What to Do After a Boating Injury Near Hilton Head
Treatment comes first. A spouse or a friend from the boat can take on most of this list for you.
- Get help fast. Call 911 or raise the Coast Guard on the radio; SCDNR may respond too. Whether the ambulance meets you at a landing or a dock, tell the ER exactly how the boat moved and what you hit, then keep every follow-up visit.
- Get the other skipper's details. A name, an address and a phone photo of the registration numbers on the bow are enough.
- Make sure it gets reported. South Carolina law requires certain boating accidents to be reported to the Department of Natural Resources. Generally the operator files it.5 Some reports are due within 48 hours, and accidents with death, loss of consciousness or serious injury call for immediate notice.4
- Mark the spot. Note the closest channel marker, the bridges at Skull Creek or a known point of land, and drop a pin on your phone if it still works.
- Pictures. Start with your injuries, then both boats, the chop, the tide and the sky.
- Broken gear stays. Torn life jackets, snapped tow lines, a ripped tube and wet clothes can all matter later.
Where Boating Injuries Happen Around the Island
Hilton Head is ringed by tidal water: Calibogue Sound off the south end, Broad Creek cutting into the island, Skull Creek under the bridges, Port Royal Sound to the north and the May River in Bluffton. The Intracoastal Waterway runs through Skull Creek and Calibogue Sound. Strong currents, big tide swings, oyster beds and sandbars share space with private boats, fishing charters, dolphin tours, water taxis, the ferry to Daufuskie, kayaks and paddleboards.
Which Law and Which Deadline
Injury and death claims arising from a maritime accident generally must be filed within three years under federal law.1 Not every boating accident falls under maritime law, and some are governed by South Carolina law instead. Which one applies depends on the location and the circumstances.2
If South Carolina law governs, most injury claims must be filed within three years.6 That limit is for a lawsuit, and an insurance claim does not pause it.7 A claim tied to a state or local agency's operator has its own deadline, which may be shorter.8
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
If You Get a Federal Court Notice
A boat's owner can ask a federal court to limit liability for an accident.9 If that happens, the court may set a separate deadline for injured people to file their claims, which can be much shorter than the ordinary three-year maritime deadline. Missing the court's deadline can jeopardize recovery.3 An envelope from a federal court is worth a same-day call.
Talk With Us
A day on the water with family or friends can end in a way nobody expected, and that can make a claim feel awkward. Tell us what happened, who was aboard and what papers you have received. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us, and we are honest about every option.
We take cases across South Carolina, including Hilton Head, Bluffton and the rest of southern Beaufort County. Our office is on King Street in Charleston. The first conversation can happen by phone. For more, read about South Carolina boat accident claims, defective boat parts and life-changing injuries near Hilton Head.
We'd like to hear about the day on the sound or the creek.
South Carolina Law on This
- Injury and death claims arising from a maritime accident generally must be filed within three years under federal law.1
- Not every boating accident falls under federal maritime law. Federal admiralty jurisdiction generally requires both a qualifying location on navigable waters and a sufficient connection to traditional maritime activity, and navigability is a legal determination, not simply whether the water can carry boats. Some accidents, particularly on certain inland lakes or waterways, may be governed by South Carolina law instead.2
- A boat owner may file a federal court proceeding under the Limitation of Liability Act seeking to limit liability for an accident. If that happens, the court may set a separate deadline for injured people to file their claims, which can be much shorter than the ordinary three-year maritime deadline, and other litigation may be restricted. Missing the court's deadline can jeopardize recovery.3
- South Carolina law requires certain boating accidents to be reported to the Department of Natural Resources. The statute provides for a report within 48 hours, and immediate notification for accidents involving death, loss of consciousness or serious bodily injury.4
- After a boating accident in South Carolina, an operator generally must help anyone injured if it can be done safely, give their name, address and boat identification in writing, and report certain accidents to the Department of Natural Resources.5
- Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.6
- South Carolina's statute of limitations generally sets the deadline for filing a lawsuit in court. Simply opening a claim with an insurance company or negotiating with an insurance adjuster does not stop the statute of limitations from running.7
- Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, depending on the facts of the case.8
- A boat's owner can ask a federal court to limit liability to the value of the boat after the accident. Once that case is filed, other lawsuits are generally stopped, and claims must be filed in the federal case by a court-set deadline.9
- Tickets for some passenger and charter boats may shorten the time to give notice of an injury claim or to file suit. For covered vessels, federal law sets minimum periods that a ticket cannot shorten.10
Frequently Asked Questions
My friend was at the helm when our boat hit a sandbar. Can I bring a claim?
Going out on the sound with friends doesn't rule out a claim against the one at the helm, if that person's mistakes caused the grounding. Whether a policy pays depends on who owns the boat and how it is insured. Talk it over with a lawyer before you say yes or no to anything.
The other boat kept going after it hit us. What now?
Tell SCDNR or whoever responds what you saw: a center console or a pontoon, the hull color, the motor and any name painted on the stern. Folks fishing off a dock or anchored at a sandbar may have caught a look too.
The other operator was charged with BUI. Does that take care of my claim?
No. A BUI charge moves on the state's own track, apart from anything you bring for your injuries. And trading calls with an insurer won't hold off a South Carolina filing deadline.7
I was hurt on a ferry or charter. Does my ticket matter?
It can. Tickets for some passenger and charter boats may shorten the time to give notice or file suit, though federal law sets minimum periods a ticket cannot shorten for covered vessels.10 Keep the ticket or booking and have a lawyer read it soon.
Sources
- 46 U.S.C. § 30106
- 28 U.S.C. § 1333; Foremost Ins. Co. v. Richardson, 457 U.S. 668 (1982); Sisson v. Ruby, 497 U.S. 358 (1990)
- 46 U.S.C. §§ 30501 et seq.; Supplemental Admiralty Rule F
- S.C. Code § 50-21-130
- S.C. Code § 50-21-130 (as amended by 2008 Act No. 321)
- S.C. Code § 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-20 and 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-110 and 15-78-120
- 46 U.S.C. §§ 30523 and 30529 (formerly §§ 30505 and 30511; renumbered by Pub. L. 117-263 in 2022); Supplemental Admiralty Rule F
- 46 U.S.C. § 30526
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
