South Carolina Child Injury Lawyer Blog

Last weekend a serious auto accident involving a single vehicle killed a 16-year-old Charleston boy. The boy was a junior at Charleston's First Baptist School, located in historic downtown Charleston. The boy was travelling along Riverland Drive on James Island when the wreck occurred. Authorities say the young man's black 2000 Mercedes Benz overturned near George Griffth Boulevard around 7:30 p.m. last Sunday evening.

Charleston County Coroner said the high schooler died from severe injuries sustained from the accident around 11:30 p.m. that same night. Authorities also noted that the young man was not wearing his seat belt at the time of accident.

These types of incidents are extremely tragic, it is an unfortunate when a young person loses their life in a seemilngly preventable circumstance. Furthermore, the frequency at which fatal car accidents happen among teens is the most frightening aspect for many families, friends, and communities of teen drivers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for more than a third of the deaths in the age group. This next fact from the CDCP is almost unbelieveable, in 2009 eight teens ages 16-19 died every day from injuries sustained in car crashes. However, proper driver training and safe driving practices can help prevent fatal teen car accidents.

Continue reading " Teen Driver Dies After Single-Car Crash on James Island " »

As a sour economy causes a loss of jobs across South Carolina, the increase in joblessness causes a spike a child abuse. South Carolina child injury lawyers were immediately struck by this disturbing parallel reported by the Greenville News that cited a Boston University study.

In the study researchers examined 18 years of data and found that as the unemployment rate raises 1 percent, child mistreatment reports increase by at least .5 percent per 1,000 children. The data analyzed was collected from child mistreatment reports from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System along with data from the Current Population Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on a statewide basis from 1990 to 2008, according to the study's abstract.

Over the last fiscal year, South Carolina's Department of Social Services investigated 19,000 cases of child abuse and neglect, an increase in close to 7 percent from the previous year. The number of proven cases of abuse in South Carolina rose 3 percent to nearly 7,000 cases.

Continue reading " South Carolina Child Abuse and Joblessness Have Direct Relationship " »

South Carolina personal injury lawyers at Howell and Christmas, LLC are experienced in cases dealing with dog bites and attacks, so this Darlington County incident bears extreme relevance to the firm. Just before the new year a seven-year-old was playing tag when he fell near a tree, while on the ground the dog attacked the boy causing injuries to his right cheek and left arm. According to the Darlington County Sheriff's Department the attack occurred in an area between the young boy's and the dog owner's home.

The owner of the dog was raking leaves when the attack occurred. The one-year-old pit bull named Keller was unchained at the time. Opposite the Sheriff's Department report, the owner insists the incident happened in his yard, also that Keller is not a vicious animal and was only protecting the property. Keller's owner explained that he is regretful the attack occurred, but also admitted that this is not the first case of the pit bull attacking a child, a similar incident took place a year earlier.

Continue reading " Darlington County Pit Bull Under Quarantine After Attacking Child " »