“The driver owns the truck” does not answer who is responsible for a Louisiana truck crash. An owner-operator may own the tractor while hauling a load under another motor carrier’s authority. The driver, the operating carrier, the trailer owner, and the business arranging the shipment can be different entities. The useful question is what…
A Louisiana truck crash can lead to claims against the driver, the motor carrier, or another business whose conduct contributed to the collision. The company painted on the trailer is a starting point for an investigation, but it may not be the company that employed the driver, maintained the tractor, or chose the carrier…
A longshoreman loads, unloads, or handles cargo moving between a vessel and the shore. The work may involve a ship’s hold, a dock, a crane, cargo lashings, or a terminal where containers are transferred. It is different from simply having a job near the Mississippi River or working for a business with “marine” in…
Louisiana really does have a law with a maximum $1 fine for setting off fireworks near a hospital. It also has laws about bridge jumping for publicity, bear wrestling, white alligators, traditional jambalaya, telegram privacy, frog sizes, and what happens when a vessel carries a New Orleans bar pilot out to sea. Most online…
A Mansfield bar is the horizontal guard below the rear of a truck trailer. Its formal name is a rear impact guard or rear underride guard. It is intended to limit how far a smaller vehicle can slide beneath the trailer when it strikes from behind. The bar is only part of the protection….
After a crash on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, the first concern is the traffic still approaching. A damaged vehicle, people outside their cars, and a queue forming behind the collision can create another emergency before anyone has sorted out the first one. Call 911, give your direction of travel and the nearest mile marker…
You may be able to resolve the damage to your car while an injury claim remains open. Before accepting the money, though, read the check, the accompanying letter, and any release together. A payment described over the phone as “just for the car” can come with written terms that reach further. The practical question…
A rear-end collision in stopped traffic on I-10 raises different questions from a turning crash on Airline Highway. In the first, the sequence of braking and impacts may be disputed. In the second, the important facts may be the signal, the turning path, and whether either driver could see the other vehicle. The road…
Louisiana permits remote online notarization, but not for every document. The process can replace an in-person appearance before a notary only when the document is eligible and the session satisfies the state’s technology, identity, signature, location, and recordkeeping rules. That distinction matters when someone sends a link and describes the signature as routine. Remote…
A towing bill can keep growing even while the insurance companies are still deciding who is responsible for the crash. The immediate problem is practical: find the vehicle, learn the daily rate, and decide where it should go next. The legal question of who ultimately pays may take longer. In Louisiana, payment can depend…
A Louisiana vehicle-damage claim can include reasonable rental or other transportation costs while a damaged vehicle cannot be used. The source of payment matters. Your own insurer owes only the rental coverage provided by your policy, while an at-fault driver’s insurer may owe reasonable loss-of-use expenses as part of the property-damage claim. Louisiana law…
Louisiana’s No Pay, No Play law can limit what an uninsured vehicle owner or operator recovers after a crash, even when someone else caused the collision. For accidents on or after August 1, 2025, the law generally excludes the first $100,000 of bodily injury damages and the first $100,000 of property damage damages. The…
There is no honest one-number answer to the question “Which Baton Rouge intersection is the most dangerous?” A location can lead the city in reported crashes because it carries enormous traffic, while a lower-volume intersection may have fewer crashes but a higher crash rate. A serious-injury analysis can produce a different list from either…
A vehicle can be repaired correctly and still sell for less because buyers, dealers, and valuation services account for its accident history. Louisiana law allows a vehicle owner to seek that remaining loss in value when a third party negligently damages, but does not destroy, the vehicle. A diminished value claim is a valuation…
A commercial truck may contain several electronic systems that record different parts of a trip. People often call all of them the truck’s “black box,” but the useful data may be stored in an engine control module, a brake or stability system, an electronic logging device, a fleet telematics platform, or a camera system….