Lafourche Parish Car Accident Lawyer

Lafourche Parish Car Accident Attorney

The physical and financial aftermath of a car accident can be very hard to deal with. Even minor accidents can be very traumatic. If you were injured because of another driver’s carelessness, a Lafourche Parish car accident lawyer can help you recover your financial losses.

Let Hammond Law Firm, LLC, Help With Your Motor Vehicle Accident

With over 40 years of collective legal experience, our firm can help you address the financial costs of your car accident. We understand how stressful this situation is, and we can file your claim and negotiate with insurers for you. At Hammond Law Firm, LLC, we help you hold at-fault parties accountable.

What Parties Are Liable for My Car Accident?

Most motor vehicle accidents are caused because a driver in the accident was negligent. They may have been distracted, driving recklessly, or fatigued. To prove them liable, you must prove that they owed you a duty of care, breached that duty of care, and caused the accident and your damages because of this breach. You can recover your losses by filing with their insurance provider.

While drivers are the most common liable party, they are not the only party. You may be able to hold other parties fully or partially liable for your injuries, such as:

• The owner of the vehicle
• Manufacturer and distributor of auto parts
• Road and construction crews
• Bus companies
• Truck companies
• A mechanic who completed vehicle maintenance
• Agencies responsible for road design and maintenance

How you can hold these parties liable for the accident will depend on the party and the cause of your accident. It is important to work with a dedicated and experienced attorney to navigate this process.

Can I File a Claim if I Am Partially at Fault?

You may still be able to file a claim if you are partially at fault for your car accident. If the case proceeds to court, the court will assign a percentage fault to each party. You are liable for your percentage fault in the accident, so the damages that you sustained will be paid to you but reduced by your percentage fault in the accident.

You should always work with an attorney if you are partially to blame for an accident. Your attorney can help limit the amount you are found at fault by presenting evidence from the accident. This can increase the compensation you receive. If an insurer is trying to claim you were partially at fault when you were not, an attorney can advocate for you and prove the true liability.

Common Car Accident Causes in Lafourche Parish

The first step to determining the liable party in your accident is determining what caused the crash. Some of the most frequent causes of car accidents include:

Distracted Driving

Someone may be driving distracted because they are checking their phone, looking at a navigational system, eating, grooming, or talking with others in the vehicle. Drivers who take their focus off the road increase the likelihood that they cause an accident.

There were 53 crashes attributed to distracted driving in Lafourche Parish in 2024. Fifty of these were suspected injury crashes, and three were fatal crashes. The highest known cause of distraction was hand-held mobile phones, which resulted in eight of the suspected injury crashes. In 2023, 46 crashes in the parish were attributed to distraction, and there were also eight injury crashes because of mobile phone distraction.

Driving Under the Influence

When a driver operates their vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol, they are committing a criminal offense and putting everyone else on the roadway in danger. When a drunk driver causes an accident, they can face criminal charges and civil action by those they injured.

There were 112 accidents that involved alcohol in 2024 in Lafourche Parish. Three of these crashes were fatal crashes, making up a third of all fatal crashes in the Parish. Alcohol crashes made up a much higher percentage of fatal crashes than injury or property damage crashes. There were 43 suspected alcohol-related injury crashes, which were 8.43% of all injury crashes. Sixty-six of the 1,532 property damage-only accidents involved alcohol or 4.31%.

Fatigued Driving

When a driver drives tired, they reduce their reaction speeds and increase the risk of an accident. Driving fatigue can be as dangerous as driving impaired. Drivers can make poor decisions while fatigued and can even fall asleep behind the wheel. Falling asleep behind the wheel is a common cause of head-on, fatal collisions.

Reckless Driving

Driving recklessly or aggressively creates more hazards on the road and makes an accident more likely. This includes actions like not using turn signals, reckless lane changes, tailgating, and moving violations. Speeding is also a form of reckless driving, which also makes any resulting accident worse because it happens at higher speeds.

Hazardous Road Conditions

Dangerous conditions on the road and the surrounding environment can lead to accidents, especially when drivers fail to reduce their speeds and drive more cautiously in response to these hazards. Roadway hazards can include construction work zones, traffic congestion, potholes, debris on the road, and inclement weather.

The majority of fatal and suspected injury crashes in Lafourche Parish happened on dry roads and in clear conditions in 2024, but dangerous road conditions are a contributing factor in accidents. Seventy-five suspected injury crashes out of 510 occurred when the roads were wet.

Fifty suspected injury crashes out of 510 happened when it was cloudy, and 43 happened when it was rainy. Twenty-seven of the total injury accidents were attributed to road surface conditions, and 15 were attributed to regular congestion.

How Long Do I Have to File a Car Accident Claim?

You have a limited period of time to file a civil claim after a motor vehicle accident and often even less time to file a car insurance claim. It is crucial that you work with a car accident attorney quickly after a crash, to begin gathering evidence and building your claim sooner. If you miss the deadline for a civil claim, you may lose all leverage in negotiations and may be unable to recover compensation through the court. An attorney helps you keep these deadlines in mind.

Contact Hammond Law Firm, LLC

The right legal team has the resources to investigate the cause of your accident, calculate your damages, and address other complex aspects of your unique case. Contact the office of Hammond Law Firm, LLC, today.