Pain and Suffering

Authorities Initiate 'Zero For December' Campaign

December 5, 2016 by Lee Hoffoss

This month, the Louisiana State Police will supplement the nationwide Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign with the annual Zero for December initiative, to hopefully eliminate fatal accidents in the coming weeks.
Officers plan to use a combination of sobriety checkpoints and aggressive saturation enforcement to combat impaired driving this holiday season. Although the Zero for December program has never reached that goal, Cassie Parker of the South Central Planning and Development Commission said the goal remained the same. “Every fatality involving a car crash is preventable, 100 percent,” she insisted, if vehicle occupants buckle up, drivers avoid alcohol, obey the speed limit, and focus on driving. “We all have a responsibility to do those things,” she added. The LSP has observed Zero for December every year since 2001. [Read more…] about Authorities Initiate 'Zero For December' Campaign

Bus Driver Faces Multiple Charges After LaPlace Wreck

October 26, 2016 by Lee Hoffoss

The man who allegedly caused three deaths in a bus crash in August of this year has been indicted on three separate counts of negligent homicide.
37-year-old Denis Yasmir Amaya-Rodriguez, a Honduran national, did not have a valid license when he allegedly lost control of a tour bus carrying workers to flood-damaged areas of Baton Rouge. Both at the scene and in subsequent interviews, Mr. Rodriguez claimed the brakes failed moments before he slammed into a St. John Fire District truck that was responding to the scene of an earlier collision. Three people were killed in the bus crash, including 36-year-old Fire Chief Spencer Chauvin. Mr. Rodriguez, who had a history of traffic infractions, claimed that the bus’ owner, Christian Lombardo of Kristina’s Transportation LLC, knew that he did not have a valid license. “I even told him, ‘I don’t want to drive because I don’t have a license to drive these large vehicles here,'” he recalled saying. The company did not inspect the bus before the trip, Mr. Rodriguez added.
In addition to the three deaths, more than two dozen people were injured in the incident. [Read more…] about Bus Driver Faces Multiple Charges After LaPlace Wreck

Deadly Pedestrian Crash in Eastern Louisiana

October 3, 2016 by Lee Hoffoss

A 22-year-old woman faces negligent homicide charges after a fatal pedestrian-auto crash in West Feliciana Parish.
Sherriff’s deputies state that Tiffany Cage was on Solitude Road near the Heir Road intersection when she hit 59-year-old James White, who was walking near the Solitude Road shoulder. He was pronounced dead at the scene; Ms. Cage was not injured. No other details were available.
Mr. White represented District 3 on the West Feliciana Parish School Board. [Read more…] about Deadly Pedestrian Crash in Eastern Louisiana

Runaway Car In Youngsville

September 7, 2016 by Lee Hoffoss

Four people were seriously injured after a possibly reckless driver crashed through the front doors of the Post Office in downtown Youngsville.
The driver – whose name was not released – apparently hopped a curve, smashed through the doors, barreled through the lobby, and eventually came to rest against the front counter. One victim was pinned between the car and the counter for quite some time before first responders arrived. Authorities believe that the other three victims were all postal workers or post office patrons.
The crash is still under investigation. [Read more…] about Runaway Car In Youngsville

McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case: A Retrospective

August 24, 2016 by Lee Hoffoss

The case which added fuel to the tort reform fires already burning around the country turns 22 this month. In the popular media, this personal injury case was about a woman who spilled a cup of hot coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s for $3 million. But, as is often the case, the truth is far different.
Pre-Suit Activity
Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants involved a 79-year-old department store clerk who pulled into the drive-thru of a McDonald’s in Albuquerque, New Mexico and ordered a cup of coffee on February 27, 1992. At the time, McDonald’s required its restaurants to serve coffee at 190 degrees, or only slightly cooler than boiling water. The restaurant knew, or should have known, that 190-degree liquid could cause third degree burns – the kind of burns that require skin grafts to address – in as little as two seconds. The restaurant also knew, or should have known, that most other fast-food franchises served their coffee at about 160 degrees, a temperature that was not significantly lower yet meant that the victim had twenty seconds between spill and serious injury. There’s more. In the ten years preceding the case, McDonald’s had received over 700 complaints about coffee-related personal injury, paid over $500,000 to settle these claims, yet did nothing to alter its procedures. [Read more…] about McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case: A Retrospective

Victims Blame First Responder For Car Crash Injuries

June 29, 2016 by Lee Hoffoss

Is an allegedly negligent state trooper responsible for the victims’ injuries following an Interstate 10 car crash?
According to a recent lawsuit, John Rice, Barbara Rice, and their unnamed minor child were sitting in their vehicle after a car wreck and waiting for first responders to arrive. Court documents state that Richard Reggio, a Louisiana State Police trooper that was en route to the scene, drove into an oncoming car’s pathway, causing it to veer suddenly and collide with the Rice’s stationary vehicle.
The plaintiffs demand unspecified damages. [Read more…] about Victims Blame First Responder For Car Crash Injuries