When an auto accident happens unexpectedly, anyone can become a victim. One moment you're commuting back home after a long day at the office. The next, your car is totaled, and you're injured in the hospital due to another person's negligence. It's not fair, but it happens every day. Unlike the irresponsible party who caused the accident, personal injury victims often suffer the most in auto accidents. They have to worry about lost days at work, the long road to recovery, and the inability to provide for their family. Sadly, many people injured in car accidents don't have the luxury of worrying about bills because they're fighting for life in the emergency room.
And while modern cars come equipped with safety features like blind spot monitoring and cross-traffic alerts, motor vehicle accidents are still a huge problem in South Carolina. According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, in 2020, one person was injured every 11 minutes in a car collision. Even worse, one fatal collision was recorded every 9.1 hours.
Unfortunately, victims of auto accident negligence often don't know what to do when another driver hits them. They have questions like:
These same innocent people provide official statements to insurance agencies without knowing the consequences.
However, if you or your loved ones are victims in a car crash, there's good news. Laws in South Carolina mandate that guilty parties must compensate for pain and suffering. But in order to get the compensation you deserve, it's crucial to work with a personal injury attorney in Seabrook Island, SC. Experienced personal injury lawyers know how to bolster your case by securing witnesses for questioning, obtaining accident scene information, and documenting vehicle damage. If these tasks aren't completed quickly, you are far less likely to receive the compensation you and your family deserve.
Theos Law Firm exists to fight for your rights and to ensure negligent drivers are held responsible for the damage they do to your family. It's really that simple. We aren't afraid to trade blows with selfish insurance agencies. Because, unlike Theos Law Firm, they couldn't care less about your best interests.
Here are just a few reasons why so many hardworking people choose Theos Law Firm:
When you're involved in a car or truck accident, it can be a life-changing event. Having represented hundreds of personal injury victims, we understand that you may be confused and frightened. You know you need to speak with a lawyer, but you need a calm, cool presence to ease your anxiety. You need someone who understands what you're enduring, and we know how you feel. Unlike other auto accident attorneys, we believe that personal injury claims are more about the people involved and less about money and settlements. When you reach out to Theos Law Firm, you can rest easy knowing our team will treat you with dignity, compassion, and empathy.
With many years of combined personal injury experience, there's nothing that our team hasn't seen in terms of auto accidents. With that said, we understand that there is no "common" type of accident or scenario - no two accidents are the same. We have represented clients involved in DUI accidents, truck rollovers, reckless drivers, interstate pileups, rear-end collisions, and even Uber driver crashes. With such extensive experience, our team has the tools and talent to take care of you, regardless of how complicated your case might be.
The recovery process involved with automobile accidents changes with every person we represent. There are dozens of details to account for, from car repairs to insurance questions and everything in between. These small but necessary details aren't easy to accomplish for injured parties. That's why our team goes the extra mile to help cut through the red tape to ensure your medical bills are paid, and your car gets fixed. The less weight you have on your shoulders to worry about, the faster you can focus on recovering.
Unlike other personal injury law firms, our team is 100% committed to protecting your rights, and we're uniquely positioned to do so with decades of combined experience. We offer robust representation for many types of auto accidents, including:
If you have been the victim of an accident listed above, please understand that time is of the essence. There is limited time to seek compensation for your injuries, hospital bills, lost wages, and more. As such, there is only a short time to obtain experienced representation for your personal injury case.
Our team knows that finding the right attorney to represent you is an important choice. Therefore, we believe that an initial consultation is imperative to understand your needs and identify your goals fully. When we sit down with you to learn the nuances of your accident, we'll cover all aspects of South Carolina law pertaining to your case. That way, you're armed with information and have an idea of the next steps our firm will take to represent you.
Remember - the sooner we can dig into the details of your case, the sooner we can pursue your rightful compensation. As seasoned personal injury attorneys, our team specializes in several types of automobile accidents:
Car accidents are a serious problem in South Carolina. If you're an adult, you probably know someone involved in a bad car crash in our state. When you look at the stats, it seems like car accidents are always on the rise. One person was killed every 8.2 hours in a car collision. Even more sobering is that one teen driver is involved in a fatal or injury-causing collision every 1.6 hours. The unfortunate truth is that many people involved in car crashes were hurt due to the other driver's negligence.
Common car crash injuries in South Carolina include:
Car accident victims in South Carolina are often left to pay their medical bills but can't do so because they're too hurt to go to work or take their car in for repair. These life-changing scenarios can snowball into a series of scary events, leaving victims hopeless and unsure where to turn.
Fortunately, a car accident attorney in Seabrook Island, SC can help you avoid these pitfalls and obtain the money you need to survive. At Theos Law Firm, our team has a deep understanding of the rules that dictate fault in South Carolina. We know that thorough representation is needed to receive maximum compensation, and we're well-prepared to achieve that goal for you.
Our car accident lawyers in South Carolina can recover compensation for injuries and damages:
The moments following the crash are often a blur when you're involved in a car accident. However, per South Carolina law, those on the scene must adhere to legal responsibilities and obligations.
First, try to stop your car and ensure it is positioned safely near the scene of the crash. Then, call 911 to report the accident. While most folks go into full-blown panic mode, you need to stay calm so you can process the situation. If you notice that there are injured people, give them "reasonable assistance." Per South Carolina Code of Laws, that could include transporting hurt people to a hospital or calling an ambulance for them.
If you're in a car crash, you need to be prepared to exchange contact information with other drivers at the accident scene. If the person who caused the collision is present, make sure to get their name, phone number, address, and insurance info. If witnesses are present, get their contact info, too, in case our team needs to obtain their account later.
Next, try to piece together how the car crash happened. This is an appropriate time to take photos of the cars, wreckage, and debris. Ask yourself if you think a vehicle failed to follow the rules of the road, like speeding or failing to stop at a stop sign.
Regardless of how minor your injuries may appear and who may be to blame for the accident, get legal advice from Theos Law Firm first before giving any recorded statements or refusing medical care.
Tractor-trailer and semi-truck crashes are often more complicated than two car crashing. Because these cases are more complex and nuanced, it's imperative that you contact a truck accident attorney in Seabrook Island, SC to help you through the recovery process and win the compensation you deserve.
After a semi-truck crash, you must take steps quickly to preserve evidence so that the crash may be recreated. In serious semi-truck accidents where people are injured or killed, trucking companies usually send a team of investigators to the accident site immediately. These investigators will do their best to obtain evidence that can hurt you in court or even attempt to hide or destroy evidence. The last thing a trucking company wants is for you to win a settlement against them.
That's especially true since various entities may be liable for your truck accident injury, not just the driver. The trucking company, the trucking manufacturer, and the team responsible for truck maintenance could also be responsible. Additionally, if dangerous or inadequate road conditions factor into your accident, you could actually sue some government departments. For those reasons, it's critical to retain quality representation ASAP after a truck accident in South Carolina.
At Theos Law Firm, our team has experience winning compensation in many types of truck accidents, such as:
As your truck accident lawyer in South Carolina, we work hard to fight for your rights and win your case. In order to do so, our team will:
We'll arrive on-scene to notate skid mark length and the locations of vehicles involved. We will also capture detailed pictures and measurements pertinent to your crash.
Obtaining the trucking company's records and discovering the info they have on the semi-truck driver involved is an important part of our process. We will also secure access to the trucker's driving log notes, which they must maintain according to law.
Like airplanes and helicopters, big rigs have a "black box" that records real-time truck data, like speeds, changes in direction, and brake application.
We'll arrive on-scene to notate skid mark length and the locations of vehicles involved. We will also capture detailed pictures and measurements pertinent to your crash.
Sometimes an expert is needed to digest all the evidence and provide an expert opinion on the cause of the semi-truck collision. When needed, our team will hire such an expert to ensure your case is robust and air-tight.
We will obtain the police's investigation report and any accident photos, measurements, or other documentation taken by officers while investigating your semi-truck crash.
It's imperative to find all the witnesses of your accident and interview them to get recorded statements in a timely manner. Doing otherwise may result in faded memories and inaccurate facts.
Time and again, auto accident victims agree to early settlements provided by insurance companies because the offer seems like a lot. But what if you return to work after recovering from an accident, only for your pain to return?
With adjusters, lawyers, and investigators at their disposal, insurance agencies will do everything in their power to minimize the compensation you deserve. Don't let them pick on you or silence your voice. If you or a loved are victims of a negligent car or truck accident in South Carolina, contact Theos Law Firm today. We have the team, tools, and experience to fight back on your behalf, no matter how complicated your case may seem.
To schedule an appointment for your free consultation, contact Theos Law Firm in Seabrook Island today.
SEABROOK ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A first-time special committee on short-term rentals is hearing Seabrook Island residents’ concerns and hopes for the island’s future.The Seabrook Island Town Council established a Special Committee on Short-Term Rentals on Jan. 4 with the members being appointed on Jan. 23.The committee’s purpose is to study short-term rental activities and trends within the town. This could involve limiting the number of short-term rentals, limiting the ownership of multiple short-term rentals,...
SEABROOK ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A first-time special committee on short-term rentals is hearing Seabrook Island residents’ concerns and hopes for the island’s future.
The Seabrook Island Town Council established a Special Committee on Short-Term Rentals on Jan. 4 with the members being appointed on Jan. 23.
The committee’s purpose is to study short-term rental activities and trends within the town. This could involve limiting the number of short-term rentals, limiting the ownership of multiple short-term rentals, what fees are reasonable, etc.
Seabrook Island is home to 2,345 family homes and villas and 588 of those are short-term rentals, according to the town.
With about 25% of the island being taken up by short-term rentals, some residents say there are issues that need to be addressed.
“Agitating alligators,” Seabrook Island resident John Lagna said during Wednesday’s first public forum. “Secondly, speeding. Thirdly, ignoring stop signs... Lastly, ignoring amenity rules.”
However, not everyone agrees.
“There are a number of factors that have entered into it, but short-term rentals seem to be an easy target,” resident Debra Hardick said.
The committee says they are referencing data from peak COVID-19 times from when the number of renters significantly increased.
Resident Paul McLaughlin says the growth of the island has impacted the overall sense of community.
“If you don’t know who your neighbors are, it’s just not a very good feeling,” McLaughlin said.
The committee is made up of a town councilman, homeowners and even short-term rental owners who have been on the island for around a decade or more. They say the town has previously had an Ad Hoc Committee to address this topic, which was allowed to be done privately, but they want this one to be public to increase transparency.
Darryl May is the only town councilman on the short-term rental committee while the other seven are residents.
“So, the goal of this committee is to develop a set of proposals for the town council to pass an ordinance,” May said.
During the public forum, some shared ideas for what that ordinance may or may not look like.
“I think we should allow renters,” resident Ann Laporte said. “I think we should allow a minimum of three nights. No more than that.”
Resident Bill Boissonalt has another idea, adding that the town shouldn’t still be referencing data from peak COVID in 2020.
“I just don’t believe that we need any new regulations regarding the overnight stay, the capped rentals, based on history,” Boissonalt said.
As far as what the committee thinks the ordinance could look like, May says he doesn’t want to jump the gun.
“I won’t hazard to guess because we’re just starting out this process and we want to have a very open mind,” May said. “But we do anticipate getting an ordinance by about June.”
There are still three more public hearings over the next two weeks and the committee encourages Seabrook Island residents and those who rent on the island to speak.
Click here to read more about past short-term rental data and sign up for public comment.
Read below for the details on the next three public forums:
Public Forum #2
Public Forum #3
Public Forum #4
Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.
SEABROOK ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The debate on short-term rentals continues on Seabrook Island as the special committee met with code enforcement and the property owner’s association to see how much of a burden short-term rentals are causing them.The purpose of the committee is to study short-term rental activities and trends within the town. This could involve limiting the number of...
SEABROOK ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The debate on short-term rentals continues on Seabrook Island as the special committee met with code enforcement and the property owner’s association to see how much of a burden short-term rentals are causing them.
The purpose of the committee is to study short-term rental activities and trends within the town. This could involve limiting the number of short-term rentals, limiting the ownership of multiple short-term rentals, what fees are reasonable, etc.
Seabrook Island is home to 2,345 family homes and villas and 588 of those are short-term rentals, according to the town.
Town councilman Darryl May, who’s also the chair of the committee, said they have heard over 450 comments both written and at the public forums.
He said they show how divided the island really is over whether or not to cap the number or push any more enforcement.
“There probably should be better enforcement of our rules, nuisance-type rules, on the island,” May said. “More understandable enforcement. Things of that nature.”
Town of Seabrook Island Mayor Bruce Kleinman said one of the main takeaways for him was that people are assuming what they want is the opposite of what they think the committee will do. However, he said there’s just no way of knowing that without an outcome and people need to be patient with the process.
“The process is working,” Kleinman said. “I think people in the town need to be a little patient.”
Members of the town’s code enforcement team presented their findings over the last nine months of alleged and identified violations during Wednesday’s meeting.
They found that only 7% of the identified coming from STRs. However, town administrator Joseph Cronin says some of the nuisance violations could overlap.
“There’s probably more violations that are out there,” Cronin said. “But if it’s not reported to us, it’s not observed by us, it’s obviously not going to be reflected in our data.”
Short-term rentals have 27 out of the 378 total found violations. Out of those, just over half came from vehicles parked in a yard or landscape area. The next most were overnight occupancy exceeding the permitted amount. Three violations were found for advertising a non-permitted short-term rental unit.
The team said if they discover a short-term rental has three violations, which they either admitted to or were found guilty in court, they can be suspended. Only then can the town revoke its short-term rental license.
“We felt like that was a little too lenient,” Cronin said. “...A couple incidences where we thought it may be more appropriate to be able to take more dramatic action earlier.”
He said there’s another idea.
“Three violations could be immediate revocation,” Cronin said.
May say he’s heard the argument that STRs lead to people wanting to move full-time to the island. But both he and Kleinman also understand that nuisances, like trash and noise, can be a big deterrent.
The committee has several more meetings before they take their recommendations to the town council which gives the final approval. The goal is to wrap this up by the end of June.
“Even if it isn’t what each Seabrooker hoped for, it will at least be a result that they perceive was reached in a fair way,” Kleinman said.
For the full list of code enforcement violations over the past nine months, read below.
STR Committee Information - 03-20-2023 by Live 5 News on Scribd
Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.
The additional boat and car traffic would create more congestion on Betsy Kerrison Parkway in particular and Johns Island in general, as well as more pollution to the otherwise pristine Bohicket Creek. But the biggest reason Town Council should reject the 18-acre annexation is the dangerous precedent it would set, a precedent that would erode the rural character of southern Johns Island.Decades ago, local governments, led by the city of Charleston and Charleston County, agreed on an urban growth boundary across Johns Island and other ...
The additional boat and car traffic would create more congestion on Betsy Kerrison Parkway in particular and Johns Island in general, as well as more pollution to the otherwise pristine Bohicket Creek. But the biggest reason Town Council should reject the 18-acre annexation is the dangerous precedent it would set, a precedent that would erode the rural character of southern Johns Island.
Decades ago, local governments, led by the city of Charleston and Charleston County, agreed on an urban growth boundary across Johns Island and other areas. The big idea was to ensure their zoning and other policies were synchronized to allow suburban development to continue to spread, but only up to a point, beyond which the existing rural nature would be preserved. The boundary has generally worked well, but as with so much other conservation work, it needs to be embraced and reaffirmed by each new generation.
Seabrook Island's potential move would mark one of the first and most dramatic annexations by a municipality into the rural portion of the island; if it succeeds, it almost assuredly wouldn't be the last, and it could hasten the unraveling of the boundary line — and increase development pressures on the shrinking amount of land on the rural side of the boundary.
Robby Maynor of the Coastal Conservation League agrees that annexing and rezoning this property on the rural side of the urban growth boundary would set a disastrous precedent on the county's Sea Islands and could lead to annexation battles such as those that are playing out along the most rural stretches of the upper Ashley River, whose rural historic district remains in jeopardy from encroaching homes, stores and the traffic they bring. Approving the marina project would be "like kicking an anthill and hoping you don't get bit," he says.
The case that the property's owner and other supporters have made for the annexation is that it would give Seabrook Island future control of the site and limit future development there, according to reporter Warren Wise. But the proposal appears to us as designed to facilitate development, not to curb it. Annexing the site, which is next to Bohicket Marina, would allow it to tie into the town's sewer system.
Unfortunately, Seabrook Island's Planning Commission has recommended annexing the site and rezoning it for a mixed-used development. We urge Town Council members to reject that move when they consider the matter Aug. 22.
As Mr. Wise noted, the project is a scaled-down version of a 30-year-old Andell Harbor project that state environmental regulators rightly and mercifully rejected. While this is smaller, with only about 4 acres of development near the creek and the rest set aside for open space, it still would represent an unwelcome and disturbing encroachment into the rural area between the barrier islands of Kiawah and Seabrook and the suburban growth from the city of Charleston.
Last year, we urged elected officials, neighborhood leaders and planners with Charleston County and the two beach towns to come up with a mutually agreed-upon overlay for their shared area at the southern tip of Johns Island. That overlay should guide future development toward the kinds of uses — and the sizes and scale — residents of all three jurisdictions would most like to see, and help address growing real estate pressures in a way residents prefer. We repeat the call for regional cooperation, and Seabrook Island's rejection of this annexation would be an important first step.
Click here for more opinion content from The Post and Courier.
But those same folks, particularly leaders on Kiawah and Seabrook islands and Charleston County Council, should not get complacent. Instead, they need to work together on better planning to guide development in and around where those two sea islands meet up with southern Johns Island.It's unclear when, or if, the developer's annexation request might resurface. Even if it doesn't, there undoubtedly will be other development plans that will expose the tensions between those living on rural Johns Island and those living beyond the gates ...
But those same folks, particularly leaders on Kiawah and Seabrook islands and Charleston County Council, should not get complacent. Instead, they need to work together on better planning to guide development in and around where those two sea islands meet up with southern Johns Island.
It's unclear when, or if, the developer's annexation request might resurface. Even if it doesn't, there undoubtedly will be other development plans that will expose the tensions between those living on rural Johns Island and those living beyond the gates at Kiawah and Seabrook. This moment offers an important reset, one that should begin with getting all these local governments to recommit to the vision of an urban growth boundary — a line past which suburban development would not be supported through zoning, infrastructure or other local policies.
Such a recommitment wouldn't bind future councils any more than their respective comprehensive plans do, but it would send a unified message about their mutual commitment to respect the natural beauty and environmental sensitivity of the area.
It's clear that development pressures at Kiawah's and Seabrook's doorstep are increasing. A fresh series of new developments, including a senior living facility and an emergency medical facility, is cropping up. Elected officials, neighborhood leaders and county planners need to come up with a mutually agreed-upon zoning overlay for the area, one that would guide future development to ensure new uses and the size and scale of new buildings are appropriate. Such an overlay also would prevent developers from trying to play one jurisdiction against another to get the permits they seek, a tactic sometimes used in other parts of the tri-county area.
The mutual interests of everyone became clear during this recent annexation controversy, as the mayor of Kiawah Island took the unusual step of sending a letter to Seabrook's mayor and council urging them to reject the annexation and respect the urban growth boundary, which Mayor John Labriola noted "serves as a guide to direct appropriate urban and suburban development while preserving and cherishing the rural charm of the Sea Islands that we all hold dear."
Given what we've seen this summer, the existing urban growth boundary line may not continue to be enough on its own, and we believe a joint planning effort could help pin down the following: to what extent commercial development in the greater Freshfields area should be allowed to inch its way north on Betsy Kerrison; whether the towns should annex any more of Johns Island; whether any upzoning in the area might be appropriate; and how new building would affect the net traffic and drainage needs around Kiawah and Seabrook. While residents live only on Kiawah or Seabrook or in the unincorporated area, they have a stake in the answers to all those questions. This area deserves a new zoning overlay and conservation goals that offer a shared vision of how the southern part of Johns Island will — and will not — change.
Regional planning needs to take place on a large scale — such as our greater metro area from Seabrook to Awendaw to Summerville and Moncks Corner — but it's also necessary on a smaller scale, especially in those places such as southern Johns Island where multiple local governmental jurisdictions meet.
Decades ago, the city of Charleston and Charleston County came up with the urban growth boundary across Johns Island and other areas where the suburbs ended to ensure their zoning and other policies worked together to protect rural areas that residents wanted to remain rural. Kiawah and Seabrook were once seen as too distant to bring into the conversation about that line. That's not the case any more.
Click here for more opinion content from The Post and Courier.
SEABROOK ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Five friends visiting Seabrook Island reeled in what they described as the catch of a lifetime on Thursday.Jon and Andrew Lewis, Brad Holcombe, Terry Greco, and Mark Jones caught a 10-foot bull shark off of Seabrook Island.The men said that the shark was hooked about 250 yards off the shore in water about 50 feet deep.One of the men kayaked the bait out while the others helped with reeling the shark in and documenting the catch.The shark was released back into the ocean after i...
SEABROOK ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Five friends visiting Seabrook Island reeled in what they described as the catch of a lifetime on Thursday.
Jon and Andrew Lewis, Brad Holcombe, Terry Greco, and Mark Jones caught a 10-foot bull shark off of Seabrook Island.
The men said that the shark was hooked about 250 yards off the shore in water about 50 feet deep.
One of the men kayaked the bait out while the others helped with reeling the shark in and documenting the catch.
The shark was released back into the ocean after it was photographed and measured.
(WJET/WFXP) — Joshua Dean, formerly an auditor at Spirit Aerosystems and whistleblower who alleged that Spirit had failed to address defects along the Boeing 737 production line, died Tuesday after a two-week fight with an infection. He was 45 years old.
Dean had been hospitalized with Influenza B and MRSA, and developed pneumonia, according to a Facebook post from his mother. His condition quickly deteriorated and he was transferred to a hospital in Oklahoma City.
There, he was put on an ECMO machine, which pumps blood outside the body and circulates oxygenated blood, taking over the function of the heart and lungs and allowing other organs to heal. He was also undergoing dialysis. It was soon discovered after a CT scan that Dean suffered a stroke.
Prior to his hospitalization, Dean was said to be “in good health and was noted for having a healthy lifestyle,” according to The Seattle Times, which first reported his death.
Dean worked for Spirit Aerosystems, responsible for manufacturing the 737 fuselage. The Seattle Times reported that Josh was fired from Spirit in April 2023 for “allegedly failing to conduct inspections resulting in faulty tail fin fittings being shipped to Boeing.”
His allegations of “serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line” were later presented in a civil lawsuit against Spirit by investors.
Dean’s death comes less than two months after Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, 62, was found dead in an apparent suicide. Barnett, 32-year veteran of Boeing, was in the midst of giving dispositions in a long-running retaliation suit against the company.
Barnett’s 2019 whistleblower allegations claimed that overworked employees at its South Carolina plant frequently fitted substandard parts on planes and reported faulty oxygen systems that could result in as many as 1 in 4 oxygen masks not operating properly.