Lafayette, LA Personal Injury Law Blog

In Lafayette and throughout the country, the distraction of cell phone use among drivers has too often resulted in serious personal injuries. Distracted driving causes car accidents, and cell phones have been proven to be a major distraction rivaling drunkenness as a cause of crashes. That is why a law that was recently proposed in Louisiana seeks to limit cell phone use while driving to hands-free devices.

By introducing House Bill 787, Representative Regina Barrow of Baton Rouge hopes to reduce the number of car accidents due to cell phone use. The law would allow police officers to issue tickets to drivers who use their cell phones without a hands-free device. A ticket for such an offense would be issued if the driver is pulled over for another reason such as speeding or reckless driving.

Louisiana residents who are injured in a car accident due to the negligence of another driver have legal recourse to obtain compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and more. These options are likely on the mind of some people in St. Landry Parish after they suffered injuries as a result of what police say was a failure to yield on the roadway.

The collision happened just south of Opelousas at the intersection of Highway 182 and Montgomery Road. The crash left a driver and passenger in one car with serious injuries, while the driver and two passengers of the second car sustained minor to moderate injuries.

Lafayette residents may be interested in recent crash data showing that Louisiana has seen fewer fatalities in motorcycle accidents than in other auto accidents in recent years. For example, 217 fatal car accidents occurred in 2011 in Louisiana, compared to 68 fatal motorcycle accidents. Furthermore, the number of motorcycle fatalities has gone down compared to previous years. From 2009 to 2010, the number of motorcycle-related deaths decreased from 104 to 74. The statistics are interesting, especially since so many people have lately turned to motorcycles as a more economical mode of transportation.

According to a mechanical engineering student at LSU, the illusion of safety you feel in the closed quarters of a car disappears when you are on a motorcycle. That recognition of danger may account for the drop in fatalities, as motorcyclists exercise more caution.

Despite the perceived dangers confronted by all motorcyclists, even the LSU campus has experienced a significant drop in motorcycle accidents. Only three of the nearly 500 traffic accidents at LSU involved motorcycles, and in the past 15 years, there has been only one reported fatality.

Readers in Lafayette may be shocked to hear that car accidents involving pedestrians occur at the rate of twice a week in Louisiana. Remarkably, out of 272 drivers in Louisiana who hit and killed a pedestrian since Jan. 1, 2009, 233 were not given any type of citation, according to the LSU Highway Safety Research Group.

Many of these drivers may have been deemed sober at the time of an accident, but that doesn't necessarily excuse them from being held accountable for causing personal injury. Many factors come into play, such as distracted or reckless driving, and each instance of a pedestrian fatality deserves a close analysis to determine if the driver is at fault.