Effective January 1, 2010, Louisiana’s Compulsory Motor Vehicle Liability Security Law requires every motor vehicle registered in Louisiana to be insured with minimum limits of 15/30/25. La.R.S. 32:900.
15 = per person maximum for bodily injury or death in one accident
30 = maximum for bodily injury or death to two or more persons in one accident
On the morning of June 3, 2010, a 2008 Peterbilt 18 wheeler ran off I-55 and hit a tree, causing the big rig to jack-knife and catch on fire. The 29 year old driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
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On the evening of March 31, 2010, a distracted Louisiana truck driver allegedly caused a nine vehicle accident on Interstate 57 in Illinois, when the 18 wheeler he was operating rear-ended a vehicle in a construction zone. The Louisiana truck driver was allegedly looking down at a map when he encountered the slow moving traffic. Three people were killed when their SUV caught on fire. Thirteen people were hospitalized.
According to the United State Department of Transportation, there are three primary types of distracted driving: 1) visual or taking your eyes off the road; 2) manual or taking you hands of the wheel; and 3) cognitive or taking your mind off what you are doing. Examples of activities that distract drivers include texting, grooming, talking to passengers, eating and drinking, reading (including maps), watching electronic devices, using a cell phone and changing the radio station or other music player.
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Commercial truck drivers are required to undergo testing and licensure which involve attending a special school designed to teach the mechanics and attendant hazards of operating large rigs. Based upon that premise, a professional truck driver is a superior actor in the eyes of the law. Thus, with superior knowledge and training as a professional truck driver, he is held to a high standard of care to the motoring public. See Davis v. Witt, 2002-3102 (La.7/2/03), 851 So.2d 1119, 1128-29.
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Louisiana State Police Traffic Accident Crash Reports are now available online at the Louisiana State Police website. According to the LSP website, “you can easily find official reports for crashes that have occurred in every Parish across the state. Once you have found your report, you can see a limited preview and then purchase that report to see the entire document. After completing purchase of a report, you will be able to instantly download a permanent PDF copy of the complete report.” In order to search for an accident report, the user must enter the first and last name of the driver or pedestrian involved in the accident, the parish where the accident occurred, and the date of the accident. A log-in must be created to finalize the $11.50 credit card transaction.
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On my way back from a meeting in North Louisiana on Wednesday, March 31, 2010, I was detoured off of U.S. Highway 61 and around downtown St. Francisville, Louisiana, due to a overturned 18 wheeler that had spilled toxic and hazardous chemicals into the adjacent ditch in the middle of town. The 18 wheeler was traveling through a construction zone when its rear tires dropped off the pavement, resulting in a roll-over event. U.S. Highway 61 was closed for more than eight hours while emergency personnel cleaned up thousands of gallons of a 10 percent solution of sodium hypochlorite, a bleach and disinfectant. Four nearby homes were evacuated, but no injuries were reported. Since no injuries were reported, the 18 wheeler driver and company will most probably escape civil liability.
Prior to the 1996 Mike Foster Louisiana tort reform legislative package, transporters of toxic and hazardous materials were liable for punitive or exemplary damages for their wanton and reckless disregard for the safety of the public. So, prior to 1996, if the 18 wheeler driver whose big rig overturned and spilled toxic and hazardous chemicals in downtown St. Francisville, had acted recklessly in operating his 18 wheeler, he and the commercial company he worked for could be “punished” for spilling the chemicals even if no one was seriously injured. In this post-tort reform era, the 18 wheeler driver and company get off scot-free so long as no one is injured, and even if someone is injured, the drive rand company receive no additional punishment for the wanton and reckless conduct. Is this fair? Is the insulation of commercial carriers from punishment more important than the safety of the public? Perhaps our Legislature should revisit the 1996 changes to our law. In that vein, Senate Bill 547 has been introduced in the 2010 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature by Senator Robert Marionneaux, to enact Louisiana Civil Code article 2315.8, which is proposed to read as follows:
“In addition to general and special damages, exemplary damages may be awarded upon proof that the injuries on which the action is based were caused by a person’s willful and wanton misconduct.”
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The Louisiana Supreme Court on March 16, 2010, reversed in part and affirmed in part the matter of Brewer v. J.B. Hunt Transport, 2009-1408 c/w 2009-1428. Brewer was permanently and severely injured when his pick-up truck rear-ended and rode underneath an 18 wheeler on I-12 in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.
The Twenty-First Judicial District Court for the Parish of Livingston entered judgment on the jury verdict finding Brewer 100% at fault for the rear-end collision. The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal reversed based on the trial court’s legal error in allowing evidence of Brewer’s unrelated prior bad acts (pre-accident drug use and arrests) into evidence, and on de novo review, found Brewer 40% at fault for the rear-end collision and the 18 wheel tractor trailer driver 60% at fault for suddenly changing lanes in a construction zone and into Brewer’s lane of travel. The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal awarded a total of $10,677,634.93 in special damages and $2,500,000.00 in general damages for Brewer’s injuries, which included a traumatic injury to the right anterior temporal lobe of his brain, resulting in bed-wetting, seizures, short-term memory deficits, a lowered IQ, personality changes, and disinhibition.
The Louisiana Supreme Court found that the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal’s de novo review of the trial court judgment was inappropriate because the bad acts evidence was directly related to the central issue of damages and not to the central issue of liability, which was the basis for the jury’s ultimate conclusion. However, the Louisiana Supreme Court still determined that the jury’s allocation of fault between the parties was manifestly erroneous. The Louisiana Supreme Court reversed the allocation of fault and reassessed fault 70% to Brewer and 30% to the 18 wheel tractor trailer operator.
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A 2007 International 18-wheeler driver fell asleep and crossed the center line of Louisiana Highway 24 in Larose, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, killing a Dodge truck driver. The pick-up driver was unable to avoid the collision with the oncoming big rig. According to a study conducted by the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research, through interviews with randomly selected long-distance truck drivers, 47.1% had fallen asleep at the wheel at least once, and 25.4% within the last year.
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A pickup truck crossed the center line and collided head-on with Trace Adkins’ tour bus in Caddo Parish, Louisiana on February 13, 2010. The truck driver and his passenger were killed instantly. Five members of Trace Adkins’ band received minor injuries.
According to Baton Rouge, Louisiana truck injury lawyer, Scott Andrews, when a driver on the wrong side of the road collides with another vehicle which is in its correct lane of travel, there is a presumption that the driver on the wrong side of the road is at fault, and he is required to show that he committed no fault, however slight, that contributed to the accident. This is in line with the general duty that a motorist owes to the traveling public of remaining in his own lane of traffic. When he undertakes to enter the lane devoted to approaching traffic he must be held strictly accountable for all damages resulting therefrom unless he clearly exhibits that his conduct in no wise contributed to the accident. In order to be exonerated, he must establish his freedom from all fault by convincing proof. The trespassing motorist having caused the accident by leaving his own traffic lane, is presumed guilty of negligence and the onus rests on him to demonstrate that the accident resulted from such a state of unforeseeable circumstances beyond his control and to which he did not contribute, that he could not extricate himself, despite the efficient use of all protective measures at his command.
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Former chamber of commerce director and dean of a technical college in Opelousas, Louisiana was killed in an accident with a big rig on January 29, 2010. The truck accident occurred when an 18 wheeler exited I-49 onto U.S. 190 and drove past the stop sign and into the path of the car being operated by the former dean. The dean was taken to a hospital in Opelousas where he was pronounced dead.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), and the General Estimates System (GES), in 2006 there were 368,000 accidents involving large trucks. Of those, 77,000 accidents involved injuries and 4,321 accidents involved fatalities.
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Louisiana Injury Lawyer Blog