At The Arndt Law Firm, we understand how life-changing a pedestrian accident can be. When you’re hit by a car, there’s nothing to protect you from serious or even catastrophic injuries. We’ve seen firsthand the impact these crashes have on individuals and families in Summerville and throughout the Lowcountry, and we’re here to help you navigate the road to recovery.
Our approach is personal and thorough. We listen to your story, investigate how the crash happened, and move quickly to secure the evidence that will matter most to your claim. Whether you were hurt in a crosswalk, along a busy corridor like US-17A or US-78, or in a commercial area, we know the legal protections pedestrians have in South Carolina and how to use them to your advantage.
We fight for all damages that may be available after your accident, from medical bills and lost wages to pain and suffering and the long-term effects a serious injury can have on your life. Our experience with local drivers, insurers, and the court system means we are familiar with the arguments you’ll face and how to counter them with facts.
If you or a loved one has been injured as a pedestrian in Summerville or the surrounding area, we invite you to get in touch for a free consultation. You can learn more about our experience and approach by reaching out to us directly or by visiting our site. We’re here to stand up for your rights and help you move forward.
When traffic-control signals are not in place or operating, a driver must yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the driver’s half of the roadway or approaching closely enough from the opposite half to be in danger. Pedestrians also may not suddenly enter the path of a vehicle that is too close to stop safely. At intersections with signal controls, the signals govern whether a pedestrian or a vehicle has the right of way.
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 violation of the crosswalk statute can be strong evidence that a driver breached a legal duty. However, the injured pedestrian must still establish that the violation caused the collision and resulting injuries.
Pedestrians also have statutory duties, including obeying pedestrian-control signals, yielding to vehicles when crossing outside a qualifying crosswalk, and using available sidewalks or shoulders as required by South Carolina law. South Carolina recognizes unmarked crosswalks at intersections where the roadway lies between the projected lateral lines of sidewalks. The applicable right-of-way depends on traffic signals and the circumstances described in the pedestrian statutes.
Beyond the crosswalk rules, South Carolina law 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.
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 violation of the crosswalk statute can be strong evidence that a driver breached a legal duty. However, the injured pedestrian must still establish that the violation caused the collision and resulting injuries. 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.
Pedestrian accidents in the Summerville 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 Summerville shape where these crashes happen. The historic downtown around Hutchinson Square and the walkable Short Central district draws foot traffic, and the busy surface corridors like US-17A (North Main Street) carry pedestrians across wide, high-traffic lanes. As the area's master-planned communities grow, more people walk in and around new town centers and along roads that were built for vehicle traffic, sometimes with limited pedestrian infrastructure.
This mismatch between growing foot traffic and road design is a real feature of the area's rapid development. The new town centers in communities like Nexton are designed to be walkable, drawing residents on foot. Still, the surrounding road network and the connector routes between communities were often built for vehicles moving at speed, with crossings spaced far apart and sidewalks that may not connect continuously. A pedestrian moving between a walkable village center and the broader area can find themselves crossing wide, fast roads at points that were not designed with their safety in mind. As the population continues to grow faster than the pedestrian infrastructure, these conditions persist, and they help explain where and how pedestrians in the Summerville area are struck.
Other crashes happen along the metro's arterials. In parking lots, 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.
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.
When a pedestrian is struck in the Summerville area, the critically injured are taken to Trident Medical Center in North Charleston, the area's Level II trauma center, with the most catastrophic cases going to MUSC Health University Medical Center in 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-earning costs that must be fully accounted for.
The pattern of injuries in a pedestrian crash often reflects the mechanics of the impact, which matters to understanding the full harm. The initial impact with the vehicle frequently injures the legs, pelvis, and torso. In contrast, a second impact occurs when the person is thrown onto the vehicle or to the ground, often causing head and spinal injuries. This sequence helps explain why pedestrian injuries are so often multiple and severe, involving several body systems at once, and why the treatment and recovery can be so prolonged. A claim that captures the full scope of these injuries, and their long-term consequences, requires understanding how the crash unfolded and how the resulting injuries will affect the person over time, not just the immediate emergency treatment, which is why the medical documentation and its projection into the future are so central to a serious pedestrian claim.
South Carolina follows modified comparative negligence. Under Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., an injured pedestrian may recover if they are 50 percent or less at fault, although their percentage of fault reduces the award. Recovery is barred at 51 percent or more. 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. Where 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.
Summerville spans Dorchester and Charleston Counties, so the proper court depends on where the pedestrian crash occurred. A crash on the Dorchester County side may proceed in the First Judicial Circuit at the Dorchester County Courthouse, 5200 East Jim Bilton Boulevard in St. George. A crash on the Charleston County side may proceed in the Ninth Judicial Circuit at the Charleston County Courthouse, 100 Broad Street in Charleston.
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. The starting point is the driver's liability policy, but South Carolina's minimum limits are low, and 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. Many injured pedestrians do not realize their own auto coverage can apply to a crash where they were walking.
Other sources may exist depending on the circumstances. If the driver was working at the time, an employer's commercial policy may respond. 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.
The steps taken after a pedestrian is struck protect both health and any claim. However, a seriously injured pedestrian may be unable to take them, leaving documentation to family or others. The first 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. A pedestrian should accept assessment even if injuries appear minor than they might actually 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.
| 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.
A pedestrian crossing outside a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection generally must yield the right-of-way to vehicles. Drivers still owe the statutory duty of due care to avoid pedestrians, so liability depends on both parties’ conduct and the circumstances.
Generally, the statute of limitations is three years from the crash date under South Carolina law, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5) (2023). Wrongful death claims start three years from the death date, not the crash (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-51-10 et seq. (2023)). If the injured person is a minor, the deadline is tolled during minority (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-40 (2023)). Claims against government entities usually must be filed within two years, but filing a verified claim within one year can extend the deadline to up to three years (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-78-110 (2023)).
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.
The Arndt Law Firm builds every Summerville 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, the firm understands how these claims are evaluated and where the effort to blame the pedestrian occurs. It builds 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 Summerville or anywhere in the tri-county Lowcountry, acting early protects the evidence that establishes the driver's fault and the coverage that determines the recovery. The consultation is free; pedestrian accident cases are handled on a contingency basis with no fee unless there is a recovery, and the evidence that proves how a crash happened is most available soon after it occurs. Reach out through our contact page to discuss what happened, and see how these rules apply across the state on our South Carolina pedestrian accident page.
Last reviewed: June 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.
