Motor vehicle accidents continue to be a common occurrence resulting in serious physical, emotional or financial harm for victims and their families, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reporting up to 7 million police-reported crashes annually. These collisions result in almost 43,000 fatalities and 2.4 million injuries each year, making motor vehicle accidents one of the leading causes of death and injury in the United States. Our Houma car accident lawyer knows that Louisiana consistently ranks among the states with higher-than-average traffic fatality rates, with an average number of motor vehicle accidents totaling about 160,000 crashes a year. This results in a high number of fatalities and injuries, causing Louisiana to rank in the top ten for the highest deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled at 1.46. Although the common causes of car accidents in Houma are preventable, victims and their families still face catastrophic personal injuries due to the reckless, careless and negligent conduct of drivers throughout Louisiana.
Here at the Patrick Yancey Law Firm, we understand that victims and their families often face significant physical, emotional and financial hardships due to motor vehicle accidents throughout Louisiana – including right here in Houma and the rest of Terrebonne Parish. That’s why we offer a no-win, no-fee guarantee, where we only receive a percentage of what we recover for victims and their families — and only after we recover it. In addition to our free case evaluations and the fact that we pay the upfront costs of litigation, there are no out-of-pocket or upfront costs for anyone injured by one of the common causes of a car accident in Houma who hires Patrick Yancey and his bodily injury law firm. To learn more about your rights, schedule your free consultation with our Houma car accident lawyer.
Understanding the most frequent causes of motor vehicle accidents in the Houma area can help drivers recognize dangerous situations and potentially prevent crashes. Local traffic patterns, weather conditions, commercial activity and driver behaviors all contribute to the collision statistics in Terrebonne Parish and surrounding areas. But in addition to creating awareness for safer driving, understanding the common causes of car accidents in Houma can help victims and their families recognize when they may be entitled to compensation under Louisiana law.
The most common causes of car accidents in Houma that our car accident lawyer may handle for you include the following:
Determining fault and establishing liability in car accident cases requires careful examination of the circumstances surrounding each collision. Louisiana follows a comparative fault system, which means that multiple parties can share responsibility for an accident, and damages are allocated based on each party’s proportional percentage of fault. Due to this, defense lawyers and insurance adjusters often try to limit their client’s liability and minimize a victim’s damages, and on the other hand try to maximize a victim’s comparative fault.
Generally, especially liability in any of the common causes of car accidents in Houma requires a victim to establish that the defendant was negligent. In order to do so, a victim must prove each of the following elements against a defendant:
Only where each of these elements has been proven, can a victim and his or her family recover compensation under Louisiana law. That means, even if a victim suffers a catastrophic personal injury, if a victim does not prove that a defendant was the actual cause of the car accident, a trier of fact (either a jury or a court) will dismiss the case. Thus, it is important that victims and their families retain an experienced Houma car accident lawyer to represent them and their families in Louisiana.
In order to establish the elements of negligence, victims will need to rely on the law and on the facts. The facts are gathered from what happened and caused the car accident, and what damages arose from that accident. These facts are a type of evidence which tend to prove or disprove a claim or defense. Generally, the most common and even the most important evidence in a car accident case is testimonial evidence. This is what the parties or the witnesses say happened in a crash, and includes their narrative, impressions and understandings. Essentially, testimonial evidence is what a person says.
But documentation and evidence collection also plays a vital role in proving car accident cases. This includes police reports, photographs of the accident scene and vehicle damage, medical records detailing injuries and treatment, witness contact information and statements, and any available surveillance footage. Economic damages such as medical bills, lost wages, and property damage require proper documentation, while non-economic damages like pain and suffering rely on medical testimony and expert witness opinions.
Given the extensive types of evidence needed to help prove a car accident case in Louisiana, it is imperative to retain an experienced Houma car accident lawyer to ensure that all relevant evidence is collected, preserved and presented effectively to support the claim before a jury or judge.
Car accidents can result in a wide range of injuries, from minor cuts to life-changing and catastrophic trauma requiring extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation. The force of impact, speed of the vehicles involved, use of safety equipment, and individual factors all influence the type and severity of injuries sustained by a victim. Understanding common car accident injuries helps accident victims recognize when they may be entitled to compensation for their injuries after a car accident in Houma.
Some of the most common car accident injuries that the Patrick Yancey Law Firm could handle for you include the following:
If you or a loved one were seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident in Louisiana, the Patrick Yancey Law Firm can help you recover compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages and other damages. We offer free consultations with no obligation to sign up and no upfront fees. Should you hire our law firm, and if we accept your case, there are also no upfront litigation costs or legal fees owed to us because we recover only a percentage of what we recover for you – and only after we recover it for you. This means that you can get an experienced Houma car accident lawyer to represent you with no costs out-of-pocket.
Schedule your free consultation to learn more about your legal rights under Louisiana law after a motor vehicle accident in Houma, Terrebonne or anywhere else in the region, by dialing (985) 313-9791 or by submitting a message through our contact form available on our website. We are happy to meet with you at our law office, your home, hospital, work or virtually – whatever is easier for you and your family after injuries from an auto wreck.
(985) 313-9791
