South Carolina Car Accident Injuries: Symptoms, Treatment, and Claims

Call 911 or seek emergency medical care when someone has severe or worsening symptoms after a collision.

Potential emergency warning signs include:

• Loss of consciousness
• A worsening headache
• Repeated vomiting
• Seizures
• Increasing confusion or unusual behavior
• Slurred speech
• Weakness or numbness in an arm or leg
• Difficulty walking or maintaining balance
• Severe neck or back pain
• Difficulty breathing
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• One pupil appearing larger than the other
• An inability to wake or remain awake

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies worsening headache, repeated vomiting, slurred speech, weakness, numbness, seizures, increasing confusion, and difficulty waking as possible danger signs following a traumatic brain injury. 

Spinal injuries can also cause weakness, numbness, difficulty walking, breathing problems, paralysis, and loss of bladder or bowel control.

Do not attempt to diagnose a serious injury based on information found online. A qualified healthcare provider should evaluate concerning symptoms.

The appropriate evaluation depends on the symptoms and suspected condition.

A medical provider may consider:

• How the collision happened
• When the symptoms began
• The location and severity of pain
• Prior injuries and medical history
• Range of motion
• Strength and sensation
• Balance and coordination
• Cognitive symptoms
• Whether symptoms travel into an arm or leg
• The effect on work and daily activities

Testing may include X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, or other procedures when medically appropriate. Not every injury appears on every type of test. A normal X-ray, for example, does not automatically rule out injuries involving muscles, ligaments, discs, nerves, or the brain.

Treatment depends on the diagnosis and the individual patient. It may involve medication, controlled activity, therapy, specialist care, injections, surgery, rehabilitation, or other measures selected by the treating provider.

Follow the instructions of your healthcare providers and discuss any problem that prevents you from following a treatment recommendation.

Many people have arthritis, disc degeneration, old sports injuries, prior surgeries, recurring headaches, or earlier neck and back problems before a car accident.

A pre-existing condition does not automatically prevent someone from pursuing compensation when a collision causes a new injury or worsens an existing condition. The dispute often centers on what changed because of the crash.

Relevant evidence may include:

• Medical records from before the collision
• Earlier diagnostic images
• The frequency of previous symptoms
• Treatment received before the accident
• Work or activity restrictions before the accident
• New symptoms reported afterward
• Additional treatment or medication
• New work limitations
• A provider’s opinion about causation or aggravation

Being honest about earlier conditions is important. An insurer may compare past records with post-accident records and argue that current symptoms existed before the wreck.

The article about pre-existing conditions and South Carolina car accident claims explains how before-and-after evidence may help establish an aggravation.

A journal can help document symptoms that may not be fully described during a brief medical appointment.

Record factual details such as:

• Where the pain is located
• How long it lasts
• Activities that make it worse
• Medication taken
• Medication side effects
• Hours of uninterrupted sleep
• Work missed
• Appointments attended
• Household tasks you could not complete
• Activities you had to cancel
• Help you needed from others

Include both difficult days and better days. Avoid dramatic or vague statements. Specific examples are usually more useful.

For example:

“I stopped preparing dinner after standing for 15 minutes because the pain began traveling down my right leg.”

That description communicates more information than simply writing that your back hurt.

Lack of Knowledge or Possession

The prosecution generally must prove more than proximity. In a shared vehicle, home, or room, the State may have difficulty proving that a particular person knew about the drugs and exercised control over them.

Susan looks for weaknesses in the alleged connection between the client and the evidence, including inconsistent statements, lack of identifying evidence, shared access, and alternative explanations.

Laboratory Testing, Weight, and Chain of Custody

A roadside field test is not the same as a complete laboratory analysis. The State’s evidence should be examined to determine:

• Whether the substance was scientifically tested
• Whether the test identified the substance alleged
• Whether the laboratory weight matches the charge
• Whether packaging was included in the reported weight
• Whether the evidence was properly collected, labeled, stored, and transferred
• Whether the chain of custody can be established
• Whether contamination, loss, or a handling error may have occurred

These issues can be especially important when the alleged weight changes the severity of the charge.

Confidential Informants and Controlled Buys

Some drug investigations rely on confidential informants who may be cooperating to obtain money, leniency, or favorable treatment in their own cases. Information supplied by an informant should not automatically be treated as reliable.
A defense investigation may consider:

• What benefit the informant expected to receive
• Whether the informant had provided reliable information before
• Whether officers independently confirmed the information
• Whether an alleged transaction was recorded
• Whether the people shown or heard can be identified
• Whether the recording is complete
• Whether money, drugs, or equipment were properly tracked
• Whether the informant is available for questioning at the appropriate stage of the case

Statements, Interrogations, and Miranda Issues

People sometimes make statements because they are frightened, confused, exhausted, under the influence, or trying to protect someone else. A statement is not necessarily the end of the case.

Susan may evaluate:

• Whether the client was in custody
• Whether questioning amounted to an interrogation
• Whether Miranda warnings were required and properly given
• Whether any waiver was knowing and voluntary
• Whether the client asked for an attorney
• Whether questioning continued after the client invoked a right
• Whether language barriers or the need for an interpreter affected the statement
• Whether the officer’s written version accurately reflects what was said
• Whether audio or video evidence supports or contradicts the report

A statement obtained in violation of constitutional protections may be challenged.

South Carolina Code Sections 15-3-530 and 15-3-535 generally provide a three-year limitations period for many personal-injury actions. Section 15-3-535 states that an action covered by the discovery rule generally must begin within three years after the person knew, or through reasonable diligence should have known, that a cause of action existed.

The general three-year period does not apply identically to every situation.

Different rules, notice requirements, or deadlines may arise when a claim involves:

• A state or local government entity
• A public employee
• A minor
• A wrongful-death claim
• An unidentified driver
• An uninsured or underinsured motorist claim
• A defendant who leaves the state
• Another special circumstance

Insurance-policy deadlines and evidence-preservation concerns may also require action well before the statute of limitations expires.

Do not assume that negotiations with an insurance company stop the legal deadline from running.

Learn more about how much time you have to file a claim after a car accident in SC.

An early offer may be appealing when medical bills are accumulating and the injury has caused missed work. Before signing a release, however, consider whether you understand:

• The diagnosis
• The expected recovery
• The possibility of future treatment
• Unpaid medical balances
• Health-insurance reimbursement claims
• Lost income
• Work restrictions
• Available insurance coverage
• The full effect of the injury on daily life

A settlement release generally ends the injury claim. The injured person normally cannot return for additional compensation simply because symptoms became worse or more treatment was needed after the release was signed.

A car accident injury can create questions about medical treatment, unpaid bills, insurance coverage, lost income, fault, and the long-term effect on your life.

The attorneys featured by InjuredInSC serve injured people in the Lowcountry, Midlands, Upstate, and coastal areas of South Carolina.

A consultation can help you understand:

• Which insurance policies may apply
• What evidence should be preserved
• How South Carolina’s fault rules may affect the claim
• Which losses may be recoverable
• Whether any special deadlines apply
• What steps may be appropriate based on the circumstances

Speak with a South Carolina personal injury lawyer to discuss the collision and your available options. There is no charge to speak with an attorney about your case.