Beach Umbrella Accidents
What is the most dangerous thing you will encounter during a trip to the beach in South Carolina? Alligators are ubiquitous in the rivers and lakes of South Carolina, so you are likely to see them lounging on the riverbanks and even walking across golf courses, but you will not find them in the Atlantic Ocean; the water is too salty for them. Likewise, swimming in freshwater in the summer carries a risk of exposure to the Naegleria fowleri amoeba which, if it enters the nose, can cause a rare but almost always fatal form of encephalitis, but the salinity of the ocean makes it impossible for N. fowleri to survive anywhere you would be swimming during a visit to Myrtle Beach. The most dangerous things on Myrtle Beach are the implements wielded by humans. There have been news reports of vehicles hitting beachgoers as they sunbathed. You would expect beach umbrellas to be harmless, but even those have caused serious injuries. The companies that rent beach umbrellas to customers are legally responsible for injuries caused by the umbrellas. If you have been injured in an accident involving a rented beach umbrella, contact a Columbia premises liability lawyer.
Airborne Beach Umbrellas Can Spell Disaster for Guests
The umbrellas that you can rent on the beaches of South Carolina are heavy enough to provide plenty of shade, but a strong wind can send them airborne. People who have been injured by flying umbrellas allege that East Coast Umbrella, which supplies most of the umbrellas that customers can rent at public beaches in South Carolina, do not have sufficient weights at the bottom to keep them from flying away in a stiff wind.
Earlier this year, Rhonda Williams filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for injuries she suffered when she got hit by a flying umbrella while walking on John’s Beach in South Carolina. Williams lives in Indiana, but she filed the lawsuit in South Carolina, since South Carolina courts have jurisdiction in lawsuits arising from accidents that happen here. She named East Coast Umbrella, the umbrella manufacturer, as a defendant, as well as John’s Beach, which rented out the umbrella that struck Williams.
Williams is not the only person harmed by a flying umbrella on a South Carolina beach recently. In 2022, Tammy Perreault died after being struck by an airborne umbrella in Garden City. Like Williams, she was walking on the beach when the umbrella struck her. Perreault’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, and it settled without going to trial.
Premises liability laws apply to these lawsuits because customers paid to rent the umbrellas. Recreational land use statutes do not apply even though the injured people did not have to pay admission to walk on the beach.
Let Us Help You Today
The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you get adequate compensation after a beach umbrella accident. Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.
Sources:
wbtw.com/news/grand-strand/myrtle-beach/indiana-woman-sues-myrtle-beach-company-over-injuries-from-wayward-umbrella/
wpde.com/news/local/tammy-perreault-wrongful-death-lawsuit-fatal-umbrella-incident-impaled-beach-services-garden-city-beach-horry-county-august-10-202-motion-to-seal-documents-south-carolina-july-25-2023
