Articles Tagged with car collision

louisiana highwayJust a few months ago, many states began implementing stay-at-home orders due to the Coronavirus outbreak. As a result of more people staying at home, the number of commuters on the road drastically dropped. With less traffic and congestion on our highways, one would think that the number of motor vehicle accidents also plummeted. But, the truth is the exact opposite of what you would believe.

The National Safety Council reported that the number of motor vehicle fatalities per mile driven increased by 14% in March 2020 compared with March 2019. Although the number of miles driven dropped by over 18%, these deadly accidents continued to increase. In March 2019, the mileage death rate per 100 million miles driven was 1.07. Comparably, this number rose to 1.22 in March of this year. This includes drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclist.

cardone_accident-300x159Police are investigating the case of a local woman who suffered a gunshot injury to her thigh on Thursday in New Orleans East on 14700 Chef Menteur Hwy.

 According to the police report, a civilian in a private vehicle was transporting the victim to the hospital when a car accident subsequently ensued.

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Sometimes you are injured in a crash through absolutely no fault of your own. Another driver does something ill-advised and negligent, and there is nothing you can do to avoid the collision. When that happens, you’ll probably want to seek compensation in court and you’ll likely argue that the other driver was 100% at fault and 100% liable for your damages.

In a case like that, the defendant driver and/or their auto insurance company may argue that you, the injured plaintiff, were actually to blame for the accident, at least in part. All drivers in Louisiana are required to drive at a safe speed, keep a proper lookout and keep their vehicles under control at all times. A defendant driver may try to claim, in an effort to reduce their damages (or avoid them entirely,) that you failed to do one or more of those required things. When that happens, you need an experienced Louisiana injury attorney to help you defeat those arguments.

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When you go to court seeking compensation for the injuries you suffered in an auto accident, there are a few things you should expect. You should expect a reasonable opportunity to present admissible evidence and make relevant arguments. You should also expect a fair trial decided by an impartial judge. Sometimes, though, what should happen isn’t necessarily what does happen. When it comes to your right to a fair trial in your injury lawsuit, it is best to be sure you have a skilled Louisiana injury attorney on your side protecting you and will know how to act if bias becomes an issue.

Bias by a judge can take many different forms. It can be subtle or obvious. It may involve bias against you or bias against your legal counsel. Whatever it is, if it gives the appearance that it deprived you of a fair trial, it may be enough to get you a new trial.

You’re sitting at a red light after a long day at work, eager to get home to your loved ones. It’s beautiful weather outside and you have you have the windows rolled down. This is going to be a great weekend.

Suddenly, you hear screeching wheels. You glance in your rearview mirror and all you see is an SUV roaring towards you. There’s little you can do before your body and neck are launched forward. The pain has only begun…

The Causeway Bridge has been described as long, scary and an engineering masterpiece. While the bridge may be all those things and more, the condition of the bridge has been a concern for years.

On August 8th, the bridge was closed in both directions for hours due to an auto accident. According to preliminary reports, Michael Gibson clipped Joey Leblanc’s truck from the rear during the process of a lane change. After riding the rails, Leblanc’s truck eventually plunged into Lake Pontchartrain. This was a very serious auto accident which could have resulted in severe injuries, however, the Leblanc was fortunately rescued by police officers.

We have the pleasure of representing a family who lost their mother in a tragic car accident with a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s deputy. The car accident occurred on April 11, 2016, approximately 4 months ago – and to date, the family has been denied access to the vehicle, denied access to the findings of the investigation and denied access to any other evidence. The Sheriff’s Office has still not returned their mother’s vehicle to the family, nor granted the family access to view the vehicle. This begs the question, is 4 months a reasonable time period to withhold evidence from a family who is seeking answers?

The Sheriff’s Office has declined to allow the family access to the evidence and information they are seeking based on La. R.S. § 44:3. La. R.S. § 44:3 is a special law in Louisiana which allows the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney to deny access to evidence “pertaining to a pending criminal litigation or any criminal litigation which can be reasonably anticipated…” Per our communications with the Sheriff’s Office, it is standard operating procedure for every accident involving a deputy to be presented to the District Attorney’s Office. Once presented to the District Attorney’s Office, the reviewing attorney will determine whether anyone involved in the accident will be prosecuted. Other than this law, their are no other guidelines which govern the timeliness of an accident investigation or the District Attorney’s review period.

If Driver A tries to pass Driver B while B is making a left turn and a collision results, who is at-fault for the accident? At an intersection with a green light, when Driver B is turning left and collides with oncoming Driver A, who is traveling straight, who is at-fault for that accident? Under Louisiana Law it is Driver B, the left-turning driver, who is presumed to be at fault for both. However, the left-turning driver does have the opportunity to overcome this presumption of fault.

A left-turning driver may only be free from fault when he executed his turn after first ascertaining that the turn can be executed safely and without danger to the normal overtaking or oncoming traffic. Thus, the left-turning driver must always yield to the right-of-way of other vehicles. Accordingly, the left-turning vehicle must properly and timely signal that he is turning left and also check traffic behind him and traffic that is oncoming. Only then can he assert that he is free from fault if there is a collision between him and the passing vehicle. Ponthieu v. Dubroc, 108 So.2d 25 (La. Ct. App. 1958)

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