Baton Rouge Personal Injury Law Blog

The impact of soft tissue injuries and the protections available

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, July 18, 2019.

Motor vehicle collisions can result in lasting and debilitating injuries to victims. One type of serious injury car accident victims can suffer includes soft tissue injuries, which is why car accident victims should be familiar with these types of injuries and how a personal injury claim for damages can help them with any of these injuries they suffer in a car accident.

A personal injury claim for damages can be brought against a negligent driver to help the injured victim with their damages, including physical, financial and emotional damages. Damages victims may be able to recover can include medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering damages. Soft tissue injuries are one type of injury that victims may need help with and a personal injury claim for damages can help them recover compensation for those damages.

Car accidents, brain damage and emotional symptoms

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC on Friday, July 12, 2019.

A traumatic brain injury can be a catastrophic injury that changes the rest of your life. It can impact your cognitive function and your motor function. You could spend the rest of your life dealing with impairment and disabilities. The three or four seconds of a car accident could stay with you for years to come.

The ramifications are different for everyone. It depends on a host of factors, such as how soon you get medical care, how severe the injuries are and what part of your brain gets injured in the crash. Some people can't ever work again. Some can't even walk. Others appear fine, but they lack the mental capacity to problem solve or speak. Still others have trouble with their memories. This just scratches the surface of the potential symptoms.

The different types of damages for car accident victims

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC posted in Car Accidents on Wednesday, July 10, 2019.

Louisiana residents can suffer injuries in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents and other commercial vehicle accidents. These damages can be severe and can be physically, financially and emotionally costly to victims. Fortunately, personal injury legal options may be available to help injured victims with the damages suffered at the hands of a negligent driver.

Car accident victims may be able to recover compensation for their physical, financial and emotional damages through a claim for personal injury damages. A personal injury claim for damages can be brought against the driver at fault for the car accident that resulted in the victim's injuries. Car accident victims may be able to recover damages for their medical expenses and future medical care costs. Damages for disfigurement may also be recoverable.

What is distracted driving?

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC posted in Car Accidents on Friday, July 5, 2019.

Most drivers probably think they have a good idea of what distracted driving is but the reality is that it includes many unsafe driving behaviors drivers engage in every day. It is helpful for drivers to know the dangerous distracted driving behaviors they should avoid and for victims of distracted drivers to be familiar with the legal protections available to them if they are injured by a distracted driver.

Distracted driving generally refers to any behavior engaged in by a driver that removes their attention from the roadway. Distracted driving is divided into three categories including cognitive distraction that removes the driver's focus from the roadway; manual distraction that removes the driver's hands from the steering wheel; and visual distraction that removes the driver's eyes from the roadway. Texting while driving is considered the most serious distracted driving behavior because it combines all three types of driver distraction.

How is fault determined after suffering injury by a drunk driver?

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC posted in Drunk Driving Accidents on Thursday, June 27, 2019.

One moment you're driving along, maybe you're commuting to work or maybe you're picking up your kid from practice. The next thing you remember you're waking up in a hospital bed, loved ones by your side. It's hard to come to terms with how you got from here to there - you might be wondering what happened. This is the reality for many who are injured in an accident with a drunk driver.

In any accident where serious injuries are suffered, the authorities will come in and conduct an investigation into the details of the car accident. If it's suspected that a driver was impaired and caused a drunk driving accident, authorities may test BAC level or do sobriety tests, among other facets of any investigation, to help to determine fault. Other facts about the crash or the timeline of events leading up to a crash, can help to determine intoxication or impairment as well. When armed with that information, what do you do next?

Fighting for the rights of motorcyclists after injury

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC posted in Motorcycle Accidents on Thursday, June 20, 2019.

There are few luxuries quite like the wind in your hair and the open road. This is what calls to so many motorcyclists when they make the decision to trade in public transportation or a passenger vehicle for a ride with two wheels. Motorcycles are fun to operate and as a passenger. However, the fun can end abruptly if the motorcyclist is injured in a motorcycle accident with a passenger vehicle or other vehicle.

Because motorcycles are much smaller and don't offer the motorcyclist much protection from collisions, losing control or ejection from the motorcycle - motorcyclists often get the worst end of accident injuries. Oftentimes, the motorcyclist was operating their motorcycle safely - it was the other driver who could be found at fault for motorcycle accident injuries. This could be due to any number of activities, in all of which negligence would be the basis for seeking damages.

Bill to drug test after car accidents moves to house floor

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, June 13, 2019.

When it comes to the rules of the road and laws everyone has to follow, many don't realize that many of these decisions are based on state laws. Of course, on interstate highways, federal law can easily apply in situations of car accidents, but generally, jurisdiction is left to the states. Louisiana is one of the states who does not allow for drug testing of drivers after they have been in involved in a car accident causing industries. Current law says for law enforcement to drug test them only after a fatality has occurred.

This is where 'Katie Bug Law' comes in. Katie was a sweet 4 year old girl who passed away from her car accident injury after she was thrown from her vehicle after a pick-up truck ran a red light and crashed into the vehicle she was riding in. Because of current laws, the driver of that truck was not drug tested at the scene, because she passed away seven days later. This new law, if it passes, would ensure those involved in a car accident causing bodily injury would automatically qualify a police officer to drug test those involved in the accident.

10 deadly mistakes drivers keep making

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC on Tuesday, June 11, 2019.

Most car accidents happen because someone makes a mistake. Human error keeps these statistics so high, year after year.

Mistakes, of course, vary from one accident to the next. But the common denominator is that the accident could have been avoided if no one had made a mistake at all. That accident was not a random event that took everyone by surprise. Someone caused it. They may not have done it intentionally, but they still caused it.

Why are there stricter regulations for commercial vehicles?

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC posted in Commercial Vehicle Accidents on Thursday, June 6, 2019.

On roadways today there can be multiple lanes of traffic carrying hundreds, if not thousands, of vehicles. We all share and use this space. Because of this, safety is paramount - anytime an injury or a car fatality can be avoided this is top priority. This is a big reason why commercial vehicles are held to stricter regulations than passenger vehicles.

Commercial vehicles are, by definition, larger and are hauling more weight than the average passenger vehicle. Just by laws of physics, this inherently makes them more dangerous as they have more weight to throw around and, in theory, it should take larger vehicles longer to come to a complete stop in comparison to a passenger vehicle. Because commercial vehicles are often moving things for a profit, truck drivers have a responsibility to think and act safely; failure to do so could mean they are subject to a personal injury lawsuit or even a criminal complaint against them.

Working to protect the interests of Louisiana residents

On behalf of The Lucky Law Firm, PLC posted in Truck Accidents on Thursday, May 30, 2019.

Each year, there are about half a million truck-related accidents on our country's roads, resulting in thousands of fatalities and countless horrible injuries. Many of these deaths and injuries befall occupants of other, smaller vehicles. Although most truck drivers are professionals who exercise a reasonable amount of care while driving, it is still true that many of these deaths and injuries can legally be blamed on truck drivers.

Not long ago we described some developments in the case of a truck driver accused of causing a multi-vehicle crash that took the lives of four people and left two more with serious injuries. The driver's attorney maintained that the truck's brakes were faulty, leading to the accident. Prosecutors, on the other hand, said that the driver was driving 85 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone and was weaving in and out of traffic. Prosecutors attributed this driving to the truck driver's reckless operation of the truck.