At The Arndt Law Firm, our team understands how devastating a drunk driving accident can be for victims and their families. When an impaired driver causes harm on Myrtle Beach roads, the challenge is not just proving fault; it's ensuring that there are real resources available to help you recover. Too often, the driver's own insurance falls far short of covering the true cost of serious injuries, leaving victims facing unexpected hurdles just when they need support most.
That's why our approach goes beyond the obvious. We look closely at every possible source of compensation, including the insurance policies held by both the impaired driver and any establishment that may have served them alcohol. In South Carolina, these businesses are required to carry significant liquor liability coverage, and state law removes the usual cap on punitive damages when substantial impairment is involved. Our team’s experience allows us to build strong cases that pursue every available avenue for our clients.
We know that timing and details matter. Gathering evidence, securing records, and identifying all liable parties can make a critical difference in the outcome of your case. Our team is dedicated to handling these complexities so you can focus on your health and your family.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a drunk driving accident in Myrtle Beach, reach out to our team today. We offer a free initial review, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Let us stand by your side and fight for the compensation you deserve.
A claim is only worth what can be collected. An impaired driver frequently carries the South Carolina minimum of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (§ 38-77-140), which will not cover a serious injury, and that is why the second defendant matters in practical terms rather than symbolic ones. If the drunk driver had no insurance or fled, your own uninsured motorist coverage, required on every SC auto policy (§ 38-77-150), may pay. Hit-and-run claims require a timely police report and, in most cases, physical contact or a witness affidavit (§ 38-77-170).
South Carolina requires on-premises licensees that remain open after 5:00 p.m. to carry liquor liability coverage, or general liability with a liquor liability endorsement, with an annual aggregate limit of at least $1,000,000. The policy must provide per occurrence coverage of at least fifty percent of that aggregate.
There is a qualification that is easy to miss and that changes the arithmetic. The statute allows risk mitigation credits that reduce the required aggregate, and an establishment qualifying for enough of them must maintain an annual aggregate of at least $300,000 rather than the full million. The credits attach to things like ending alcohol service by midnight, completing server training, keeping alcohol below forty percent of gross sales, and using forensic identification systems.
So the size of the available pool is a fact to establish rather than assume, and establishing it means finding out which credits a particular establishment claimed.
How much insurance does a bar have to carry in South Carolina?
An on-premises licensee open after 5:00 p.m. must carry at least a $1,000,000 annual aggregate, with per occurrence coverage of at least half that. Risk mitigation credits can reduce the required aggregate to a floor of $300,000.
South Carolina restricts sales of alcohol to intoxicated people, and a licensee that breaks that restriction can face civil exposure alongside the driver. The legislature rewrote this area in 2025 Act No. 42, effective January 1, 2026, and applying only to causes of action arising or accruing after that date.
Three changes matter to an injured person. Driving in violation of S.C. Code §§ 56-5-2930 or 56-5-2933 can support a negligence per se claim. Under S.C. Code § 61-6-2220, a licensee may not knowingly sell alcohol to a person in an intoxicated condition, and a violation can support a negligence claim. Under § 61-2-147(A), if a verdict is rendered against both the licensee and a driver charged under §§ 56-5-2930, -2933, or -2945, the licensee is jointly and severally liable for fifty percent of actual damages. A bar can ask to have the charged driver listed on the verdict form, and any driver who settles is listed automatically, so settlement order matters.
And the Act made alcohol server training mandatory. A server or manager must hold a current certificate, and where one does not, the licensee must provide training within thirty calendar days of employment.
The date of the crash decides which version applies, so it is checked before any of this analysis begins.
The training requirement deserves separate attention because it converts a question about how a business operates into a documentary record.
Before the Act, whether a server was trained to recognize intoxication was largely a matter of testimony. Now a certificate either exists or it does not, and the licensee's obligation to provide training within thirty days of employment either was met or was not. That is provable from personnel files, training vendor records, and the certificates themselves.
The same reasoning reaches the mitigation credits. An establishment that claimed a credit for completing server training has represented something to its insurer that can be tested against the records. An establishment that claimed a credit for ending service by midnight has represented something about its operating practices.
None of this arrives voluntarily. It comes through preservation demands sent early and through discovery once suit is filed, and point-of-sale data, server schedules, and surveillance footage all sit on retention cycles measured in days or weeks.
Can I find out whether the server was trained?
Training certificates are now required by statute, so the record either exists or its absence is itself significant. Personnel files, training vendor records, and the certificates are obtainable through preservation demands and discovery.
Punitive damages in South Carolina punish rather than compensate, and they are harder to obtain than ordinary damages. Under Section 15-32-520(D), a plaintiff must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the harm resulted from the defendant's wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct, a higher standard than the preponderance governing the rest of the case.
The procedure is separate too. If any defendant asks, the trial runs in two stages before the same jury, with the punitive question reached only after compensatory damages are decided, and any award must be specific to each defendant.
Then comes the provision that changes an impaired driving case. Section 15-32-530(A) caps punitive damages at the greater of three times the compensatory award or $500,000 (adjusted annually for inflation). Section 15-32-530(C) removes that cap altogether in three situations, and the third is squarely on point: where the defendant acted or failed to act while under the influence of alcohol or drugs to the degree that the defendant's judgment was substantially impaired. That exception applies to the impaired driver; a bar's punitive exposure is analyzed separately.
The other two overlap here often. The cap also disappears where the defendant had an intent to harm that in fact harmed the claimant, and where the defendant has pled guilty to or been convicted of a felony arising out of the same conduct that proximately caused the damages. A felony driving conviction can therefore open two separate routes past the cap.
Any page that states the punitive cap and stops has given a reader the less favorable half of the rule.
The criminal file is the obvious starting point and not the whole of it. Breath or blood results, the arrest report, dashcam and bodycam footage, and field sobriety documentation come from the investigating agency.
In this county, that means establishing which agency first. Myrtle Beach Police Department investigates inside Myrtle Beach city limits, North Myrtle Beach Police Department covers that city, and the South Carolina Highway Patrol handles the highways and the unincorporated county. Horry County Fire Rescue responds countywide and generates its own run reports, and the Horry County Coroner's Office maintains a separate file for a fatality, including toxicology.
A request sent to the wrong department returns nothing. The same multi-agency problem runs through every Myrtle Beach crash claim, and it costs weeks when it is not sorted out at the start.
Medical records from the treating facility can also carry toxicology performed for clinical rather than law enforcement reasons. Seriously injured people here are transported to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center in Myrtle Beach.
Medical records from the treating facility can also carry toxicology performed for clinical rather than law enforcement reasons. Seriously injured people are often taken to Grand Strand Medical Center on 82nd Parkway, the area's Level I adult trauma center; Conway Medical Center is a Level III trauma center.
An injured person recovers as long as their share of the fault is not greater than the defendant's, under Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., with the award reduced by that percentage and barred at 51 percent. That rule comes from a South Carolina Supreme Court decision rather than a statute, which is worth being precise about because published South Carolina pages sometimes attribute it to a code section governing something else.
Act 42 changed the apportionment picture in a way that cuts against injured people. The earlier version of Section 15-38-15 preserved full joint and several liability for conduct involving the use, sale, or possession of alcohol. The current version does not. What remains are wilful, wanton, reckless, or intentional acts and conduct involving illegal drugs.
Reckless conduct still qualifies, and impaired driving is frequently pleaded and proved as reckless. That makes the characterization of the driver's conduct a live issue with real consequences rather than a matter of adjectives.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Burden for punitive damages | Clear and convincing evidence of wilful, wanton or reckless conduct |
| Base punitive cap | Greater of three times compensatory or a statutory figure adjusted annually |
| Cap raised | Greater of four times or $2,000,000 on financial gain or felony exposure findings |
| Cap removed | Intent to harm, felony conviction from the same conduct, or substantial impairment |
| Licensee's share where both are liable | Jointly and severally liable for fifty percent of actual damages |
| Punitive damages against a government defendant | Prohibited entirely under the Tort Claims Act |
Impairment changes the arithmetic of a claim in two directions at once.
On the compensatory side, the categories are ordinary. Emergency treatment, imaging, surgery, follow-up care, therapy, and any future care a physician projects form the economic component, together with lost income and lost earning capacity. South Carolina places no general statutory cap on non-economic damages in an ordinary injury case, so pain, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment are not limited by statute.
On the punitive side, the ceiling moves. The base cap is the greater of three times the compensatory award or a statutory figure adjusted annually for inflation. It rises to the greater of four times compensatory or two million dollars where a defendant's conduct was motivated primarily by unreasonable financial gain known to a managing agent, or where the conduct could subject the defendant to a felony conviction. And it is removed entirely on a finding of substantial impairment.
The practical consequence is that the compensatory award becomes the multiplicand rather than the whole of the claim, so building the compensatory case carefully affects the punitive exposure as well.
One limit is worth stating plainly. Punitive damages are unavailable against a government defendant under the Tort Claims Act, which prohibits them along with prejudgment interest. Recovery against a government entity is capped at $300,000 per person and $600,000 per occurrence.
Are punitive damages automatic where a driver was drunk?
No. They require proof by clear and convincing evidence of wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct. What impairment does is remove the statutory ceiling once that proof is made.
Two proceedings follow a serious impaired driving crash, and they answer different questions. The criminal case asks whether the State can prove an offense beyond a reasonable doubt, with the injured person as a witness rather than a party. The civil claim asks whether the driver owes money to the person they injured, and it belongs to the injured person.
Neither controls the other. A conviction is useful evidence and is not required for the civil claim to succeed. An acquittal or dismissed charge does not end the civil claim, because the standard of proof is lower and the questions differ.
Timing is the practical complication. Material held by a prosecuting office may not be released. In contrast, a case is pending, which affects sequencing rather than entitlement, and evidence a civil claimant needs quickly, particularly records held by a licensee, is not part of the criminal file at all.
Restitution ordered in a criminal case is not a substitute for the civil claim. It typically addresses a narrower category of loss, and accepting it does not resolve the civil matter.
A fatal impaired driving crash produces two claims under South Carolina law. The wrongful death action compensates the statutory beneficiaries, and the survival action carries forward what the person suffered before death, with proceeds going to the estate where creditors can reach them.
The action must be brought by the personal representative, so a probate appointment precedes any filing, and the deadline runs three years from the date of death rather than from the collision. Settlement of either claim requires court approval. The wrongful death analysis covers that sequence.
Where a driver left the scene, the criminal exposure is severe. Under Section 56-5-1210, leaving the scene of a collision where death results carries a sentence from one year to twenty-five years. A felony DUI conviction under S.C. Ann. § 56-5-2945 for the conduct that caused the crash can remove the punitive cap. A conviction for leaving the scene removes it only if that conduct helped cause the harm.
The general deadline for filing a claim is three years from the date of the crash, as stated in Section 15-3-530(5). In cases of wrongful death, the deadline is also three years, measured from the date of death.
It's important to note that in South Carolina, the civil deadline is not extended simply because criminal charges have been filed. This is a common misconception. While a criminal conviction may affect the analysis for punitive damages, it does not pause or reset the civil timeline.
Shorter clocks apply in two situations. A claim involving a government vehicle or a road design issue must be filed in court within two years. If a verified claim is first filed with the agency within one year of the crash, the deadline becomes three years.
If you were injured on the job and receive workers' compensation, your claim against the drunk driver can pass to the compensation carrier if you don't file within one year of the carrier accepting the claim, after written notice. The employer itself generally cannot be sued (§ 42-1-540).
The deadline for a child's own claim can be extended under S.C. Code § 15-3-40, but the calculation depends on the child's age and the claim. A parent's separate claim may not be extended, so have the dates reviewed early.
Suit is brought in the Court of Common Pleas for Horry County, in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, at the courthouse at 1301 Second Avenue in Conway, with the Clerk of Court at (843) 915-5080 and a second office at 9630 Scipio Lane in Myrtle Beach at (843) 915-5082.
Where a licensee is a defendant, the case involves a commercial insurer and a business with a permit at stake, which changes the posture from an ordinary two-vehicle claim. Those matters are also document-driven, and filing is frequently what produces records that were not provided voluntarily.
In a fatal case, the Horry County Coroner's Office maintains its own file separate from the investigating agency's, including the cause of death determination and any toxicology, and it is requested separately.
Two situations come up often, and neither is straightforward emotionally.
The first is a passenger injured by the driver they were riding with. That claim exists, and comparative fault may be raised depending on what the passenger knew, which is argued from evidence rather than presumed.
The second is a claim where the at-fault driver is a friend or family member. What is really being pursued in most of those cases is an insurance policy that exists for exactly this purpose, and the person named as defendant is frequently not the person who pays. That is worth understanding before deciding not to bring a claim at all.
Where the injured person was a visitor riding with someone local, or the reverse, the coverage question adds a further layer, since the responding policy may have been written in another state to different terms.
Can I claim against the driver I was riding with?
Yes. A passenger has a claim against the driver whose negligence caused the crash, including a friend or family member, and in practice the claim is made against that driver's insurance policy.
Not where the defendant acted while under the influence to the degree that judgment was substantially impaired. Section 15-32-530(C) removes the cap entirely in that situation.
Possibly. A licensee that knowingly serves someone in an intoxicated condition can face liability. For claims accruing after January 1, 2026, a licensee found liable alongside a charged driver is jointly and severally liable for fifty percent of actual damages.
No. In most cases, you have three years from the crash, and a criminal case does not change that. Claims involving a government driver can have a two-year deadline, and a wrongful death claim runs from the date of death.
Your own underinsured motorist coverage may respond, and a liquor liability policy may be available where an establishment served the driver.
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, and the fee is contingent on recovery.
The Arndt Law Firm treats an impaired driving claim as two investigations running together: the driver, and whoever put the driver in a position to drive. The second is time-sensitive, because point-of-sale records, server schedules, training certificates, and surveillance footage sit with a business under no obligation to keep them once its own retention period runs.
Establishing the size of the available pool comes early as well, since a licensee's required aggregate can sit anywhere between three hundred thousand and a million depending on which mitigation credits it claimed. Horry County claims are filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Conway. Attorney Jonathan S. Arndt has been licensed in South Carolina since 2018 and reviews the firm's impaired driving matters.
An initial review is free, and the fee is taken only from a recovery. You can reach the firm through the contact page. The records that establish who served a driver are held on schedules measured in weeks, a far shorter window than the three-year filing deadline.
Last reviewed: August 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
Content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
