First Steps After a Boating Injury
Get medical help first. If you're stuck in a hospital bed, someone close to you can take care of most of this.
- Call for help. Dial 911 or use the radio on the water. Tell the ER exactly how you were hurt, and keep every appointment after that.
- Get the operator's details. That means the operator's name and address and the boat's registration numbers. Someone can photograph the hull numbers.
- Make sure it's reported. South Carolina requires certain boating accidents to be reported to the Department of Natural Resources. The operator generally has to help anyone hurt if it's safe, exchange information in writing and make that report.5 The statute calls for a report within 48 hours, and immediate notice when someone dies, loses consciousness or is seriously hurt.4
- Note the location. Write down the nearest channel marker, bridge, dock or landmark, or drop a pin on your phone.
- Photos. Your injuries first; after that, the boats, the conditions on the water and the sky.
- Keep the gear. Hold on to broken life jackets, tow ropes, tubes and clothing.
Boating Around the Grand Strand
People get hurt on the Intracoastal Waterway behind Myrtle Beach, in Murrells Inlet and Little River Inlet, and offshore. Summer brings rental jet skis, pontoon boats, charters and kayaks into the same busy water.
Which Law Applies and When
When federal maritime law covers an injury, the general time to sue is three years.1 Whether it covers yours depends on where and how the accident happened; navigability is a legal question, not just whether a boat can float there.2
If South Carolina law applies instead, most injury lawsuits must be filed within three years.6 That limit is for a lawsuit, and an insurance claim doesn't pause it.7 If a state or local agency is responsible for an operator, a different deadline applies, and it can be shorter.8
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Tickets, Charters and Rentals
Tickets for some passenger and charter boats may shorten the time to give notice or to sue, and for covered vessels federal law sets minimum periods a ticket can't cut.9 A rental or a casual trip may fall outside those protections. Keep your ticket or rental paperwork and have a lawyer read it soon.
Our page on boating injuries across South Carolina has more.
Talk With Us
Many boating injuries start as a good day with friends or family, which can make a claim hard to think about. We start by listening to what happened on the water, and we'll be straight with you about your options. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us.
We take cases across South Carolina, including Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand. Our office is on King Street in Charleston. The first conversation can happen by phone.
If a boat or part failed, see product injuries in Myrtle Beach.
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
- 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.9
- 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.10
Frequently Asked Questions
My friend was driving the boat. Can I still make a claim?
Possibly. It depends on what caused the crash, who owns the boat and what insurance covers it. A lawyer can walk through it with you before you decide what to do.
The other boat took off. What should I do?
Tell the responding officers what you saw of that boat: its color, size, engine and any lettering on the hull. People on nearby boats, docks or the shore may have seen it too, so get their names and numbers.
The other driver was arrested for boating under the influence. Does that decide my claim?
No. A BUI charge runs on its own track, apart from any injury claim, and a lawyer can explain how the two relate. Negotiating with an insurance company won't pause the time to file suit.7
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. § 30526
- 46 U.S.C. §§ 30523 and 30529 (formerly §§ 30505 and 30511; renumbered by Pub. L. 117-263 in 2022); Supplemental Admiralty Rule F
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
