All motorcycle drivers and passengers in New Orleans are required to wear a helmet. Although helmets have been proven to greatly reduce the risk of personal injury and death in motorcycle accidents, Louisiana is one of only nineteen states requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. Nationally, about one in seven motor vehicle fatalities in 2011 involved motorcycle accidents, with approximately 4,500 bikers killed while using motorcycles. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA) offers even more surprising findings. While annual passenger vehicle fatalities declined by approximately 5% from 1997 to 2008, over the same time period the number of annual deaths in motorcycle accidents more than doubled. Motorcyclist fatalities again rose slightly in 2010, while fatalities in car accidents have generally continued to decline. Overall, the NHSTA has determined that per mile traveled, a motorcyclist is approximately 30 times more likely than someone in a car to die in a motor…Read More
In most New Orleans personal injury lawsuits arising from motor vehicle accidents, your attorney will attempt to obtain compensation from the insurance company of the party that injured you. Sometimes, however, the responsible party either may not have insurance or may not carry adequate insurance to cover the damages suffered. This may result in your being unable to obtain full compensation for the injuries. You can help protect yourself from having this happen by carrying uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage as part of your own auto insurance policy. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage provides insurance coverage for the occupants of a vehicle involved in a collision with another vehicle that is either not insured or does not carry enough insurance to compensate for the bodily injuries suffered. Insurance companies are required by law to offer you the option of choosing this coverage as part of your auto insurance policy. Moreover, because Louisiana has a…Read More
New Orleans motor vehicle injury accidents involving newer model cars and other passenger vehicles may have valuable information stored on a data recorder – often referred to as a “black box” – installed by the manufacturer. These recorders have been in use on some vehicles since the 1990s and were in place on approximately 92{d37eae5b8410ed8fb22098597e6ecfa689963c7e8a6548fdf24949bed3e82123} of 2010 passenger size vehicles. They typically only hold a few seconds of data at a time and may contain information regarding issues such as vehicle speed, braking and the use of seatbelts in the seconds before a crash. The federal government has never mandated that this technology be included in all vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), however, has decided to enact rules to standardize the type and quality of data recorded when a black box is installed. These new regulations took effect on September 1, 2012. Previously, there was no federal…Read More
Many residents of New Orleans easily make do with an older car. After all, if the car is running well, there may be little point in spending the money to replace it. Unfortunately, a study has revealed that driving an older model car actually increases the likelihood of suffering a personal injury in a motor vehicle accident. Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued the results of its study regarding whether vehicle safety improvements in newer vehicles have helped prevent personal injury and fatal accidents. The study, entitled “An Analysis of Recent Improvements to Vehicle Safety,” involved a detailed statistical analysis of motor vehicle accidents to determine the relationship, if any, between safety improvements and the historically low motor vehicle accident injury and fatality rates documented the last few years. While it is not surprising that new features have made vehicles safer, in some cases the degree of improvement…Read More
As experienced personal injury attorneys practicing in New Orleans, we try to keep up to date on issues related to motor vehicle safety. Collisions involving trucks pose obvious and extreme danger to those in passenger vehicles, and – in our opinion – additional steps should be taken to protect motorists from these very large vehicles. Over a year ago, we discussed a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) on the effectiveness of truck underride guards. Recently, the federal government confirmed that it has been studying the issue and is considering new regulations. Underride guards are the metal bars that can be seen hanging down along the rear of tractor trailers. Their purpose is to stop smaller motor vehicles from sliding underneath the trailer in a collision. Without the guard, the front of many passenger vehicles can slide right under the trailer, causing the brunt of the…Read More
At the time, she was not injured. But, now she’s having neck, back and pain hip. Is it too late for her to file a lawsuit? Sorry that your girlfriend was injured in a car accident. According to La. Civ. Code art. 3492, Statutes of limitations are laws that set time limits on how long you have to file a “civil” lawsuit, like a personal injury lawsuit. These time limits usually depend on the legal claim involved in a case. As a general rule: The time period begins to run on the date your claim arises or “accrues,” like the day of the car accident. Once the statute of limitations has expired or “run,” you can’t file a lawsuit. We highly recommend that your girlfriend contact an attorney as soon as possible. For a free consultation, contact the Gertler Law Firm at (504) 527-8767.Read More
As New Orleans personal injury attorneys, we have a great deal of experience suing drunk drivers and are well aware of the devastation that these drivers cause to innocent people. In an effort to control drunk driving, laws have become increasingly strict over the last two decades. Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that even stronger laws be put in place to help eliminate motor vehicle accidents caused by drunk drivers. Of the NTSB’s nineteen proposals, perhaps the most dramatic is a recommendation that states lower the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit – currently .08{d37eae5b8410ed8fb22098597e6ecfa689963c7e8a6548fdf24949bed3e82123} in Louisiana – to .05{d37eae5b8410ed8fb22098597e6ecfa689963c7e8a6548fdf24949bed3e82123}. In support of this recommendation, they cite research indicating that at .05{d37eae5b8410ed8fb22098597e6ecfa689963c7e8a6548fdf24949bed3e82123} most drivers experience a decline in both visual acuity and cognitive functions, greatly increasing the risk of a personal injury accident. Outside of the U.S., many countries – including Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Israel, Italy,…Read More
Motorcycle enthusiasts in the New Orleans area are probably aware that Louisiana is one of several states that have gone back and forth on the issue of whether motorcyclists should be required to wear helmets. Louisiana currently requires all motorcyclists to wear helmets, although efforts to repeal this law are ongoing. The ability of motorcycle helmets to prevent death or traumatic brain injury arising from a blow to the head has been well established. One argument presented against helmets, however, arises from a 25 year old study that found the weight of a helmet could cause significant torque on the neck during an accident, injuring the spine and potentially leading to paralysis. A study conducted by the John Hopkins University School of Medicine, however, indicates that this study is incorrect. The John Hopkins’ study reviewed information in the National Trauma Databank regarding more than 40,000 motorcycle collisions between 2002 and…Read More
When a New Orleans injury auto accident occurs, the party at fault is responsible for paying any damages arising from the collision. Although which driver is responsible for the accident usually must be decided by a judge or jury, if the injured party is struck from behind liability is usually easily established. In Louisiana, a driver is presumed to have been negligent if he collides with the rear of a vehicle ahead of him. When this situation occurs, it is assumed that the rearward driver either did not leave sufficient space between the vehicles to allow for making a safe stop under normal driving conditions, or he or she failed to pay proper attention to the events taking place ahead. Because of this presumption, the injured party no longer has the burden of proving the rear driver was negligent. Instead, the burden is placed on rear driver to prove that…Read More
Most personal injury automobile accidents that occur on New Orleans’ streets are the fault of another driver and are not the responsibility of any government agency that maintains the roads. While the laws of Louisiana require the Department of Transportation and Development to keep roads and shoulders in a reasonably safe condition, they are not responsible for guaranteeing the safety of everyone who uses a public roadway. Occasionally, however, personal injury accidents are caused by a road that has been constructed or maintained in a way that was not reasonably safe for motorists. When this occurs, the injured party may be able to pursue damages from the party responsible for building or maintaining the road. Louisiana Revised Statute 48 § 35 requires the Department of Transportation and Development to adopt minimum safety standards with respect to highway and bridge design, construction and maintenance. The safety standards are modeled upon those…Read More
