Nearly everyone who travels on Louisiana roadways knows that drivers must constantly make split second decisions behind the wheel of a vehicle in order to avoid obstacles, adjust to the contours of the roadway and react to other drivers. If drivers are distracted, impaired or not paying adequate attention to their surroundings for some reason, they can easily make the wrong maneuver. A serious or fatal accident can result. In that instant, the lives of the those involved can be changed forever.
For example, troopers with the Louisiana State Police responded to the scene of a single car accident on U.S. Highway 90 sometime around 2 p.m. on a recent Monday afternoon. Their preliminary investigation revealed that the SUV was traveling westbound when it came upon a vehicle that was moving more slowly. The driver of the SUV suddenly and violently turned the vehicle in an attempt to avoid rear-ending the slower moving vehicle.
The driver then lost control of the SUV, and it flipped several times before coming to a rest. During the crash, a passenger in the rear of the vehicle was thrown out of it. Despite the efforts of medical personnel at the hospital in New Orleans where he was taken, he died sometime later. Investigators do not believe that impairment was a factor in the crash, but they have sent a toxicology sample from the driver for testing nonetheless.
At last report, it was not known what led to the erratic maneuver that caused this fatal accident. Perhaps the family of the deceased passenger will get that answer through the litigation of a wrongful death claim against the SUV driver. Successfully proving that their loved one died due to the negligence of another could result in an award of damages to help with the financial burdens brought about by the unexpected and tragic death.
Source: wwltv.com, “Man dies after SUV overturns in Terrebonne Parish”, Jan. 18, 2016