Imagine the following scenario: you are involved in a fender-bender in the parking lot of the grocery store. Your car is taken to the body shop for repairs. Since you need transportation to get to work and other places in the mean time, you rent a car from the local…
Accidents happen and when they do people wonder just how much can be considered when calculating damages. Many wonder “what happens when someone who is already injured is in an accident?” What’s more, if someone already had a bad knee, for example, can the defendant be held responsible for further…
Distracted driving is a huge problem in Louisiana. In fact, according to a study of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, at any given time, at least one of every eleven cars on the road is driven by someone using a cell phone. The Study was commissioned by the legislature in…
According to a recent study published by the Road Information Program (a nonprofit group that evaluates highway data), Louisiana has the second highest auto fatality rate in the nation. In 2008, Louisiana had 2.02 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled. Montana was the one state with more deaths, at…
Under Louisiana law, police officers, troopers, and sheriff’s deputies have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect the general public from dangerous situations on the road. This responsibility commonly includes removing foreign objects from the roadway or securing car accident scenes to ensure no further collisions occur. In general,…
Under Louisiana law, the doctrine of sudden emergency is a defense available to a defendant who is confronted with a sudden and unexpected situation of danger and who responds as a reasonably prudent person would under the circumstances. The doctrine serves to limit the defendant’s liability even if it is…
The issue of whether a defendant breached a duty of care owed to the plaintiff in a negligence case is settled by examining the events that occurred in connection with the accident. Unfortunately for many plaintiffs, specific details about the defendant’s conduct may not be readily available and, absent some…
Two tragic interstate car accidents during the weekend of April 9 through the 11th took three lives along Interstates 10 and 55 in two Louisiana Parishes. An Illinois man passed away on Interstate 10 in St. John Baptist Parish after his SUV was struck by a speeding car on Friday,…
Determining fault is central to the resolution of every negligence case. Typically, the plaintiff alleges the defendant’s fault, and it is up to the court to determine whether the plaintiff has carried this burden. In the event that more than just one party was responsible for causing a particular accident,…
Louisiana’s Supreme Court, in an April 2007 opinion, expounded on the vast discretion an appellate court is to give to a jury’s verdict on review. From December 2000 to January 2001, Thurman and Rosemary Kaiser, a married couple in their mid-70s, were involved in three auto accidents – one in…