Two people were seriously injured in a truck wreck in Iberia Parish, and legal responsibility is unclear even though the fault seems clear cut.
According to state troopers, a passenger vehicle carrying three people crossed from the westbound to the eastbound side of Louisiana Highway 14 near the U.S. Highway 90 interchange. The car then hit the front wheels of a sugar cane truck before it careened into the rear wheels, causing the truck to flip over. All three people inside the car were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries; the other driver was not injured in the truck wreck. [Read more…] about What's The Difference Between 'Fault' And 'Liability?'
Truck Accidents
Dual 18-Wheeler Crash Injures Two
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
Fatal Wreck Raises Liability Questions
One young girl is dead, and another one is seriously injured, following a serious truck crash in Assumption Parish that may have been speed-related.
According to the Louisiana State Police, 38-year-old Frannie Landry, of Belle Rose, was hauling trash cans to State Highway 1000 for retrieval; the two girls were riding on the tailgate of her pickup truck. A few minutes after Ms. Landry parked in the westbound lane facing east, 21-year-old Corey Crochet approached the scene in a separate pickup truck. He reacted late and swerved quickly to avoid a head-on collision with the parked vehicle, but he evidently sideswiped it. 15-year-old Sydny Landry and her 12-year-old sister were both thrown from the bed; Sydney Landry was declared dead at the scene and her sister was rushed to a nearby hospital clinging to life.
Investigators have ruled out impairment as a possible cause and they are still looking into the truck crash.
Speed and Breach of Duty
As discussed in a previous post, excessive speed multiplies the force in a track crash. But, there is more. Speed increases both components of braking distance, which includes both reaction distance and stopping distance. The scientific equation, Vf2=Vo2+2ad, is far too complicated for a country lawyer to understand. However, the concept behind braking distance, and its applicability to truck crashes, is easy for me and jurors to comprehend.
The faster an object travels, the longer it takes to slow or stop safely. At the same time, as speed increases, reaction distance increases as well. That is the amount of ground that the vehicle covers in the half-second or so it takes a driver to see a hazard, mentally react to the hazard, and move his or her foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal. At 50mph, reaction distance is about three car lengths and stopping distance is about ten car lengths. At 70mph, these distances increase to four and twenty car lengths.
So, speeding truck drivers are unable to avoid crashes. Alternatively, as illustrated by the above story, they are only able to partially avoid these collisions. Either way, damages in these cases typically involve compensation for both economic damages, like lost wages, and noneconomic damages, like loss of enjoyment in life. Additional punitive damages are also available, in some truck crash cases.
Just a little extra speed transforms normally careful drivers into negligent drivers. For a free consultation with an assertive personal injury lawyer in Lake Charles, contact Lee Hoffoss Injury Lawyers. Home and hospital visits are available.
Are Large Trucks In Louisiana Equipped With Trans-Continental Alarm Clocks?
From a monitoring station in Peoria, Illinois, a large truck manufacturer says it can effectively prevent drowsy driving-related crashes.
Using advanced facial recognition software that is linked to dash-mounted cameras, operators at Caterpillar’s Sleep Fatigue Center can tell when drivers start to nod off or become distracted. Mike Hatfield, a Business Development Manager at Caterpillar, says that SFC operators also access the drivers’ schedules, to predict when their alertness levels will drop. Once the data is collected, safety advisers review it and then forward it to the client shipping company. The transportation company then takes action based on the results, which could involve more rest periods or a different shift schedule. [Read more…] about Are Large Trucks In Louisiana Equipped With Trans-Continental Alarm Clocks?
Third Party Liability In Negligence Cases
A strong evidentiary and legal case may not be enough to obtain compensation for injuries in a car crash case, because the defendant must also have the ability to pay damages. Solvency is often an issue in Louisiana, because the number of uninsured drivers is significantly above the national average. There are also thousands of under-insured motorists, because the state only requires $15,000 of personal injury and $25,000 of property damage protection. In a serious wreck, these amounts may not be enough to fully compensate the plaintiff. Fortunately, the tortfeasor (negligent driver) may not be the only party that is liable for damages.
Employer Liability
Under the doctrine of respondeat superior (Latin for “let the master answer”) employers are responsible for the negligence of their employees. In addition to car crash cases, this doctrine also comes into play in medical negligence and nursing home abuse cases that involve negligent medical professionals or other caregivers. [Read more…] about Third Party Liability In Negligence Cases
Moving Truck Liability In Louisiana
Summer is moving season for both military and civilian families, because new orders come in during these months and school is out of session, for most kids. Nationwide, about 65 percent of relocations occur between May and August.
The uptick in activity means that more rented vehicles, especially larger moving trucks from Ryder, U-Haul, and other companies, will be on the roads. These large vehicles are quite unwieldy, particularly when they are fully loaded, and inexperienced drivers often find it difficult to control them. Add the fact that many drivers are operating in unfamiliar new territory, and there are all the ingredients for a serious truck wreck. Is the rental company or other vehicle owner responsible for damages in these negligence cases?
The Graves Amendment
In the early 2000s, a number of states started passing very strict vicarious liability laws that made vehicle owners responsible for damages if their lessees caused car crashes. To protect this industry, Congress added 49 U.S.C. 30106 to the 2005 omnibus spending bill. Like many such add-ons, there is almost no legislative history in support of the so-called Graves Amendment, which bears the name of its sponsor.
Instead, there is only a blanket grant of immunity, which says that “An owner of a motor vehicle that rents or leases the vehicle to a person (or an affiliate of the owner) shall not be liable. . .for harm to persons or property that results or arises out of the use, operation, or possession of the vehicle during the period of the rental or lease.” A subsequent provision leaves open the possibility that some conflicting state laws may still be valid.
Bypassing the Graves Amendment
Under traditional negligent entrustment tort theory, vehicle owners are responsible if they allow unqualified drivers to operate their vehicles, and these operators subsequently cause car crashes. This analysis still applies to rented vehicles if:
- Trade or Business: Under Section (a)(1), the Graves Amendment only applies to firms that are in the “trade or business of renting or leasing motor vehicles.” This label arguably does not apply to U-Haul and other firms, because they are moving companies that happen to rent trucks on the side.
- Not Otherwise Negligent: According to Section (a)(2), the owner or affiliate must be free from “negligence or criminal wrongdoing.” Some courts have held that owners and affiliates have a duty to verify the drivers’ licenses of potential renters, and a poor driving record or an invalid license is evidence of negligence.
- State Financial Responsibility Law: Under relevant portions of Louisiana law, an owner or affiliate is liable for damages if the operator was uninsured. The same result arguably applies to underinsured motorists, although this theory has not been tested in court.
Damages in a car crash case typically include compensation for both economic damages, like lost wages, and noneconomic damages, including loss of consortium (companionship). Punitive damages are also available, in some cases.
Rental vehicle owners are liable for damages that lessees cause, in some cases. For a free consultation with an experienced Lake Charles personal injury attorney, contact Hoffhoss Devall. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these cases.