Common Types of Car Accidents in South Carolina (2024)

When you are involved in a car accident, it can be difficult to know what to do afterward. Even minor accidents can be traumatic and result in expensive car repairs. More serious accidents can result in serious injuries, disabilities, or even death. If you or a loved one were involved in a car accident, it is essential that you find an experienced South Carolina car accident lawyer. A lawyer can review your accident and injuries and determine how to earn the compensation you deserve.

Each car accident is unique, but there are often common injuries and damages from specific types of accidents. It’s important to work with an attorney who has had experience representing individuals in similar accidents, as they will have a better understanding of the injuries you have, their potential long-term impact, and the compensation you are owed as a result. Different car crash types may require different methods of investigation to determine who was at fault.

Common Types of Car Accidents

Understanding the different types of car accidents can not only help you find the right attorney but also be more diligent and defensive while driving on the road. Common types of car accidents in South Carolina include:

• Rear-End Collisions: Rear-end collisions are one of the most common types of accidents between motor vehicles. These accidents can occur in many locations, including highways and interstates, intersections, bus stops, and during road construction. They frequently occur when there are speed changes or other changes on the road. Drivers may be distracted, impaired, fatigued, speeding, or may have merged without warning.Some believe that rear-end collisions have a clear at-fault party, but this is not always the case. These accidents can result in whiplash and other traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other neck or back damage. An experienced attorney is essential to determining the at-fault party.
• Head-On Collisions: Head-on collisions are most likely to result in fatalities or debilitating injuries. When motor vehicles hit each other head-on at fast speeds, the damages can be severe and deadly, and they can be even worse if one vehicle is a commercial truck. Head-on collisions can occur from swerving, falling asleep at the wheel, and drifting across lanes. This may be due to distracted driving, driving impaired, or driving fatigued.
• T-Bone Accidents: T-bone accidents usually occur at intersections. When both cars are moving slowly, these collisions may not be extremely serious. However, these crashes can be catastrophic and deadly if one or both cars are moving at high speeds. Smaller vehicles can be damaged significantly by commercial vehicles and trucks. These collisions may be caused when one vehicle fails to yield the right of way, ignores a stoplight or a stop sign, or performs other moving violations.
• Rollover Accidents: Rollover accidents are more likely to affect SUVs and vehicles with high centers of gravity. Commercial vehicles or trucks, which are loaded with significant cargo, may also roll over, especially if that cargo is overloaded or incorrectly loaded. Rollovers can also be caused by a sudden swerve or a mechanical failure and can result in many cars being involved in the crash.
• Sideswipe Accidents: These collisions frequently occur from swerving into parallel lanes of traffic, either by distracted drivers or by drivers who merge or change lanes without properly checking for other vehicles.
• Hit-and-Run Collisions: It is illegal to leave the scene of an accident that you have caused, but it happens frequently. Hit-and-run accidents may happen when there is only minor damage to a parked car, or they may occur on the road and leave the other party with significant injuries. After a hit-and-run accident, it can be difficult to know how to handle an insurance claim. An attorney can help you investigate the incident.

FAQs

Q: What Is the Most Common Category of Car Crashes?

A: According to the nonprofit National Safety Council (NSC), more than 70% of motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. in 2021, including fatal, injury, and property damage crashes, were crashes with another motor vehicle.

Of these crashes, 41.7% were rear-end accidents, making this the most common category of crashes between motor vehicles. When looking only at fatal accidents, 45.9% of these accidents were angle collisions, and 27.4% were head-on collisions. Injury crashes were also primarily caused by angle collisions.

Q: What Are the 3 Most Common Accidents?

A: The most common types of car accidents between two or more motor vehicles, according to the NSC form 2021 data, include:

1. Rear-end collisions, which were 41.7% of these crashes
2. Angle collisions, which made up 33% of all traffic collisions involving motor vehicles
3. Sideswipe and other two-vehicle collisions were 21.4% of collisions.

The final category was 3.9% for head-on collisions. Collisions not caused by other drivers were most frequently caused by fixed objects and other objects.

Q: Where Do Most Single-Vehicle Crashes Occur?

A: Single-vehicle crashes are more common in rural areas on low-traffic roads. According to the NSC, single-vehicle crashes with fixed objects and pedestrians created a disproportionately higher number of fatal crashes than other types of car accidents. According to the South Carolina Department of Safety 2020 report, most traffic collisions occurred on secondary routes, which also had the most fatal collisions.

Q: What Are the Compensation Laws for Car Accidents in South Carolina?

A: An at-fault driver is liable for all your damages in an accident. South Carolina is an at-fault state, so if another driver is at fault for the accident, you can file an insurance claim with their car insurance provider to obtain compensation for damaged property, injuries, and other losses. If your damages exceed the coverage, you could also file a car accident personal injury claim.

If you are 50% or less responsible for the accident, you can still recover some compensation for your injuries according to South Carolina’s modified comparative negligence rule.

Axelrod & Associates, P.A.: Your Car Accident Attorneys

At Axelrod & Associates, P.A., we’d like to help you navigate the insurance and legal systems after a car accident. Contact our team to see how we can help.