On February 21, 2008, Wilbur Albert Jackson a resident of Hardeeville, South Carolina, was asked by a neighbor to pick up some milk. Wilbur left immediately at about 2:00am and drove to a nearby convenience store, purchased the milk and continued to drive back to his home.

At this time the defendant, Jason Lamar Padgett, was attempted to back his 18 wheeler into his driveway when it became jackknifed across U.S. highway 321 leaving no lights or warning signals blocking Wilbur’s return route.

Proceeding home with the milk, Mr. Jackson was unaware that the trailer, with inadequate warning signals, was obstructing traffic struck and ran under it. In doing so, the roof of his Honda Accord was ripped off and he was trapped for two and a half hours.

Mr. Jackson was extracted and airlifted to the trauma unit of Savannah Memorial Hospital, where he underwent extensive treatment for a severe head contusion, skin abrasions, chest trauma, and pain, trauma to upper and lower extremities, deformity to the digits of the left hand, numerous glass cuts, and severe burns to his flesh caused by contact with exhaust pipes.

In documents filed on December 6th, 2007, with the Beaufort County Circuit Court, the Estate of Harold S. Dees, Jr. verses Lane Construction and other was settled in the amount of Four Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($425,000.00). The Circuit Court approved the settlement reached by the parties as a result of mediation.

The late Mr. Dees was riding his motorcycle to work on November 8th, 2004, when he attempted to turn into Palmetto Bluff where he was a security officer. The Dees family alleged that Lane Construction was negligent in its paving construction by leaving a several inch rise in the pavement and by not providing appropriate warnings. The motorcycle tire failed to negotiate the rise while turning into Palmetto Bluff causing Mr. Dees to crash and sustain injuries which ultimately resulted in his death almost two years later. Lane Construction denied any fault.

The Dees family was represented by E. John Daugs and Jared Newman, both of Port Royal, South Carolina. Mr. Daugs reported that the family was pleased with the settlement and to have the litigation ended.

On June 8, 1991, Christopher Allen Looper was riding his 1978 Harley Davidson in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina when an Air Force bus collided with him. The bus entered his lane of travel near the intersection of South Ocean Boulevard and Springmaid Pier Road. He was struck by a twenty-eight passenger blue Air Force bus.

This case was tried in front of United States Federal District Judge C. Weston Houck of Charleston in late December, 1994. The testimony in court centered around the fact that the bus was being driven by an Air National Guardsman and first time visitor to Myrtle Beach. He and his associates had been consuming Hot Wings and beer.

Looper suffered extensive physical injuries as a result of the accident. He sustained fractures of his collar bone, the right elbow with a loss of two centimeters of bone, the left wrist and thumb, a fracture of his little finger, his right thigh, right heel and fractures of the toes to his right foot. He also suffered a fracture of his pubic bone, his sacrum, and his pelvis. In addition to the many fractures, Looper suffered a serious contusion of the kidney, multiple abrasions, and burns to approximately 3 percent of his body resulting in permanent scarring and disfigurement. Accordingly, the court ordered damages be paid by the government to Mr. Looper in the amount of $2,744,568.82.

Looper was represented in this case by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists attorney E. John Daugs. Mr. Daugs is the A.I.M. attorney for South Carolina, and has been since the inception of the Aid to Injured Motorcyclists program.