuries from Dooring Accidents

If a bicyclist is struck by a door or swerves to avoid a door and crashes, it can cause serious injury. Common injuries from dooring include:

• Traumatic brain injuries: People who ride bikes frequently wear helmets for extra protection, but ‌head injuries such as traumatic brain injuries can occur in dooring accidents. These injuries can have lifelong consequences and sometimes result in the victim’s death.
• Neck injuries: Bicyclists may be thrown from their bikes when hit by a car door. The sudden impact can cause severe damage to their necks and spinal cords.
• Broken bones: A vehicle door can hit a bicyclist hard enough to cause broken bones, particularly in the arm or hand, if they fall off their bike.
• Emotional distress: Bicycle accidents can be distressing experiences that cause victims to have anxiety, depression, and insomnia. If you suffered emotional distress as a result of the accident, you may be able to obtain compensation.

Why is Opening a Car Door Without Looking Considered Negligence in South Carolina?

Drivers in South Carolina owe a duty of care to avoid colliding with anyone using a human-powered vehicle, like a bicycle or scooter. If a driver fails to meet their legal duty of care by not looking out for other road users and injures you, you may have a claim for damages.

In South Carolina, vehicle occupants must wait to open a car door unless it is reasonably safe to do so. They also shouldn’t leave a door facing moving traffic open for longer than necessary for loading or unloading people.

As a result, the driver or passenger of the car who opens the door without checking whether anyone is approaching may be held financially liable for the bicyclist’s injuries and expenses, such as medical bills. Our South Carolina bike injury lawyers can help you with your claim against the driver and passenger.

You must prove the driver violated the duty of care and that breach of duty resulted in your injuries and damages, which can include your medical bills, the cost to repair or replace your bike, and even lost wages if you were severely injured and needed time off work to recover.

Damages for Dooring Accidents

Many injuries from dooring accidents require medical treatment and time off work for recovery. That means bills are piling up, but no paychecks are coming in. You may also have long-term pain and emotional distress from your injuries and the accident.

If you were hurt in a dooring bicycle accident in South Carolina, you may be entitled to compensation. Compensation often includes the following:

• Medical expenses
• Property damage
• Lost wages and earning capacity
• Pain and suffering

Your attorney can review your claim and advise you on how to recover the compensation you need to cover your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other expenses.

Reach out to Joye Law Firm After a Dooring Accident

The South Carolina bike injury attorneys at Joye Law Firm can help you or a family member who has been injured due to someone opening a door into the path of their bicycle. We’ve been guiding clients through difficult times since 1968. Contact us today for a free consultation and get started on your claim.

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