Were you injured in a North Myrtle Beach car accident caused by another driver’s negligence? You might be entitled to financial compensation to help you heal and move forward with your life. That sentence is the whole case in one line: someone else’s negligence, your injuries, and money that helps you heal instead of bills that bury you.
If you were injured in a crash caused by someone else’s negligence, you could seek full compensation for medical bills, future treatment and long-term care needs, lost wages, reduced earning capacity for the future, and non-economic damages, including physical pain and emotional trauma. The skilled North Myrtle Beach car accident lawyers at Jebaily Law Firm have more than 100 years of combined experience fighting for crash victims, and they have recovered millions of dollars for injured clients, paying for expensive medical treatment, time missed from work, and other accident-related losses.
Do You Even Need a Lawyer?
Many people wonder whether they should try to handle a car accident claim on their own. The insurance company may even encourage you to do so. In cases that only involve damage to a vehicle, you certainly can. A dented bumper is a paperwork problem. An injured body is not, and the line between those two cases is the line that decides whether you need help.
If you have been injured, you should trust your case with an experienced car accident lawyer. Insurance adjusters will do everything in their power to keep personal injury payouts as low as possible. A seasoned attorney will help you properly assess your case and determine what full compensation should be, taking into account both current and future anticipated losses, so you are not left with unexpected bills down the line. A North Myrtle Beach Car Accident Lawyer looks out for you, while an insurance adjuster looks out for the insurance company’s bottom line. That is not an insult. It is a job description.
Four Crashes That Fill the Dockets Here
Some of the most common types of car accidents that occur in Myrtle Beach start with head-on collisions, sometimes called front-end collisions, when two vehicles traveling in opposite directions collide. These collisions are extremely dangerous and often deadly, causing extreme physical trauma, including head and neck injuries, burns, scrapes, lacerations, and broken bones.
Then there are rear-end collisions, when one driver hits another from behind, often because the following driver failed to allow enough time to react, with driver distraction, intoxication, poor weather conditions, and speeding all increasing the risk, and whiplash among the serious injuries they cause.
Rollover incidents involve vehicles tipping over onto one side or rolling all the way over, and these types of accidents are extremely deadly. Rollover accidents make up just 2% of all accidents in the U.S., but they account for 35% of traffic-related fatalities, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Side-impact collisions complete the set: one vehicle hitting another from the side, where drivers and passengers can be crushed by the impact of the other car. Four crash types, four different ways a normal drive ends badly.
What Usually Causes These Wrecks
Drunk and drugged driving puts everyone in danger, because drugs and alcohol impair drivers’ ability to focus on their tasks and slow their reaction time, and driving under the influence is a crime with severe consequences. Distracted driving is the quieter twin: texting, talking on the phone, eating, drinking, or doing other actions that take a driver’s hands off the wheel, eyes off the road, or mind off the task of operating a vehicle. Both causes share one trait. The driver chose the distraction before the crash chose the victim.
Reckless driving and speeding put others in danger when drivers ignore local laws, fail to yield the right of way to other vehicles and pedestrians, or disregard speed limits in North Myrtle Beach. When a driver speeds, he or she has less time to react to traffic pace and obstacles. Inclement weather adds the last cause: bad weather conditions like rain and fog can lower visibility and make it more difficult for drivers to assess situations and react, and when drivers fail to account for inclement weather conditions, serious accidents can happen.
Three Years. That Is the Whole Clock.
In South Carolina, you have three years from the date of the injury to file a claim for compensation after a car crash. Working with a North Myrtle Beach Car Accident Lawyer early matters because it is important to begin the claims process as soon as possible so your attorney can preserve evidence and document your injuries from the start. Evidence does not wait for you to feel ready. It fades, gets repaired, or gets deleted while you recover.
If you wait too long and the statute of limitations runs out on your case, you will lose your right to pursue compensation. Three years sounds long. It is not, once treatment, bills, and recovery eat the first year. The table below puts the four crash types next to what they often cause, because the clock and the injuries are the two facts that decide every case.
Crash type | What it often causes |
Head-on collision | Head and neck injuries, burns, scrapes, lacerations, broken bones |
Rear-end collision | Whiplash and other serious injuries |
Rollover accident | Extremely deadly: 2% of crashes, 35% of traffic fatalities |
Side-impact collision | Drivers and passengers crushed by the impact |
The Injuries That Change a Life, Not Just a Week
Car accidents can result in life-altering injuries. They can disrupt victims’ ability to do their job, enjoy regular activities, and even engage in personal relationships. Some injuries cause permanent disfigurement. A North Myrtle Beach Car Accident Lawyer will tell you that the word life-altering is not dramatic language here. It is the medical reality of traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, paralysis, and amputations.
Even less severe injuries can still require costly medical care, surgeries, and extensive physical therapy. Broken and fractured bones, soft-tissue damage, whiplash, internal organ damage, burns, scrapes and lacerations, and post-traumatic stress disorder all sit on the same list, and every one of them costs money long after the crash scene is cleared. That is why a case counts future treatment and long-term care needs, not just the first hospital bill.
The Numbers Behind the Danger
A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ranks U.S. 17, which runs through Myrtle Beach, the most dangerous highway in South Carolina for summer travelers. Summer travelers means tourists, unfamiliar roads, and heavy traffic, and the Grand Strand gets all three at once. The road itself is part of the story, not just the drivers on it.
Horry County reported 72 fatal collisions and 78 fatalities in one recent year, as well as 170 serious injuries, and crashes with 216 people seriously injured, according to the Department of Public Safety. In one recent year, Horry County tied Charleston County for most traffic-related fatalities involving a drunk or impaired driver, with 25 fatalities. South Carolina reported 350 fatal crashes in one recent year, with 379 fatalities recorded, and according to CDC data, South Carolina’s crash-related death costs totaled a whopping $1.05 billion in one recent year. Those are not abstractions. They are the reason the firm exists.
Final Thoughts
Contact the North Myrtle Beach car accident law firm for a free case review. There is no charge to start work on your case. You only pay if money is secured for you. A North Myrtle Beach Car Accident Lawyer will also give you one warning that costs nothing and saves claims: when meeting with the other driver at the scene, keep your conversation short and civil, and never admit fault or apologize for the accident. Even a simple I’m sorry, no matter how well-meaning, can be used against you as an admission of fault.
South Carolina law requires motorists to carry liability and uninsured motorist coverage, so if you are hurt by an uninsured driver or in a hit-and-run accident, you can turn to your uninsured motorist coverage for help covering your expenses. Underinsured motorist coverage is optional, though South Carolina insurers must offer it, and it helps when an at-fault driver does not have sufficient coverage for your medical expenses and other losses.
