Pickup trucks are everywhere on Charleston’s roads, from the Lowcountry’s busy US Highway 17 corridor to the neighborhoods near North Charleston and Summerville. These vehicles are large, heavy, and ride high off the ground, which makes them especially dangerous in crashes involving children. When a child is hurt in a pickup truck wreck, the physical, emotional, and financial toll on a family can be overwhelming. A personal injury lawyer at Steinberg Law Firm understands what families in the Charleston area face after these crashes, and we are here to help you take the right steps toward protecting your child’s rights.

Table of Contents

• Why Pickup Trucks Pose a Greater Risk of Serious Injury to Children
• South Carolina’s Child Passenger Safety Laws and How They Apply to Pickup Truck Crashes
• Common Injuries Children Suffer in Pickup Truck Crashes
• Who Can Be Held Liable When a Child Is Injured in a Pickup Truck Crash in South Carolina
• Damages Available in a Child Injury Claim After a Pickup Truck Wreck
• What to Do After a Child Is Injured in a Pickup Truck Crash in Charleston
• South Carolina’s Statute of Limitations for Child Injury Claims
• FAQs About Child Injuries in Pickup Truck Accidents in Charleston, SC

Why Pickup Trucks Pose a Greater Risk of Serious Injury to Children

Pickup trucks are not designed with child occupant safety as a primary concern. Their frames sit significantly higher than passenger cars, which means the force of a collision is transferred directly into the passenger cabin at a different angle than smaller vehicles. In a side-impact or T-bone crash, a child seated in a pickup truck cab absorbs that impact at chest or head height, where the consequences can be catastrophic.

The sheer weight of a full-size pickup truck also matters. A loaded Ford F-150 or RAM 1500 can weigh over 5,000 pounds. When that mass collides with another vehicle, the energy transfer is enormous. Children’s bodies are smaller and still developing, which means their bones, organs, and nervous systems are far more vulnerable to traumatic force than an adult’s.

Children riding as passengers in pickup trucks face additional hazards specific to the vehicle’s design. Many pickup trucks have only a single row of seating, placing children in the front cab near the dashboard and airbag system. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards under 49 CFR Part 571 require that airbag systems meet specific injury criteria for child test dummies, including strict head injury thresholds. However, even when airbags function within those standards, the deployment force can injure a small child who is not properly restrained or is seated too close to the bag.

Children riding in the bed of a pickup truck face an even more serious danger. South Carolina law and the Governors Highway Safety Association both recommend that passengers ride only in seating areas equipped with seat belts, and that children should never ride in the cargo areas of pickup trucks. A sudden stop, rollover, or crash can eject a child from an open truck bed with fatal results. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Traffic Safety Marketing data, in 2024, almost half, 45%, of the children killed while riding in light pickup trucks were unrestrained. That statistic alone shows how dangerous it is when proper restraints are not used in these vehicles.

South Carolina’s Child Passenger Safety Laws and How They Apply to Pickup Truck Crashes

South Carolina law sets clear, enforceable rules for how children must be secured in any motor vehicle, including pickup trucks. Under South Carolina law, Section 56-5-6410, every driver of a motor vehicle, including a passenger car, pickup truck, van, or recreational vehicle, operated on the highways and streets of the state when transporting a child under eight years of age must properly secure the child in the vehicle.

The law breaks down by age and size. An infant or child under two years of age must be properly secured in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system in a rear passenger seat of the vehicle until the child exceeds the height or weight limit allowed by the manufacturer of the seat. Children two years and older must be in a forward-facing restraint with a harness until exceeding the manufacturer’s height and weight limit, and children four years and older who outgrow the forward-facing child restraint must be in a belt-positioning booster using lap and shoulder belts until the child is at least eight years old or at least 57 inches tall.

South Carolina law requires children to be in an approved safety seat until they reach the age of eight or a height of 57 inches. This requirement applies fully to pickup trucks. However, if a motor vehicle lacks a rear passenger seat, or if all of its rear seating positions are occupied by children under eight years of age, a child under eight years of age may be transported in the front seat of the motor vehicle if the child is secured properly in an appropriate child passenger restraint system or belt-positioning booster seat. Many single-cab pickup trucks fall into this category, making proper restraint selection critical.

When a driver fails to follow these rules and a child is hurt in a crash, that failure can be used as evidence of negligence in a personal injury claim. A pickup truck accident lawyer at Steinberg Law Firm can investigate whether a restraint violation contributed to the severity of your child’s injuries.

Common Injuries Children Suffer in Pickup Truck Crashes

Children injured in pickup truck wrecks often suffer more severe harm than adults in the same crash. Their bodies are smaller, their bones are softer, and their heads are proportionally larger relative to their bodies, which increases the risk of traumatic brain injury even in moderate-speed collisions.

Traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, are among the most serious outcomes. A child’s developing brain is especially sensitive to sudden acceleration and deceleration forces. Even when a child appears uninjured immediately after a wreck, swelling or bleeding inside the skull can develop over hours or days. Symptoms like confusion, vomiting, or unusual sleep patterns after a crash should always be evaluated by a doctor immediately.

Spinal cord injuries are another grave concern. A pickup truck’s higher ride height means that in a side-impact crash, the door structure strikes a child passenger at a different point than it would in a car. Crush injuries to the chest and abdomen, broken bones, facial injuries, and internal organ damage are all well-documented outcomes of high-energy pickup truck collisions.

In passenger cars, car seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants and by 54% for toddlers one to four years old. For infants and toddlers in light trucks, the corresponding reductions are 58% and 59%, respectively. These numbers confirm that proper restraint use saves lives, but they also show that even in the best-case scenario, significant risk remains. When a crash is caused by a negligent driver, the injuries a child suffers can form the basis of a serious personal injury claim.

Long-term consequences are common in child injury cases. A child who suffers a brain injury or spinal damage may require years of rehabilitation, special education support, and ongoing medical care. These future costs must be accounted for in any claim, and they require the attention of an attorney who understands how to calculate long-term damages for a child victim.

Who Can Be Held Liable When a Child Is Injured in a Pickup Truck Crash in South Carolina

Liability in a pickup truck crash involving a child can extend beyond just the driver who caused the wreck. South Carolina personal injury law allows injured parties to pursue claims against every party whose negligence contributed to the crash or the severity of the child’s injuries.

The at-fault driver is the most obvious responsible party. A driver who was speeding on Interstate 26 near the North Charleston area, running a red light at an intersection on Rivers Avenue, or driving while distracted on US Highway 17 near Mount Pleasant can be held accountable for the harm they cause. South Carolina follows a modified comparative negligence standard, meaning an injured party can recover damages as long as they are not more than 50% at fault for the crash.

If the pickup truck was owned by a business, such as a construction company, landscaping company, or utility company, the employer may also bear liability under a legal doctrine called respondeat superior. This means an employer can be held responsible for the negligent acts of an employee who was driving the truck within the scope of their job duties.

Product liability claims may also apply. If a defective child safety seat, a faulty airbag system, or a structural failure in the pickup truck contributed to the child’s injuries, the manufacturer of that product may be a liable party. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards under 49 CFR Part 571 set minimum performance requirements for vehicle safety systems, and a failure to meet those standards can support a product liability claim.

In some cases, a government entity may bear partial responsibility. Poorly maintained roads, missing guardrails, or dangerous intersection designs near landmarks like the Don Holt Bridge or the Ravenel Bridge approaches can contribute to crashes. Claims against government entities in South Carolina are governed by the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, which imposes a two-year filing deadline rather than the standard three-year period. A truck accident lawyer at Steinberg Law Firm can identify all potentially liable parties and make sure no source of recovery is overlooked.

Damages Available in a Child Injury Claim After a Pickup Truck Wreck

When a child is seriously hurt in a pickup truck crash caused by someone else’s negligence, South Carolina law allows the family to seek compensation for a broad range of losses. These damages are paid from the settlement proceeds recovered from the at-fault party or parties.

Medical expenses are typically the most immediate concern. Emergency room treatment, surgery, hospitalization, imaging, and follow-up care can generate bills that run into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Future medical expenses, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and long-term care, are also recoverable and must be carefully documented and projected by medical and financial professionals.

Pain and suffering damages compensate the child for the physical pain and emotional trauma caused by the crash and the recovery process. These are non-economic damages, meaning they do not have a set dollar amount. The severity of the injuries, the length of recovery, and the impact on the child’s daily life all factor into this calculation.

A parent or guardian may also have their own separate claim for loss of consortium, which covers the loss of the parent-child relationship and the emotional distress caused by watching a child suffer. Additionally, if a parent had to miss work to care for an injured child, lost wages may be recoverable as well.

In cases where a child is killed in a pickup truck wreck, South Carolina’s wrongful death statute allows surviving family members to pursue compensation for funeral expenses, loss of companionship, and the emotional devastation of losing a child. These cases are among the most serious our firm handles, and we treat every family with the care and respect they deserve during one of the hardest times of their lives.

What to Do After a Child Is Injured in a Pickup Truck Crash in Charleston

The moments after a crash involving a child can be chaotic and terrifying. Knowing what steps to take protects both your child’s health and your family’s legal rights.

Call 911 immediately. Even if your child appears uninjured, internal injuries and brain trauma may not show visible symptoms right away. Emergency medical evaluation is essential. Under South Carolina Code Section 56-5-1230, any driver involved in a crash resulting in injury must render reasonable assistance, including arranging for medical transport if it appears necessary.

Document the scene if it is safe to do so. Photographs of the vehicles, the road conditions, any skid marks, traffic signals, and the surrounding area near the crash site can be critical evidence. If the wreck happened near a busy area like the intersection of Ashley Phosphate Road and I-26, or along the Savannah Highway corridor, there may be traffic cameras or business surveillance footage that your attorney can work to preserve.

Do not speak to any insurance company, including your own, before consulting with an attorney. Insurance adjusters are trained to minimize payouts, and any statement you make could be used to reduce the compensation your child deserves. This is true even if the adjuster seems helpful or sympathetic.

Contact Steinberg Law Firm as soon as possible. Every day in 2024, on average, two children under 14 were killed and 349 were injured in traffic crashes while riding in passenger vehicles, and a total of 677 children were killed in traffic crashes while riding in passenger vehicles in 2024, with over 127,000 injured. These are not just statistics. Each one represents a family that needed help. Our team is ready to stand by yours.

South Carolina’s Statute of Limitations for Child Injury Claims

Timing matters in every personal injury case, but child injury cases in South Carolina have specific rules that give families more time to act than standard adult claims. Understanding these rules is critical to protecting your child’s right to compensation.

For adult injury victims, South Carolina Code Section 15-3-530(5) sets a three-year deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit from the date of the injury. Missing that deadline means losing the right to seek compensation entirely.

For injured children, the rules are different. According to S.C. Code Ann. Section 15-3-40, plaintiffs may have the statute of limitations tolled if they were minors when the crash occurred or had a mental condition or disability that prevented them from understanding their rights or injuries. If a child was a minor when injured, the statute of limitations may be tolled until the child turns 18, meaning minor plaintiffs have three years from their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit.

Minors have until their 19th birthday or three years from the date of the injury, whichever is later. For instance, if a ten-year-old is injured in a car crash, the family has until the child turns 19 to file a claim, providing nine years instead of the usual three.

Even though the law gives families more time, waiting is never a good idea. Evidence disappears quickly. Surveillance footage is often overwritten within weeks. Witnesses move away or forget details. A car accident attorney at Steinberg Law Firm can begin preserving evidence and building your child’s case right away, giving your family the strongest possible foundation for recovery. Call us at 843-720-2800 for a free consultation.

FAQs About Child Injuries in Pickup Truck Accidents in Charleston, SC

Can I file a claim on behalf of my child if they were hurt in a pickup truck crash in South Carolina?

Yes. A parent or legal guardian can file a personal injury claim on behalf of an injured minor child in South Carolina. The claim is brought in the child’s name, and any settlement or judgment in a case involving a minor generally requires court approval to ensure the child’s interests are protected. An attorney can guide you through this process from start to finish.

What if my child was a passenger in the pickup truck that caused the crash?

Your child may still have a valid claim even if they were riding in the at-fault vehicle. In South Carolina, a child passenger’s right to recover compensation is generally not eliminated simply because the driver of the vehicle they were in was responsible for the crash. Depending on the circumstances, the claim might be made against the driver’s liability insurance or other available coverage. Do not assume your child has no rights simply because of who was driving.

How long does a pickup truck injury case involving a child take to resolve?

The timeline varies depending on the severity of the injuries, the number of parties involved, and whether the case settles or goes to trial. Cases involving children often take longer because it is important to fully understand the long-term impact of the injuries before settling, so that future medical costs and other needs are properly accounted for. Your attorney can give you a realistic timeline based on the specific facts of your case.

What if the pickup truck driver did not have insurance or did not have enough coverage?

South Carolina law requires drivers to carry minimum liability insurance, but not all drivers comply, and some carry only the minimum limits. If the at-fault driver was uninsured or underinsured, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may provide a source of recovery for your child’s injuries. An attorney can review all available insurance policies and identify every potential source of compensation.

Should I accept the insurance company’s first settlement offer for my child’s injuries?

No. First settlement offers from insurance companies are almost always lower than what a case is actually worth. This is especially true in child injury cases, where future medical needs, long-term rehabilitation, and pain and suffering can add up to far more than an insurer’s initial offer reflects. Before accepting any settlement for your child’s injuries, speak with an attorney at Steinberg Law Firm by calling 843-720-2800. We can evaluate the full value of your child’s claim and fight for the compensation your family deserves.