Man, welcome to South Louisiana weather.
It's been about 20 degrees, 25 degrees here recently. A bit of ice on the roadways, and we're getting calls.
"Hey, my husband was in a crash on the bridge. The cops didn't give him a ticket, he had to go to the hospital. Do we have a case?"
My name's Loyd Bourgeois. I'm a South Louisiana personal injury attorney, with offices here in Luling and in Metairie.
And yeah, we had a big crash on the Luling Bridge as a result of the cold weather and the ice on the roadway. And the caller was asking, "Hey, do we have the potential for a claim here?"
The answer is maybe, you know, it's the perfect lawyer answer, right?
It really depends on the facts specific to that case, and we'll have to get into a little bit more with the caller but in general, yes, you could have a case even though there was ice on the roadway, and even though the cops, the responding officer may not have cited anyone at fault in the crash.
Why? As a motorist, we are responsible for ensuring that the roadway is in a safe enough condition for us to drive on. If we don't feel that it is safe enough for us to drive on, we shouldn't drive on it. And yes, there was ice on the roadway. Yes, it was overnight and was a bridge, but everyone knew for days that this cold was coming. It's kind of common knowledge that bridges do freeze before roadways and you should always be driving based on the conditions of the roadway.
That means, look, if it's pouring down rain and you can't see that far in front of your vehicle, you shouldn't be driving the speed limit or over.
Same thing if it's super foggy, just because the speed limit may be 60 or 50. If you can't see in front of your vehicle, you shouldn't be driving that fast. It's the same with the ice.
We know it's cold. We know that the bridge is going to be freezing. We know that there's a potential for ice and we should be driving in a manner that is reflective of the circumstances. And if we're not and we cause a crash, then yes, there's potential for liability.
Even though we may not get a ticket, if the respondent officer comes, there could still be a responsibility from a negligent standpoint for causing injuries or damages to property during this storm. So if you're involved in a crash as a result of this ice storm, or I hate to even call it a storm, but this ice event or any other reason, please give us a call at 985-240-9773.
We'd be happy to speak with you and see if we can assist you in getting some recovery for the damages that you sustained.
