A pedestrian struck by a car at Carlton Place or Woodland Heights has no protection at all, so the injuries can be catastrophic or fatal. South Carolina law protects pedestrians, and when a driver's negligence causes an accident, the injured pedestrian can recover compensation, as long as they were 50 percent or less at fault.
A pedestrian accident lawyer in Goose Creek can help you build a strong claim. At the Arndt Law Firm, we represent pedestrians injured across Goose Creek and Berkeley County. If you wonder whether you are owed compensation, contact us for a free consultation.
South Carolina law gives pedestrians specific protections, and the most important is the right of way in crosswalks. Under South Carolina Code section 56-5-3130, when a pedestrian is crossing within a crosswalk, a driver must yield the right of way, slowing or stopping as needed to allow the pedestrian to cross safely.
This applies at marked crosswalks and, in many circumstances, at unmarked crosswalks that exist at intersections. A driver who fails to yield to a pedestrian lawfully in a crosswalk has violated this duty.
The law adds further protection by prohibiting a driver from passing a vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk to let a pedestrian cross. This rule addresses a common and dangerous scenario, where one driver stops for a pedestrian and a second driver, unable to see the pedestrian, passes the stopped vehicle and strikes them.
By prohibiting this maneuver, the law recognizes the hidden danger it creates and places responsibility on the passing driver. A pedestrian struck in exactly this way is the victim of a clear statutory violation by the driver who passed the stopped vehicle.
These crosswalk protections are central to many pedestrian accident claims because they define the driver's duty in the situations where pedestrians are most often struck.
A pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk with the right of way who is hit by a driver who failed to yield has been injured by a clear violation of South Carolina law, and establishing that violation establishes the driver's responsibility. Pedestrians also have duties, such as obeying signals, but the law's protections in the crosswalk are strong and frequently decisive.
The unmarked crosswalk is a point that surprises many people, because South Carolina recognizes that a crosswalk can exist at an intersection even without painted lines, and a pedestrian crossing there is generally entitled to the same right of way.
Beyond the crosswalk rules, South Carolina Code section 56-5-3230 requires drivers to exercise due care to avoid striking pedestrians, recognizing that a pedestrian has no protection against a vehicle. This duty applies broadly, requiring a driver to remain attentive, to anticipate the presence of pedestrians, and to take reasonable care to avoid hitting them, including by exercising particular caution around children and others who may be especially vulnerable.
This general duty matters because not every pedestrian crash happens in a crosswalk. A pedestrian may be walking along a road, crossing where there is no crosswalk, or otherwise lawfully present in a place where a driver should anticipate them, and the driver's duty of due care applies in these situations even where the specific crosswalk right-of-way rule does not
A driver who strikes a pedestrian through inattention, distraction, or a failure to keep a proper lookout has breached the duty of due care.
The interaction between the pedestrian's conduct and the driver's duty is often where these cases are contested. An insurer may argue that the pedestrian was crossing improperly or was not paying attention, but the driver's duty of due care does not disappear because a pedestrian was somewhere unexpected.
A driver is generally required to take reasonable care to avoid a pedestrian they could have seen, and establishing that the driver failed to do so is central to a pedestrian claim that does not arise in a crosswalk.
The law's recognition that some pedestrians, especially children, are particularly vulnerable adds a further dimension, calling for heightened caution where a driver should expect them, such as near schools, parks, and residential areas where children are likely to be present.
Pedestrian accidents in the Goose Creek area follow recognizable patterns, most involving a driver failing to see or yield to a person on foot.
Drivers turning at intersections who fail to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk, drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians crossing with the right of way, and drivers who pass a vehicle stopped for a pedestrian cause a significant share of crashes. Distracted driving compounds all of these, since a driver looking at a phone may not see a pedestrian at all.
The places where people walk in Goose Creek shape where these crashes happen. The busy surface corridors like US-52, the city's main artery, carry pedestrians across wide, high-traffic lanes, and the residential communities, shopping areas, and local destinations draw foot traffic that must sometimes cross or move along roads built primarily for vehicles.
As the area grows, more people walk in and around new commercial developments and along roads with varying levels of pedestrian infrastructure.
The character of a corridor like US-52 makes it particularly hazardous for people on foot. A wide, multi-lane road carrying heavy commuter and commercial-truck traffic at speed is difficult and dangerous to cross, especially where crossings are spaced far apart or where a pedestrian must traverse several lanes to reach the other side.
The peaks of traffic around the Naval Weapons Station shift changes add to the volume, and a pedestrian crossing such a road relies entirely on drivers yielding as the law requires. When a driver fails to do so, the consequences for the unprotected pedestrian are severe, and these wide-arterial crossings are among the most dangerous places for pedestrians in the area.
Other crashes happen along the area's arterials, and in parking lots, where pedestrians crossing wide, busy roads or moving through commercial areas face traffic that may not be watching for them. Nighttime crashes are especially dangerous, because reduced visibility makes it harder for drivers to see pedestrians, though it does not relieve drivers of their duty of due care. Wherever a pedestrian is struck, the central question is usually whether the driver met the duty to yield or to exercise due care, and frequently the driver did not.
National crash data underscore how serious this risk is in South Carolina specifically. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Traffic Safety Facts report on pedestrians, South Carolina's pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 population in 2023 was 3.48, well above the national rate of 2.18.
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable people on the road, with nothing to protect them from the force of a vehicle, and the result is that pedestrian crashes produce some of the most severe injuries in traffic law.
Even a relatively low-speed impact can cause serious injury to an unprotected person, and a collision at higher speed is frequently catastrophic or fatal. The disparity between a human body and a motor vehicle means the pedestrian absorbs the full force of the collision.
The injuries common to pedestrian crashes are severe. Traumatic brain injuries are a leading cause of death and lasting disability, resulting from the head striking the vehicle or the ground, and spinal cord injuries causing paralysis are tragically common.
Pedestrians frequently suffer multiple fractures, particularly to the legs and pelvis from the initial impact, along with internal injuries that can be life-threatening, and many pedestrian crashes involve a second impact when the person is thrown to the ground. This sequence of impacts helps explain why pedestrian injuries are so often multiple and severe, involving several body systems at once.
When a pedestrian is struck in the Goose Creek area, the critically injured are taken to Trident Medical Center in nearby North Charleston, the region's Level II trauma center, with the most catastrophic cases going to MUSC Health University Medical Center in downtown Charleston, the Lowcountry's only Level I trauma center.
The medical care for a severely injured pedestrian is often extensive and prolonged, involving multiple surgeries, lengthy rehabilitation, and sometimes permanent disability requiring lifelong care. Because these injuries are so often severe, pedestrian claims frequently involve substantial future medical and lost earnings costs that must be fully accounted for.
South Carolina's modified comparative negligence rule governs pedestrian accident claims, allowing recovery as long as the injured pedestrian was 50 percent or less at fault, reducing the recovery by their percentage, and barring it at 51 percent or more, under Nelson v. Concrete Supply Company (1991).
In pedestrian cases, the driver's insurer frequently argues that the pedestrian shared responsibility, making the fault analysis a central issue.
The most common defense is that the pedestrian was crossing improperly, was outside a crosswalk, or stepped into traffic, in an effort to assign fault to the injured person. Meeting this defense requires establishing the facts of the crash and the driver's duty.
If the pedestrian had the right of way in a crosswalk, the driver's failure to yield is a clear violation. Even where the pedestrian was outside a crosswalk, the driver's duty of due care can still establish liability if the driver failed to take reasonable care to avoid a pedestrian they could have seen.
Because every percentage point of fault reduces the recovery and a majority share defeats it, the fault analysis often determines the outcome of a pedestrian case.
The crosswalk right-of-way rule, the duty of due care, the physical evidence, and witness accounts all bear on how fault is allocated, and building the evidence that establishes the driver's responsibility is essential. A pedestrian struck while crossing lawfully has a strong claim, but realizing it requires meeting the insurer's effort to shift blame with the facts.
Yes, as long as you were 50 percent or less at fault. South Carolina law, under Nelson v. Concrete Supply Company (1991), establishes a comparative negligence rule. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and it is barred completely at 51 percent. A key part of building a strong claim is keeping your share of fault low.
A serious pedestrian injury can generate costs that exceed the at-fault driver's insurance, which makes identifying every source of coverage central to the claim.
South Carolina’s minimum liability limits are $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury under South Carolina Code section 38-77-140: a catastrophic pedestrian injury can far exceed them. When that happens, the search for additional coverage becomes critical to addressing the full harm.
A pedestrian's own auto insurance can be an important source even though the person was on foot rather than in a car.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on the pedestrian's own policy, which South Carolina makes available and (in the case of uninsured coverage) mandatory, can apply when the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little, and household policies may allow stacking that increases the amount available.
Your own auto policy can cover you even though you were on foot. South Carolina Code section 38-77-30(7) defines an insured to include the named insured and resident relatives 'while in a motor vehicle or otherwise'.
Other sources may exist depending on the circumstances. If the driver was working at the time, an employer's commercial policy may respond, and if a government entity bears responsibility for a dangerous crossing or road condition, a claim under the Tort Claims Act may be possible, subject to its shorter deadlines and caps.
Identifying every responsible party and every applicable policy is what allows a serious pedestrian claim to reach the resources the injury requires, which is why the coverage analysis is so important early in the case and why no potential source should be overlooked.
The deadline to file a pedestrian accident claim in Goose Creek is three years from the date of the accident, or from the date of death in the case of a wrongful death claim. If a government entity is responsible, the deadline may be shorter. Under South Carolina Code section 15-78-110, you have two years from the date. That extends to three years only if a verified claim is first filed within one year.
Recovery against a government defendant is also capped at $300,000 per person and $600,000 per occurrence under § 15-78-120(a), and punitive damages are not available.
What compensation can I recover from a pedestrian accident in Goose Creek?
You may be owed economic damages and non-economic damages. There is no statutory cap for these types of damages in South Carolina. If the conduct that caused the injury was especially reckless, punitive damages may also be available. Consult a Goose Creek pedestrian accident lawyer to review which may apply to your case.
The steps taken after a pedestrian is struck protect both health and any claim, though a seriously injured pedestrian may be unable to take them, leaving documentation to family or others.
The priority is always medical care, given how severe pedestrian injuries tend to be, and emergency treatment both addresses the injury and creates the record that connects it to the crash. An able pedestrian should accept evaluation even if injuries seem less serious than they may prove to be.
Documenting the crash matters greatly because the driver's insurer will look for ways to assign blame to the pedestrian. To the extent anyone is able, photographs of the scene, the vehicle, the crosswalk or crossing location, and the surrounding conditions preserve facts that change quickly, and the names and contact information of witnesses preserve accounts that can confirm the driver failed to yield.
Ensuring law enforcement responds and documents the crash creates an official record, which is especially important when the pedestrian cannot give their own account at the scene.
In the period that follows, preserving evidence and being cautious with insurers protects the claim. Keeping all medical records and documentation of expenses builds the damages case, and the clothing and personal items involved can be evidence.
Because the driver's insurer may argue the pedestrian was crossing improperly, being careful about giving a recorded statement and avoiding a quick settlement before the full injuries are known is important.
Given the severity of pedestrian injuries and the insurer's incentive to shift blame, seeking advice early helps preserve the evidence and protect a claim that may be worth a great deal.
A Goose Creek pedestrian case is filed in the Berkeley County Court of Common Pleas, part of South Carolina’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, at the Berkeley County Courthouse, 300-B California Avenue, Moncks Corner.
| Pedestrian protection under SC law | What it means |
| Crosswalk right of way (§ 56-5-3130) | Drivers must yield to pedestrians crossing in a crosswalk |
| No passing a stopped vehicle at a crosswalk | A driver cannot pass a vehicle stopped for a pedestrian |
| Duty of due care | Drivers must take reasonable care to avoid pedestrians |
| Fault rule | Recover if 50% or less at fault; reduced by your percentage |
Pedestrians have the right of way when crossing in a crosswalk, and drivers must yield. Pedestrians also have duties, but the crosswalk protections are strong, and drivers owe a duty of due care everywhere.
You may still have a claim. A driver's duty of due care requires taking reasonable care to avoid a pedestrian they could have seen, even outside a crosswalk, though fault may be analyzed more closely.
Three years from the date of the crash under S.C. Code § 15-3-530(5). A shorter deadline may apply if a government entity is responsible.
Often yes. Your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may apply to a pedestrian crash caused by an at-fault driver, which can matter when that driver has little or no insurance.
Yes, as long as you were 50 percent or less at fault. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and barred entirely at 51 percent or more.
It depends on the firm, but the Arndt Law Firm handles pedestrian accident cases on a contingency basis, meaning there is no fee unless there is a recovery. The initial consultation to evaluate a claim is free.
The Arndt Law Firm builds every Goose Creek pedestrian accident case on the protections South Carolina law gives pedestrians, using the crosswalk right-of-way and due-care rules to establish the driver's violation, documenting how the crash happened, and identifying every source of coverage to address what are often catastrophic injuries.
Because attorney Arndt previously defended insurers, we understand how these claims are evaluated and where the effort to blame the pedestrian is made, and we build each case to overcome that and to pursue the full recovery a serious injury requires.
If you or a loved one was struck by a vehicle in Goose Creek or anywhere in Berkeley County, early legal counsel is essential. For that reason, contact us as soon as possible or call (843) 438-7873: the first consultation is free, and we handle these cases on a contingency basis, meaning there are no fees unless there is a recovery.
Last reviewed: June 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
