Policy Limits of More than $1 Million Paid After Car Crash in Upstate South Carolina

Fatal Car Accident in South Carolina

Dorreen Johnson was killed in a car crash at age 33 by the reckless actions of a woman named Ms. Bayne. Ms. Johnson’s surviving beneficiaries were her two young sons, for whom we worked hard to achieve the best possible settlement under South Carolina law.

Dorreen was driving down US 178 when Ms. Bayne pulled out from a driveway, striking Dorreen’s vehicle and causing it to careen into a tree at 55 mph. Dorreen had no fault in this collision. She was alive before Ms. Bayne carelessly pulled out in front of her. She was dead before her children ever saw her again. Her passing is what is known as a wrongful death as it was the result of another person's recklessness. 

Wrongful Death Settlement

Dorreen Johnson was employed as a CNA when Ms. Bayne’s recklessness robbed her of life, and two children of their mother. The law cannot give these children back their mom; it can only seek to balance and compensate for the loss. It goes without saying that no reasonable person in South Carolina would trade their life, or that of their mother, for any amount of money. However, the law requires a number to be placed on that loss, and in this case, despite there being more than $1,000,000.00 in insurance coverage, that amount still fell woefully short of fully compensating these children. I wish there had been more insurance money or other sources of recovery. Nonetheless, my law firm worked diligently to not only identify 4 different insurance policies but to recover the combined bodily injury and property damage limits from each.

When looking for a South Carolina lawyer to help in the wake of wrongful death, make sure the attorney understands how to uncover all potential sources of recovery as we did in this case. More specifically, the negligent driver - Ms. Bayne - only had minimum limits. If we did not recognize the ability to stack Ms. Johnson's underinsured limits - both bodily injury and property damage - her children would have received only $25,000.00 from this wrongful death settlement. Much like choosing a surgeon, who you choose as your auto accident attorney in SC can make a huge difference, so make sure you select someone with experience helping people and families who are facing the same challenges that may now confront you.