It is always a great idea for Louisiana drivers to employ good driving habits and maintain a proper lookout while driving. But there are some conditions and places where motorists must be on their best driving behavior. A heavy rainstorm is one situation where drivers should be extra careful. Driving on a bridge or causeway is another. Recently, a man was injured in a terrifying car accident on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. The accident involved another driver who was allegedly driving carelessly.
The accident happened the morning of August 8. According to police, the driver of one vehicle collided with another driver on the causeway. The force of the collision propelled the other driver’s vehicle, a pickup truck, over the causeway’s barriers and into Lake Pontchartrain. Fortunately, the driver of the pickup was able to escape the vehicle. Rescuers pulled him out of the water; he suffered minor injuries and was transported to the hospital.
Police pointed the finger of blame at the driver of the first vehicle. He was cited by the police for driving with a suspended license and for careless operation.
Given that the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is surrounded by water, there is little room for error. The causeway has to be among the last places in the New Orleans area where a driver would want to drive carelessly, yet many still do. Although the victim of this crash was very lucky to survive, many others are not. Eleven fatalities have been recorded in overboard crashes on the causeway over the past 22 years.
If you or a loved one have been the victim of a careless driver, there are no doubt legal questions to which answers are deserved. One way to get answers is to hold the careless driver accountable for their actions through a personal injury lawsuit.
Source: The New Orleans Advocate, “Man involved in Causeway crash had suspended license, cited for careless operation,” Faimon A. Roberts III, Aug. 9, 2016
