Louisiana Car Accidents & Injuries from Car Accidents

Automobile accidents are one of the leading causes of accidental injury and death in Louisiana. In 2010, there were 697 auto fatalities and 68,590 injuries. East Baton Rouge Parish had the most injuries (8,114) followed by Orleans (7,565), Jefferson (5,525), Lafayette (4,143), Caddo (3,834) and Calcasieu (3,195) Parishes. East Baton Rouge Parish also had 41 fatalities, the most of any parish.

36% if fatalities occurred in Passenger Cars and 25% in Light Trucks and Vans. Motorcycles drivers/passengers accounted for 10% of fatalities. 269 (39%) of traffic fatalities and 5,779 (8.4%) of injuries are estimated to be alcohol related. 58% of drivers killed were not wearing a safety belt and 62% of passengers who were killed were not wearing a safety belt. Pedestrians account for 10% of all traffic fatalities.

Louisiana injury crashes are lowest on weekends; fatal crashes are highest on weekends. Injury crashes are highest during the afternoon rush hour traffic. Fatal crashes occur more frequently in the evening and early morning hours.

In 2010, there were 947 vehicles in fatal crashes, 80,343 vehicles in injury crashes and 197,759 vehicles in property-damage-only crashes. There are 2,869,033 licensed drives in the state.

Louisiana car accidents can have many causes, but they usually fall under negligence, intentional misconduct or products liability. Negligence occurs when a driver fails to exercise reasonable care. For example, a driver gets in an accident because he is driving too fast or is distracted due to texting while driving.

A driver may be involved in intentional misconduct if he consciously desires the physical results of his act or knows that the result is substantially certain to follow from his conduct. For example, a driver driving at a high rate of speed, weaving in and out of traffic, may be intentionally putting himself and others at risk.

In products liability cases, neither negligence nor intentional misconduct need be shown, rather, the law of strict liability comes into play. The automobile is show to be defective and the defect causes the accident and resulting damages. For example, it has been alleged that certain Toyota models have defective floor mats, gas pedals and other defects leading to unintended acceleration and resulting injuries.

If we can help you out in any way with your Louisiana Car Accident, please give us a call. For your free initial consultation call us at 1-866-558-9151 or contact us online.

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