Lane Change Accidents in Louisiana

The winding, two-lane roads of Louisiana’s rural parishes are the site of many fond memories, and the neutral ground of St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans is a destination for visitors from around the world, but the faded lines that divide lanes of traffic that move in the same direction evoke rather fewer positive emotions. Changing lanes is a pain, especially when no one will let you in and when other people are merging in front of you without using their turn signals. If you have ever spent time driving on roads with two or more lanes in each direction, then it will not surprise you to find out that lane change errors are among the most common causes of collisions in Louisiana. Lane change accidents are less likely to result in catastrophic injuries than some other types of collisions, but they can still cause plenty of physical and financial pain. A Houma car accident lawyer can help you if you are facing unaffordable bills for medical treatment or vehicle repairs after a lane change accident.

Do Lane Change Accidents Cause Serious Injury?

Lane change accidents happen when one driver merges into another lane and collides with a car that is already in that lane. Therefore, they usually result in the side of one vehicle striking the side of another  The doors on the sides of cars do not offer much protection, so the impact is much closer to your body than it would be if a car hit the rear bumper of your vehicle. Despite this, the injuries resulting from lane change accidents are usually fairly minor, although they might be serious enough to require medical treatment. Seatbelts and airbags prevent car accident injuries from being as bad as they could be, and another factor that protects against serious injury in lane change accidents is that, because they usually occur in heavy traffic, the vehicles involved usually are not going very fast. Your car probably is not going to overturn if another car sideswipes it, and you are probably not going to be ejected from the vehicle.

Who is Legally Responsible for a Lane Change Accident?

In most lane change accidents, the driver who was trying to merge is at fault for the accident. Drivers who are staying in their lane of traffic have the right of way; if you want to change lanes, you should use your turn signal and wait for the right time to merge. If a driver in the destination lane suddenly sped up or slowed down, thereby messing up your plans for the lane change, he or she might be partially at fault for the accident.

Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey About Car Accidents

A car accident lawyer can help you recover your accident-related financial losses if you got injured in a car accident where another car tried to merge into your lane at the wrong time.  Contact the Law Office of Patrick H. Yancey in Houma, Louisiana, to set up a consultation about your case.

Sources

https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2011/rs/title32/rs32-79