Author Archives: Jay Butchko
How Has the Pandemic Affected Traffic Accident Trends?
This spring, the streets were eerily quiet as large parts of the country were under stay-at-home orders. Some journalists even hypothesized that new habits that emerged in response to the pandemic might be the key to reducing carbon emissions. Less traffic means fewer traffic accidents, right? Not always. 2020 was the year in which… Read More »
Swansea Man Faces Felony Charges After Fatal DUI Crash
South Carolina has one of the highest rates of drunk driving in the United States. Only Montana and Wyoming have more DUI accidents per capita. Alcohol is a factor in almost a third of fatal car accidents in South Carolina, which is still alarming, even though the rate of traffic fatalities has decreased a… Read More »
Passenger Dies in Rear-End Collision in Gaston, Driver Charged With Hit and Run
After most car accidents, the first step is for the drivers to exchange insurance information; if anyone is injured, they then go immediately to the emergency room to be examined and treated. The bills you receive after an emergency room visit, including the unpleasant surprise that the doctor who treated you in the ER… Read More »
South Carolina Leads the Nation in Traffic Fatalities, Largely Because of Rural Crashes
Everything changed in 2020, including people’s driving behavior. At the beginning of the pandemic, many people took the attitude that, if they could just completely avoid leaving the house until they had decluttered every room, exhausted their considerable stash of bath tissue, and perfected their banana bread recipe, then everything would go back to… Read More »
Do Smoking Bans Cause an Increase in Drunk Driving?
South Carolina is one of the last remaining havens for smokers, of cigarettes, that is. More than two thirds of states have statewide bans on tobacco smoking in bars, restaurants, and other public places, but South Carolina does not. South Carolina’s Clean Air Act of 1990 prohibits smoking in restaurants except in designated smoking… Read More »
Beware of Dangerous Car Mods
Remember when the comedian Kevin Hart got injured in a car accident last fall, but then a passenger who was in the car announced plans to sue Hart? The reason for Hart’s possible liability in the accident was that his car did not conform to current safety standards. Hart had modified (or perhaps failed… Read More »
Greenville Man Faces Charges for DUI Vehicular Homicide and Hit and Run After Crashing into Pedestrians at Traffic Stop
The risk of getting hit by a drunk or drugged driver exists any time you get into a car, or indeed any time you set foot outside your house. South Carolina has an alarmingly high rate of car accidents involving driving under the influence, consistently ranking in the top ten, above much more populous… Read More »
Lidar Made Austin Russell a Billionaire, but Can It Prevent Car Accidents?
Perhaps you have heard the news that Austin Russell has just become a billionaire at age 25 after selling his laser technology startup. Russell has spent his whole life studying lasers; instead of attending high school or college, he went straight from middle school to graduate study of laser technology, and he has gotten… Read More »
Do Dram Shop Laws Apply When a Sober Driver Hits a Drunk Pedestrian?
South Carolina’s dram shop liability laws make it possible to sue an establishment that serves alcohol for damages when a person who drank alcohol at that establishment gets injured in an accident or causes an accident that injures someone else. For example, suppose that Alex gets drunk at Bill’s Bar and Grill and then… Read More »
South Carolina Man Undergoes Five Surgeries After Hit and Run Moped Accident
Opossums are gross. Cats give you the creeps, as you are a dog person. Deer are a nuisance in your yard and on the road. Despite your personal feelings about them, you would swerve or brake to avoid hitting any of these creatures if they crossed your path while you were driving, even if… Read More »