Author Archives: Jay Butchko
South Carolina’s Icy Nightmare
If your only knowledge of South Carolina came from recent news coverage, you would never guess that it was part of the Sun Belt, a place where retirees settle to escape the winter weather, where gators mosey across golf courses. This winter has shown just how snowy South Carolina can be. Even though South… Read More »
What Is Worse, Entrapment Or Ejection?
During morning rush hour, as South Carolina’s roads were still reeling from Winter Storm Fern, two cars collided on Highway 90 in Horry County, near Highway 22. Both drivers got trapped in their cars, and rescue crews had to use heavy cutting tools to open the vehicles and extract the drivers. Both of them… Read More »
Sledding Accidents
Sledding is an inherently joyful activity. It is what kids do on snow days instead of going to school, and it is what adults do on snow days instead of adulting. A joyful day of sledding turned tragic in Abbeville County after Winter Storm Fern dumped more snow on South Carolina than the Palmetto… Read More »
Four People Killed In Three Accidents During Holiday Weekend
Long weekends in the summer tend to be peak times for motor vehicle accidents. When people have more than two days between shifts at work, they are more likely to go on road trips, and when the weather is warm, people are keen on outdoor recreation. Likewise, Memorial Day weekend and the Fourth of… Read More »
The Dangers Of Icy Roads In South Carolina
By some definitions, South Carolina counts as part of the Sun Belt. When people choose South Carolina as a retirement destination or as the location of a winter beach vacation, destination wedding, or bachelorette party, the mild weather is usually one of the reasons. The American alligator, a subtropical species, has a robust population… Read More »
Golf Cart Plunges Into Canal
Golf cart accidents are common enough in sun-soaked, relaxing vacation destinations like South Carolina that you probably have a mental image of how they tend to go. Some teenagers, too young to buy alcohol or cigarettes or to get a driver’s license and therefore young enough to appreciate life’s simple thrills, pile into a… Read More »
Accidents On Driveways Can Be Deadly
Almost everyone has seen horrifying images on the news of the wreckage when vehicles collided at high speeds when a driver recklessly ran a red light at an intersection or drove the wrong way and crashed into oncoming traffic. Accidents that happen at slower speeds, in places where there is less traffic, can be… Read More »
Lane Change Accidents Are Not Always Minor
Changing lanes is a common cause of accidents for inexperienced drivers. It takes practice to get used to where your car’s blind spots are and to build the habit of looking in all your car’s mirrors before you change lanes. Speeding up before you change lanes is counterintuitive after you spent your previous driver’s… Read More »
Can You File A Product Liability Claim If You Get Injured By A Space Heater?
The winter cold in South Carolina only gets bad sometimes. Therefore, we tend to deal with freezing temperatures on a case-by-case basis. In some parts of the country, snow plows stand at attention all winter long, people move their summer clothes into the basement and hang their winter clothes in the closet after Halloween,… Read More »
Driver Who Caused Fatal Collision In 2020 Gets Prison Sentence
One of the principles of law in the United States is that no one should be unfairly punished; penalties should not be disproportionate to the crimes, such as the incident in the beginning of the novel Les Miserables, where a man in early 19th century France receives a years-long prison sentence for stealing a… Read More »