Driving while you’re feeling tired may seem innocuous, but in reality, it’s about as dangerous as driving drunk. Drowsy drivers have many of the same impairments drunk drivers do, including:
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 3,986 people perished in large truck crashes in 2016. Out of that total, 66 percent were occupants of cars and other passenger-type vehicles.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), along with individual states, sets clear safety regulations for all commercial vehicles that must be followed in order for 18-wheelers to operate within each state. However, when commercial trucking companies choose to forgo proper protocols by ignoring or barely enforcing these safety regulations, the risk of serious motor vehicle accidents increases – meaning you may have to pay for it.
Spring break is just around the corner, and that means plenty of college students will be rushing to get to the nearest beach, families will be heading out on road trips, and everyday drivers will be trying to get to-and-back from work safely. During this time of year, highways can become more congested as drivers from all walks of life will be out on the roads.
Unfortunately, Spring Break is also one of the most dangerous times for “Spring Break” counties that draw in more crowds. A 2015 study published in the Economic Inquiry found that fatal traffic accidents jumped by nearly 10% in certain regions, with a significant proportion of these accidents involving out-of-state drivers. These are troubling statistics for students and families who are planning to travel outside of the state in the next few weeks.
This particular stretch of the highway always takes forever, you think to yourself, creeping slowly behind one of many other vehicles stuck in rush hour traffic. To your relief, you see your exit up ahead, about a mile away.
The constant pumping of your brakes and the accelerator pedal seems rhythmic, and you begin to space out from your surroundings. Before you know it, you missed your exit completely, and have no real idea why.
Winter storm Inga was devastating to Louisiana and the Gulf Coast area, spreading its arctic touch from deep South Texas all the way to Florida. The weather blanketed the South in snow and ice, closing down highways, causing hundreds of crashes – and tragically – several deaths.
Louisiana alone saw four confirmed deaths including a fire official who was fatally injured on Wednesday, January 17th, when a pickup truck pulling a trailer lost control and struck the chief. The individual was investigating a previous crash. In Metairie, an 8-month-old infant was tragically killed when the vehicle plunged into a canal. The crash was attributed to icy roads.
Tragedy befell commuters in DeSoto Parish that ultimately changed many lives in Bunkie, LA.
Shortly before 7 p.m. on December 22, 2017, 24-year-old Bunkie native Hudson Lyles Bain, traveling in his 2011 GMC pickup, rear-ended the back of an 18-wheeler on I-49 for reasons yet to be determined.
While many families all throughout Louisiana were enjoying the festivities of this past holiday season, one community was having to suffer through a horrible loss. Just a few days prior to Christmas, 15-year old Kristyn Hoffpauir of Winn Parish and her mother, Kandance B. Hoffpauir, were involved in a single-vehicle fatal accident.
The teenage driver and her mother were traveling northbound on US Highway 71 when the younger Hoffpauir lost control of the vehicle, exited the roadway, then collided with a road sign and concrete retaining wall located on a creek bank. The young girl was pronounced dead at the scene while her mother was seriously injured and transported to Rapides Regional Trauma Center.
Louisiana Injury Lawyers Blog