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uninsuredclaim-300x200UNINSURED & UNDER-INSURED (“UM” & “UIM”) MOTORIST COVERAGE IN LOUISIANA

One of the most beneficial types of auto insurance coverage to have in Louisiana is uninsured motorist coverage. You can call on this coverage in your auto insurance policy when you are not at fault for the accident and have sustained damages caused by another driver who has no insurance, or whose insurance limits are insufficient to cover your damages.  You can also use your uninsured motorist coverage if you are the victim of a hit and run accident or if you are injured by a vehicle as a pedestrian. Uninsured motorist coverage and under-insured motorist coverage is the same thing in Louisiana, so if you have uninsured motorist coverage you also have under-insured motorist coverage. This type of coverage is abbreviated as “UM” or “UIM” insurance. Any claim made under this insurance is known as a nonfault claim.

Uninsured motorist coverage is relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of liability coverage. Although the cost of uninsured motorist coverage has been increasing like all other auto insurance rates in Louisiana, comparatively speaking, uninsured motorist coverage is worth the cost considering the rising number of individuals driving without insurance because they cannot afford to pay their premiums. When I say uninsured insurance coverage is relatively inexpensive, I will give you my own personal frame of reference. For my Louisiana auto liability coverage, I personally pay $817.00 per year in premiums. For my uninsured motorist coverage, I pay $157.70 per year in premiums. To see if you have uninsured motorist coverage, you should check the declarations page of your auto insurance policy which you can download online or which you can get from your insurance agent.

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Since Louisiana law considers a left-hand turn at an intersection one of the most dangerous moves a driver can attempt to make, and since “an oncoming driver has a right to assume that the left-turning motorist will… yield to her right-of-way,” the law establishes a very strong presumption that an accident involving a left-turning driver is legally the fault of the left-turning driver. Even if you were the left-turning driver, however, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries in some situations. The key is, if you’ve been hurt, to consult an experienced New Orleans car accident attorney and find out more about the options available to you.car crash

A real-life example from St. Tammany Parish, reported by nola.com, illustrates just how dangerous left turns can be. The collision took place at the intersection of Louisiana Highways 22 and 1085 near Madisonville. According to the report, a 16-year-old who was driving south on 1085 made a left-hand turn onto 22. While the girl fully stopped at the stop sign, she failed to yield to oncoming traffic when she pulled out and made her turn onto Highway 22. A full-size pickup truck slammed into the girl’s car on the driver’s side. The impact caused the truck to spin into another lane of traffic and hit a third car.

The driver of the third car and the driver of the truck were not hurt. The girl driving the turning car, along with her mother, who was riding alongside, died from their injuries. All involved were wearing seat belts, and none of the drivers was suspected of driving while impaired, according to the nola.com report.

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car accidentEach type of auto accident case comes with its own unique set of challenges. Multi-car accidents that cause injury can be especially tricky when it comes to asserting your legal rights. It may take skillful investigation to assess which driver was at fault and, therefore, liable to you for the harm you suffered. An experienced New Orleans injury attorney can help you collect the information you need and then apply it to pursue compensation for your damages.

A recent accident case from Lafayette was an example of how these factual differences can influence who is liable for your injuries. The accident involved a three-car rear-end crash where G.M. was the driver of the lead vehicle. T.S. was operating the second vehicle and B.G. was the driver of the third. Continue reading

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truckWhen you or a loved one has been involved in an accident with a commercial truck, it is undoubtedly a stressful time. You should not, however, lose sight of the fact that you and your family may have certain rights and that you’ll may encounter a business entity on the other side seeking to get you to sign away those rights. Commercial trucking and insurance companies have skilled lawyers looking out for their interests. Make sure you have a knowledgeable New Orleans truck accident attorney on your side to help you protect your rights and get the compensation you and your family deserve.

Central Louisiana was the site of a recent crash that illustrated just how serious these collisions can be. KALB-TV reported that a large box truck driven by a 30-year-old man was headed westbound on Highway 28 when the driver crossed the center line. The box truck driver was attempting to pass another westbound vehicle on the two-lane road.

The box truck slammed head-on into an eastbound pickup truck. The damage was extensive. The pickup truck’s 86-year-old driver died at the scene. The crash also impacted two other cars, with one of those drivers suffering minor injuries, according to KALB.

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Cliff-Cardone-DWI-Checkpoint_Redacted2-1-300x225On July 19, 2018, the court ordered our client’s driver’s license be reinstated because he was improperly arrested at a DWI checkpoint on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. DWI checkpoints on Tchoupitoulas Street are frequently conducted by the New Orleans Police Department, in part, because their station is nearby which makes transportation of the arrested fairly quick and easy.

When clients come to us and have been charged with a DWI, the first thing we do is look into all aspects of the arrest and charge. When a person is charged with a DWI at a checkpoint, an important consideration is the client’s constitutional rights.

In this case, our client was charged with a DWI after entering a checkpoint and his license was suspended. We challenged the DWI and license suspension based on the failure of the New Orleans Police Department to follow proper and necessary protocol for DWI sobriety checkpoints. When a client is stopped at a checkpoint and then charged with a DWI, we turn to the case law and Louisiana statutes to see if appropriate procedures were followed.

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car crashThere can be many different elements that go into achieving the legal outcome you need in your auto accident injury case. For some injured people, one of those elements is being allowed to pursue not only the other driver, but that driver’s employer. This option can be very important because many drivers may be individuals with limited assets and an auto insurance policy with a low policy limit. It is entirely possible that the harm you suffered exceeds the driver’s assets and the insurance policy’s limit. However, when your case also names an employer like a major national corporation, you have an improved chance of obtaining the full amount of damages that you proved. A knowledgeable New Orleans injury attorney can help you to provide the court with the proof and argument you need to establish this essential “vicarious liability.”

K.T. was a driver who found herself in this type of situation. She was driving in Lafayette when her vehicle was hit by another vehicle (the latter driven by V.B.). V.B. was headed home at the time of the accident, and she also received a citation for “failure to yield” as a result of the incident.

At this point, you might think that K.T. has a strong case against V.B., but that the only compensation K.T. could obtain would be from V.B. (and her insurer). K.T.’s case is an example of how in-depth legal knowledge can take you (and your case) further. A skilled advocate knows to “dig deeper” and the additional information unearthed may produce an even stronger case. In this accident, V.B. was only her way home from a training course that her supervisor recommended to her. That information led K.T.’s counsel to sue, not only V.B. but also V.B.’s employer (a major nationwide chain of pharmacies).

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motorcycleIn the law, negligence exists when someone who had a duty did something they shouldn’t have done (or failed to do something they should have done), and that negligence was the reasonably foreseeable cause of the harm that ensued. All drivers on the road have a duty to everyone else on the road to operate their vehicle in a safe manner. When a driver fails to do so, such as speeding though congested traffic, then a crash with injuries or deaths is a foreseeable result. If you’ve been hurt by the negligence of someone behind the wheel, then you may be entitled to compensation. You should contact an experienced New Orleans auto accident attorney about your situation right away.

An accident from late June was just the latest fatal crash on Louisiana’s interstate highways. According to a wwltv.com report, traffic on eastbound I-10 had slowed in St. Charles Parish one Friday afternoon due to congestion. L.E., who was traveling “at a high rate of speed” according to the report, encountered the congestion but did not slow down in time. His SUV crashed into the rear of a pickup truck driven A. The impact was forceful enough that it knocked A’s pickup into the Harley Davidson motorcycle in front of him. Not only did the truck and the Harley hit, they collided with enough force that the impact pushed the bike into another pickup and it threw 27-year-old S. off the motorcycle, the report stated.

Although S. was wearing a helmet, he died at the scene. The wwltv.com report indicated that speed was “expected to be a factor of the crash.”

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courtroomIn many personal injury actions, expert witness evidence can be an essential part of your case. The difference between getting your experts in and having them excluded may make the difference between success and defeat. This is one of many places in which seasoned New Orleans injury counsel can help you put together a strong and persuasive case by helping you ensure that your expert witness evidence gets in front of your jury.

An example of what is (and is not) required in order to get expert opinion evidence admitted was on display in the case of Blake and Courtney. The pair were a couple who had a termite problem in their home. They retained the services of a pest company to deal with their termite problem. After the company treated the home for termites, the couple and their children allegedly began experiencing headaches, nausea, dizziness, and confusion.

The couple eventually sued the pest company for their injuries. The lower court granted summary judgment to the pest company, but the Supreme Court reversed that decision, which meant that the homeowners’ case was revived, and they could resume pursuing the pest company.

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cardonelawfirmhealthinsurance-300x200Many people who are involved in auto accidents wonder how their health insurance may come into play if they need treatment, or, if they used their health insurance to pay for treatment relating to an auto accident what will happen to their medical bills. This blog entry will also discuss other avenues available under your auto insurance policy to recoup expenses paid toward medical bills relating to an auto accident. This blog entry is written by attorney Hannah Salter at the Cardone Law Firm. The purpose of this blog entry is to explain some of the basics relating to health insurance and auto accidents and the current state of affairs as they stand in Louisiana today.

AUTO INSURANCE – MEDICAL PAYMENTS COVERAGE

Before we start talking about health insurance, I would first like to discuss medical payments coverage in your auto insurance policy. Medical payments coverage in your auto insurance policy pays for medical expenses related to an auto accident even if you were at fault for the accident. In many cases, people are not aware of this important coverage benefit which they have been paying for because auto insurance companies do not bring this benefit to the insured’s attention. However, medical payments coverage is not included in every auto insurance policy. To determine whether you have medical payments coverage, you need to review the declarations page of your auto insurance policy.

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garage elevatorA recent report of an elevator accident and the lawsuit it triggered is a reminder that elevator accidents can be seriously harmful events for those involved, and they can lead to a wide array of harms suffered by that person (or people). When those injuries are results of an improperly maintained elevator (or some other form of negligence by the owner), those injured may have a case for compensation. If you’ve been hurt in an elevator accident, be sure to contact a skilled New Orleans elevator accident attorney right away to discuss your options.

The recent report, published in the Louisiana Record, detailed the elevator accident of a woman named Nekita. Nekita was riding in a parking facility elevator in Downtown New Orleans when the elevator allegedly malfunctioned. According to the woman’s lawsuit, the elevator car began to shake and to move up and down in an abnormal fashion. During the entire period of malfunctioning, Nekita was trapped in the elevator car and unable to leave, according to her lawsuit.

Incidents like the one this woman allegedly underwent are unfortunately not that uncommon. What people may not immediately realize, though (but Nekita’s case potentially points out), is that an elevator accident can have a wide array of damaging impacts on those directly affected.

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