Road Rage Accident in Louisiana
If you or a loved one has been in a road rage accident in Louisiana, Louisiana law entitles you to sue to recover money damages for all injuries and for the damages to your vehicle and other property. It is important to speak to an experienced Louisiana road rage accident lawyer as soon as possible after the crash.
Road rage is probably the worst kind of driver behavior that one can encounter on Louisiana roads. A small event spirals out of control and a vehicle becomes weaponized, or used to “punish” another driver. This is what happened in a two-car crash in Kenner at the end of January 2020. 22-year-old Jade Lewis was killed in a rage-fueled crash that started when one of the drivers refused to let the other merge into traffic. Lewis was pregnant at the time of her death.
When a driver engages in this sort of aggressive, dangerous, and potentially criminal behavior, that driver is liable under Louisiana law for any and all damages that are caused. Among the categories of money damages that can be recovered by the victim are:
- Medical and hospital expenses including ambulance and emergency room fees, surgeries, physical therapy, prescription medications and more
- Future future medical needs if the injuries were severe or resulted in permanent disability
- Lost wages
- Future lost wages sometimes called loss of future earnings or loss of future earning potential
- Pain and suffering
- Repair costs for any vehicle damages
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- And more
Under Louisiana law, a victim of road rage is entitled to recover for these categories of damages if the road rage was the cause of the vehicle crash and if the crash was the cause of the injuries and damages sustained. This is the traditional negligence standard that has been used in Louisiana for decades. The four legal elements of negligence are duty, breach of duty, causation and damages/injury. In the case of road rage, the dangerous behavior, such as intentionally cutting off a driver or trying to run a driver off the road or purposely hitting their bumper, is a violation of that driver’s duty. Every driver in Louisiana owes a duty of care to every other driver. “Duty of care” means a duty to drive safely and obey traffic laws.
Road rage cases almost always satisfy the legal standard for negligence. By definition, road rage is unsafe driving and, as such, every case of road rage is a case where the duty of care has been violated. Causation and resulting injury are also generally easy to prove in road rage cases. Courtroom-tested and knowledgeable Louisiana Road Rage attorneys will know how to prove these four elements of negligence and know how to ensure that you recover the maximum amount of damages that you are allowed under the law.
Mansfield Melancon Attorneys can Help: Call Today
If you have been the victim of a road rage vehicle crash, contact the Louisiana car accident attorneys at Mansfield, Melancon, Cranmer & Dick LLC. We have a proven track record of success handling many types of Louisiana personal injury cases, including, but not limited to, car accidents, boating accidents, motorcycle accidents, premises liability accidents, and cases involving nursing care facility abuse/neglect. Contact us by calling one of our offices: New Orleans at (504) 500-1108, Baton Rouge at (225) 612-0800, or Lafayette at (337) 409-0003. You can also request a free consultation by using our “Contact Us” page.
You have a RIGHT to recover money damages if you have been the innocent victim of road rage.
