South Carolina Injury Law Journal - Anderson and Greenville Lawyer & Attorney Workers' Compensation Cases, Product Liability Lawsuits, and Accidents

One thing I try and avoid is conversations over politics and religion. I am not registered to any political parties and I have voted for Republicans and Democrats in the past few elections. That being said, I am a proponent of democracy and having the right to vote.

Please make sure you take advantage of the rights fought so hard for you and your family by ensuring you are registered to vote in your specific county by October 2, 2010. South Carolina has a website that is so easy to navigate and verify your registration in less than a minute: http://scvotes.org/.

As the Anderson Independent pointed out in it's article,"Voter Registration Deadline is Oct. 2", It's important to remember that you will need to register to vote if you have moved from one county to another (need to register in the new county).

If you are not registered, there are several, quick and easy solutions that only require a few minutes of your time. You can also read over proposed 2010 State Constitutional Amendments.

South Carolina General Elections are Tuesday, November 2, 2010.  Read up on the candidates and vote.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."    Thomas Jefferson

 

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South Carolina hospitals are addressing an issue that may save hundreds of lives by simply looking over a checklist after surgery. Much like a pilot does prior to take-off, surgeons would have a checklist devised by an international patient safety guru, Dr. Atul Gawande. It appears Dr. Gawande has even written a book entitled, "The Checklist Manifesto". As Malcolm Gladwell comments about the book:

Gawande begins by making a distinction between errors of ignorance (mistakes we make because we don’t know enough), and errors of ineptitude (mistakes we made because we don’t make proper use of what we know). Failure in the modern world, he writes, is really about the second of these errors, and he walks us through a series of examples from medicine showing how the routine tasks of surgeons have now become so incredibly complicated that mistakes of one kind or another are virtually inevitable: it’s just too easy for an otherwise competent doctor to miss a step, or forget to ask a key question or, in the stress and pressure of the moment, to fail to plan properly for every eventuality. Gawande then visits with pilots and the people who build skyscrapers and comes back with a solution. Experts need checklists–literally–written guides that walk them through the key steps in any complex procedure.

Liv Osby of The Greenville News wrote an article on Sunday, September 19, entitled "List Could Put Check on Surgery Deaths".  In her article it was interesting to read phrases like "serious surgery complications", "we're doing the right thing for the patient", and "this could save many thousands of people from harm".  All due to a simple checklist of 19 functions, including marking the area to be operated, verifying the patient's identity, and discussing any special risks. 

This is not a new concept as a very similar article on the same subject was written by the The Washington Post entitled "Surgery Checklist Lowers Death Rate",  back in January of 2009. However, I was happy to not hear anything about Medical Tort Reform and this being a result of trial lawyers but a simple article indicating accidents happen in the medical field and they happen at a high rate. As the article indicates:

..every avoided complication saves $13,000.00 on average, the checklist would also cut annual health care costs statewide by more than $50 million....

Another important point made by Dr. Gawande, is that every professional could benefit from a checklist of the simplest tasks that would avoid a great deal of trouble down the road.

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The Anderson Independent Mail reported that a young girl was struck and injured by a vehicle yesterday in Anderson County.  Reportedly, there was a school bus in the area and she darted out across the road.

A pedestrian, or any person on foot, has duties just like those driving motor vehicles to be responsible, however, sometimes the higher duty and responsibility remains with the driver of the motor vehicle to be more alert and observant.

South Carolina Drivers' Manual is where we all started and had to learn the "rules of the road" before being granted permission to get our license. After the introduction, the manual goes into "General Information", more specifically the subsection entitled, "Sharing the Road" states:

It is your responsibility as a driver to be on the lookout and to take every precaution possible to not injure a person on foot. If you see a vehicle, pedestrian or children near the road, you should slow down and be prepared to stop. (General Information p.45)

The South Carolina Code of Laws sets forth a few reminders for all of us drivers on the roadways as it pertains to pedestrians:

1. SECTION 56-5-3230. Drivers to exercise due care.

   Notwithstanding other provisions of any local ordinance, every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian or any person propelling a human-powered vehicle and shall give an audible signal when necessary and shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any obviously confused, incapacitated or intoxicated person.

2. SECTION 56-5-1520. General rules as to maximum speed limits; lower speeds may be required.

   (A) A person shall not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing. Speed must be so controlled to avoid colliding with a person, vehicle, or other conveyance on or entering the highway in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of a person to use care.

   (F) The driver of a vehicle shall drive, consistent with the requirements of subsection (A), at an appropriate reduced speed when approaching and crossing an intersection or railway grade crossing, when approaching and going around a curve, approaching a hillcrest, when traveling upon any narrow bridge, narrow or winding roadway, and when special hazard exists with respect to pedestrians or other traffic or by reason of weather or highway conditions.

South Carolina case law follows in line with the before mentioned rules in stating:

• One operating a motor vehicle on a public highway owes an urgent duty to keep a proper lookout and to keep the vehicle under proper control.  Yaun v. Baldridge, 134 S.E.2d 248, 251 (S.C.1964).
• Negligence is established as a matter of law if the only inference is that either the driver did not look or did so in such a careless fashion as not to see what was in plain view. Williams v. Davis, 243 S.C. 524, 134 S.E.2d 760 (1964).

No one may truly know what happened during the incident with the young girl and the driver may have used ever caution and observation available to him. However, this is a time to remind all of us who get behind the wheel to just remain alert and vigilant to our surroundings.

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