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Your Tyndall Personal Injury Attorney
An injury changes the pace of your days. Medical visits, paperwork and worry about money can crowd out everything else. If you were hurt in Tyndall because of another person’s actions, this page explains how South Dakota treats injury claims so you can plan your next step.
NeedAnAttorney.net is a matching service. It does not give legal advice about your case. What follows is general information about South Dakota injury law, taken from the text of the statutes, so you know which questions to ask. The form at the top of the page connects you with an attorney when you are ready.
Before You Hire: Questions For A Tyndall Attorney
Whoever you speak to, a few answers tell you a lot:
- The date. Ask the attorney to name the exact last day to file in your case. South Dakota’s general limit for a personal injury action is three years (SDCL § 15-2-14).
- Your share of fault. Ask how your own share of fault would affect your claim. In South Dakota your negligence does not bar a recovery when it was slight in comparison with the defendant’s, and damages are reduced in proportion (SDCL § 20-9-2).
- Special rules. Ask which special rules could apply. Punitive damages need a court finding first (SDCL § 21-1-4.1), and a claim against a public entity needs a written notice within 180 days (SDCL § 3-21-2).
- The money terms. Ask how fees are calculated and which costs come out of a recovery.
- The people. Ask who will be in touch with you and how quickly they return calls.
Common Kinds of Injury Claims
Vehicle crashes
Whether the collision was minor or serious, the same early steps help: get checked by a doctor, photograph the vehicles and the scene, exchange insurance information and keep any repair estimates.
Pedestrian and bicycle injuries
If a driver hit you while you were on foot or on a bike, note exactly where it happened, what the signals and lighting were like, and who saw it. Ask the people who stopped to leave their names and numbers.
Falls and unsafe property
Falls on someone else’s property usually depend on what the owner knew or should have known about the hazard. Photograph the spot before it changes, report the fall in writing, and keep the shoes you were wearing.
Wrongful death
If a loved one died because of another person’s wrongful act or omission, a different set of rules applies. South Dakota law has a wrongful death action brought in the name of the personal representative for the exclusive benefit of the spouse and children, or if there are none, the parents and next of kin (SDCL § 21-5-5), and the jury may award damages proportionate to the pecuniary injury resulting from the death (SDCL § 21-5-7). It is a heavy time to make decisions, and an attorney can explain the process at your pace.
Injured in Tyndall? Get matched with an attorney now.
If You Were Partly At Fault
Many people assume that a mistake of their own ends a claim. South Dakota law has a specific rule for it. Under SDCL § 20-9-2, contributory negligence does not bar a recovery when the plaintiff’s contributory negligence was slight in comparison with the negligence of the defendant, and in that case the damages are reduced in proportion to the plaintiff’s contributory negligence.
The statute does not define slight and gives no percentage, and it provides that the question is decided without telling the jury a percentage of the plaintiff’s fault by special interrogatory (SDCL § 20-9-2). Because one word carries so much weight, ask an attorney how courts have treated a share like yours.
Special Rules That Can Apply
Ask early whether a special rule applies to your claim. Punitive damages require the court finding described in SDCL § 21-1-4.1 and a showing of oppression, fraud or malice (SDCL § 21-3-2).
If a public entity or one of its employees caused the injury, a written notice is a condition of suing. No action for damages for personal injury, property damage, error, omission or death caused by a public entity or its employees may be maintained unless written notice of the time, place and cause of the injury is given within 180 days after the injury (SDCL § 3-21-2).
Time Limits To Know
Time limits decide many injury cases. The usual South Dakota rule is three years for an action for personal injury (SDCL § 15-2-14) and three years after the death for wrongful death (SDCL § 21-5-3). Missing the date usually ends the case.
A minor or a person who was mentally ill when the cause of action accrued may have more time. The period of the disability is not counted, although the extension cannot exceed five years for any disability except infancy and cannot run more than one year after the disability ceases (SDCL § 15-2-22). A minor or incapacitated person may also ask the court to allow late notice to a public entity, with the request made within two years of the event (SDCL § 3-21-4).
Insurance Minimums in South Dakota
An owner’s liability policy in South Dakota carries limits of $25,000 for bodily injury or death of one person in an accident, $50,000 for two or more people, and $25,000 for injury to or destruction of the property of others (SDCL § 32-35-70). Those are minimums, and a serious injury can cost far more.
Your own policy matters too. A policy insuring against bodily injury liability on a vehicle registered or principally garaged in the state must also provide uninsured and hit and run motorist coverage in limits equal to the policy’s bodily injury coverage, up to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident unless the insured requests more (SDCL § 58-11-9). Underinsured motorist coverage pays your uncompensated damages up to its limits, less what the other driver’s insurer paid, subject to the policy terms (SDCL § 58-11-9.5).
Courts and Hospitals in Tyndall
The Census Bureau counts Tyndall in Bon Homme County. Look up Bon Homme County in South Dakota Codified Law 16-5-1.2 and you find it in the First Circuit. St. Michael’s Hospital in Tyndall appears on the South Dakota Department of Health list of designated trauma hospitals as a designated trauma receiving hospital.
Keep copies of everything the hospital or clinic gives you, ask for an itemized bill, and note each appointment as it happens. If you moved between facilities, collect the records from each one.
How The Intake Process Works In Tyndall
Fill in the form at the top of this page. NeedAnAttorney.net reviews your details and works to match you with an attorney in our network who may handle cases in South Dakota. The form is free to use, and sending it does not mean you have hired anyone.
Meanwhile, jot down the facts while they are fresh: date, time, place, who was there, what care you have had and what work you have missed. Save every bill and every message from an insurer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if a city, county or the State caused my injury?
Yes. Written notice of the time, place and cause of the injury must be given within 180 days after the injury, and it does not extend the time to sue (SDCL § 3-21-2). It goes to the county auditor for a county, the mayor or city finance officer for a municipality, and the attorney general and the commissioner of human resources and administration for the State (SDCL § 3-21-3).
How long will my injury claim take?
There is no fixed time. Claims often wait until you finish treatment so the total losses are known, and cases that go to court take longer than ones that settle.
What is the South Dakota statute of limitations for an injury claim?
Generally three years (SDCL § 15-2-14). For a wrongful death, the limit is three years from the date of death (SDCL § 21-5-3).
Does South Dakota bar me from recovering if I share the blame?
Yes, as long as your negligence was slight in comparison with the defendant’s. The statute does not define slight, so ask an attorney how courts apply it (SDCL § 20-9-2).
Can I recover punitive damages in an injury case?
Sometimes. They are possible where the defendant was guilty of oppression, fraud or malice (SDCL § 21-3-2), and the court must first find, after a hearing and on clear and convincing evidence, a reasonable basis to believe the conduct was willful, wanton or malicious (SDCL § 21-1-4.1).
How much liability coverage must a South Dakota driver carry?
The limits are $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage (SDCL § 32-35-70).
What should I save for my claim?
Save treatment records and bills, photographs, the report number if there is one, pay stubs that show lost work, estimates for repairs, and every letter or email from an insurance company.
Do I have to give the other insurer a recorded statement?
Not right away. You may decline a recorded statement until you have talked to someone about your options, and saying so is fine.
Help Elsewhere in South Dakota
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