Even in the humid climate of Louisiana, people are familiar with the expression “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” in response to the minor detail that caused a catastrophic accident. The implication is that this minor incident triggered the catastrophe, but many other events that preceded it are also part of the reason. Likewise, we tend to think of fault in car accidents as a question of “who” because we are worried that our car insurance premiums will increase if the insurance company assigns fault to us, and that it will refuse to pay our accident-related medical bills.
Instead, it makes more sense to ask the open-ended question of “why,” since insurance companies and courts acknowledge that multiple factors can contribute to an accident. If the insurance company or a judge determines that you are partially at fault, you can still recover compensation for your accident-related financial losses. The court reduces your damages award by the percentage of the fault for the accident that is yours. If you were injured in a car accident with multiple causes, contact a Houma car accident lawyer.
When Everything Goes Wrong All at Once
Louisiana experienced an unusually icy winter in 2025, and Peggy Williams was driving on LA 22 during a winter storm when her SUV slid on the ice, causing her to lose control of the vehicle and cross the center line. She collided head-on with a pickup truck. Williams died of her injuries shortly after the accident.
Kody Lacour, the driver of the pickup truck, suffered minor injuries that were not severe enough to require hospitalization; he refused to let an ambulance transport him to the hospital. Neither Williams nor Lacour was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. Police arrested Lacour on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. News reports did not indicate whether he took a breathalyzer test and, if he did, what his blood alcohol content (BAC) was at the time.
This is a classic example of an accident with many causes. The ice on the roads and the wintry mix falling from the sky certainly caused Williams to lose control of her car. She might have survived the collision if she had been wearing a seatbelt. Likewise, if Lacour had not been under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he might have been able to react in time to avoid a collision when he saw Williams’s SUV crossing the line.
If an insurance company were apportioning fault for this tragic accident, it would note the lack of seatbelts, Lacour’s alleged drunkenness, and the weather conditions. The parish might even bear some of the responsibility for the accident if it did not salt the roads before the storm; driving in winter weather in places where it rarely snows is even more dangerous than driving in northern climates where the local authorities are used to clearing icy roads.
Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey About Car Accident Cases
A personal injury lawyer can help you if you were injured in a car accident attributable to multiple causes. Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey in Houma, Louisiana, to set up a consultation about your case.
Fuentes
(985) 313-9791
