AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- PROCEDURE GENERALLY -- DECISIONS, SPECIAL FINDINGS AND ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGES

This bill modifies South Carolina's personal injury laws by formally adding the legal concept of "assumption of risk" to the existing rule of comparative negligence. Under the current law, a person can still win a lawsuit even if they were partly at fault, but their compensation is reduced by their percentage of negligence. The proposed change explicitly states that a plaintiff's decision to assume a known risk, or the fact that a danger was obvious, will not completely block them from receiving damages. Instead, the court will simply reduce the final award amount to reflect the injured person's share of responsibility for the incident. This update applies to all future cases involving personal injury, death, or property damage.