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 were still hospitalized by the time the WMBF news site published its report about the accident, and one of them was in critical condition. They both survived, though. Being trapped in a vehicle after a collision is a terrifying experience, but it is not the worst-case scenario. People who get entrapped in their cars after accidents have the same survival rate as those involved in similar accidents where first responders are able to get them out of the cars simply by opening the doors, unless the car catches on fire while people are trapped inside. The risk of death is greater for people who get ejected from their vehicles during an accident than for people who get trapped inside. If you got injured in an accident where first responders had to extract you from your car by cutting it open, contact a Columbia car accident lawyer.
There Is Equipment to Free You From Your Car, but Nothing Protects Your Body From Hitting the Road Better Than a Seatbelt
One of the biggest factors that determines whether you survive a car accident is whether you remain inside the vehicle after the accident. Of course, if you are not seriously injured, this means staying inside long enough to text your family and tell them that you were in an accident but you are not seriously injured and then get out of the car and walk to the other car to ask if anyone in that car is injured. What this means is that, simply by not being ejected from the car, you increase your chances of survival.
When a collision causes a person to be ejected from a car, it might mean being launched into the air from an open-topped vehicle, such as a convertible, a motorcycle, or the bed of a pickup truck, or it might mean crashing through a windshield or window, but in either case, the person’s body hits the road at high speed. You can prevent ejection from cars and the passenger cabs of trucks simply by wearing a seatbelt. Even if the car frame sustains such damage that rescue crews must extract you, at least the seatbelt and the airbags will have protected you from the worst-case scenario.
When insurance companies determine fault for an accident, deciding which parties bear which share of the responsibility, they consider whether the injured people were wearing seatbelts. If you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, it could reduce the amount of compensation you get in an insurance settlement or lawsuit.
Let Us Help You Today
The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you get justice after a car accident where someone got trapped inside the car. Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.
Source:
wmbfnews.com/2026/02/04/lanes-blocked-critical-injuries-reported-horry-county-crash-with-entrapment/
