Progressives and bars agree to $1 million after drunk driving accident in South Carolina that left bride dead on wedding night

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (AP) — The husband of a bride who died in a road accident on a South Carolina beach road on her wedding night last year is set to receive nearly $1 million in compensation in connection with the crash, which was allegedly caused by a drunken driver.

Under a settlement approved earlier this week by Charleston County District Court Judge Roger Young, Aric Hutchinson will receive about $863,300 from Folly Beach bars The Drop In Bar & Deli, The Crab Shack and Snapper Jacks, auto insurance company Progressive and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, according to The Post and Courier newspaper.

Hutchinson sued the companies after driver Jamie Lee Komoroski drove a rental vehicle into a golf cart carrying Hutchinson and his new bride, 34-year-old Samantha Miller, from their wedding reception on April 28, 2023.

The golf cart was thrown 300 feet. Miller died at the scene, still wearing her wedding dress. Hutchinson survived with a brain injury and several broken bones. Komoroski was driving 65 miles per hour on a 25-mile-per-hour road, the newspaper reported.

Hutchinson alleged in the wrongful death lawsuit that Komoroski walked through several bars around Folly Beach “slurring and staggering” before speeding in her Toyota Camry with a blood-alcohol concentration of more than three times the legal limit.

The settlement amount is $1.3 million, but after legal fees and court costs, the amount will be less.

Komoroski is free on bail while her case is heard in court. In September, she was charged with driving while intoxicated causing death, vehicular manslaughter and two counts of driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily harm.

The agreement could exacerbate the already difficult alcohol liability insurance market in South Carolina, where many dining establishments have had to close due to high insurance costs.

A report from the state Department of Insurance noted that the coverage is extremely unprofitable for insurers. Critics blame a 2017 law that requires most establishments that sell alcohol to carry $1 million in liability insurance. Others say South Carolina’s joint and several liability law makes it too risky for insurers to cover bars, restaurants and convenience stores, while still others argue that the state has more than its fair share of drunk driving cases.

Photo: Samantha Miller and her future groom Aric Hutchinson in an undated photo. (Family photo via AP, File)

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

subjects
South Carolina