Motorists experienced delays of up to three hours as first responders cleared a serious truck crash on Interstate 10.
Details are sketchy concerning the wreck which occurred close to the Whiskey Bay Bridge and Ramah. Authorities state that the two trucks collided just west of the Atachafalaya Basin Bridge and caused traffic delays that stretched up to thirty miles. Before the injured semi-truck drivers could be rushed to local hospitals, they had to be extricated from the wreckage of their vehicles.
Investigators declined to state what the trucks were hauling but they said no hazardous materials were released. [Read more…] about Dual 18-Wheeler Crash Injures Two
Personal Injury
Two Dead And Many Injured After Serious Bus Crash
A bus driver who did not have a commercial drivers’ license caused a horrific crash in southern Louisiana.
According to state troopers, 37-year-old Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez, a Honduran national, was ferrying flood relief recovery workers in an inter-city bus when he failed to slow down for a fire truck and other first responders that had responded to the scene of an earlier accident. Mr. Rodriguez apparently rear-ended a disabled Toyota Camry, killing 21-year-old Jermaine Starr, of Moss Point, Miss., who was in the rear seat. The force of the bus crash collision propelled the Toyota into a fire truck. St. John the Baptist Parish Fire Chief Spencer Chauvin was thrown off an elevated portion of Interstate 10 and plunged to his death. Several dozen other individuals, including several firefighters and most of the tour bus passengers, were seriously injured.
Investigators are trying to determine the identity of the bus owner and/or Mr. Rodriguez’s employer. Police arrested him and charged him with a number of offenses, including two counts of negligent homicide. [Read more…] about Two Dead And Many Injured After Serious Bus Crash
Fatal Car Crash Near Natchitoches
A man is dead after a high-speed, head-on crash on Interstate 49 that may have been either speed or alcohol related.
According to Louisiana State Police, 18-year-old Deytwan Demetrius, of Fort Polk, was southbound on Interstate 49 just south of State Highway 485 when he lost control of his vehicle, careened through the median, and smashed into a northbound automobile driven by 39-year-old Jabe Maddox, of Longview. Mr. Maddox was declared dead at the scene; Mr. Demetrius and a passenger – 18-year-old Trevon Lewis, of Leesville – were both transported to a local hospital with various injuries.
Charges against Mr. Maddox, as well as the results from toxicology tests, are pending. [Read more…] about Fatal Car Crash Near Natchitoches
The Long Road Back
Just over a year after a Lake Charles teenager sustained a traumatic brain injury in a car crash, he is leaving the hospital and going back to school for his senior year.
17-year-old Luke Burnham has been at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston ever since he was hit by a car while jogging. At first, doctors worried that the soccer player and cross-country runner would not survive the crash, and if he did, his brain injury would make him a vegetable. Initially, their fears seemed to be well-founded, because Mr. Burnham could only communicate by looking at “yes-no” cards and could not move, other than to straighten one index finger. But after aggressive treatment and therapy, he is ready to go back to school this fall. Although he is somewhat behind, Mr. Burnham took summer school classes, so he should be able to graduate with his peers.
“I’m looking forward to seeing all my friends again and all my teachers,” he remarked. [Read more…] about The Long Road Back
McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case: A Retrospective
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
Be Very Careful Crossing The Street
A 53-year-old man died at the scene of a pedestrian-auto crash in Monroe.
The wreck occurred near the intersection of Ticheli Road and U.S. Highway 165. Investigators state that Matthew Davis was crossing the highway from a department store to Ticheli Road, when he was struck by 57-year-old Tharris Bishop, who was northbound on 165 in a Ford Expedition.
This intersection is near an elementary school and known to be extremely busy. [Read more…] about Be Very Careful Crossing The Street