What to Do After a Car Accident in South Carolina

Yes, in a crash that damages only vehicles, the law expects you to clear the road when you safely can. Section 56-5-1220(B) covers a drivable car that blocks traffic after that kind of crash. Its driver should make every reasonable effort to get it out of the travel lanes. The statute adds that moving a car does not, by itself, make that driver liable or at fault. Picture two cars touching bumpers in evening traffic on Dorchester Road near Old Trolley Road. The SCDPS Fact Book shows officers recorded 53 collisions at that intersection in 2024. Pulling both cars onto the shoulder there follows the statute, and the move alone does not put either driver at fault.

The rule reverses in a serious crash. Section 56-5-1210(B) keeps every vehicle in place after a wreck involving great bodily injury or a death. Only the investigating officer can authorize moving it. Great bodily injury, in the statute's terms, means an injury carrying a substantial risk of death. It also reaches serious, permanent disfigurement and a lasting loss or impairment of how a body part or organ works. Leaving the cars in place gives the officer a chance to document where each one came to rest.

Section 56-5-1260 tells the driver to use the quickest means available, spoken or written. A crash inside a town or city goes to that municipality's police department. Beyond municipal limits, the call goes to the county's sheriff or whichever Highway Patrol office is nearest.

Summerville's town limits reach into three counties, Dorchester, Berkeley and Charleston. A Summerville mailing address does not settle the county either. SCDOT's interchange diagram, for one, places I-26 Exit 199 at North Main Street in Berkeley County. When an injured driver is physically unable to report, Section 56-5-1280 puts that job on a passenger who is able.

Two forms carry their own 15-day deadlines, and they start from different days. After an investigated crash, the officer gives every driver or owner a form for verifying liability insurance. In Highway Patrol materials, it goes by FR-10. Its 15-day return period, set by Section 56-9-350, starts on the date the officer handed the form over. If no officer investigated a qualifying crash, SCDMV Form FR-309 goes to SCDMV no later than 15 days after the crash itself. Missing either filing is prima facie evidence, meaning proof that stands unless someone rebuts it, that the vehicle was uninsured.

South Carolina uses a fault-based system. Section 38-77-144 says the state's auto insurance laws do not require personal injury protection, or PIP, and it describes PIP as a kind of no-fault coverage. Without it, early bills often land on your health insurance. Medical payments coverage may help too, if you bought that optional add-on. Your declarations page lists each coverage and limit in your policy. Frost Law Group can go over it with you to see what applies.

The first chart is often the earliest document that puts a date on the injury. Say at check-in that a car crash brought you there, and give the day and the hour. A chart that reads "rear-end crash on Bacons Bridge Road this afternoon" ties the visit to the wreck in plain words. That date can later line up with the collision report and with the FR-10 or FR-309. How much weight any single record carries depends on the whole medical file, which a lawyer reviews with you.

Your own policy may pay part of the loss even when the other driver caused the crash. Under Section 38-77-150, uninsured motorist coverage is a required part of every auto policy. Its bodily injury minimums are $25,000 for a single injured person and $50,000 for a crash that injures two or more people. That coverage matters if the other driver turns out to have no insurance. When you report, give the date, the place, the other driver's details and any report number, then write down the claim number your insurer assigns.

The other driver's adjuster may call the morning after the crash and ask to tape your account, calling it a routine step. You can decline, offer to answer in writing, or let a lawyer respond. Saying no politely keeps an early guess about your injuries off tape. Once Frost Law Group represents you, its attorneys can field those calls. Your account then reaches the insurer after you have seen a provider and read your policy.