Louisiana Car Accident Lawyers

Rear-end collisions are the most common type. Fault is often clearer, but insurers still dispute injury severity and causation. T-bone crashes at intersections frequently involve disputed right-of-way and traffic signal evidence. Head-on collisions tend to produce the most serious injuries and are often linked to driver impairment or wrong-way driving. Sideswipe accidents on interstates commonly involve lane-change disputes where both parties claim the other moved first.

Multi-Vehicle Pileups

Multi-vehicle pileups on Louisiana interstates raise chain-reaction liability questions. Rollovers often involve speed and road condition factors. Distracted driving crashes, particularly phone-use collisions, leave a recoverable evidence trail in cell phone records. Drunk driving cases may support separate punitive damages under La. C.C. Art. 2315.4.

Hit-and-Run and Uninsured Drivers

Hit-and-run accidents and crashes involving uninsured drivers follow a different claims path. UM/UIM (uninsured/underinsured motorist) coverage is part of your own car insurance. It pays you when the driver at fault has no insurance (UM) or not enough insurance (UIM) to cover your losses. A personal car insurance policy includes it unless the policyholder signed a form that turned it down, chose lower limits or chose economic-only coverage. Economic-only coverage pays for losses like medical bills and lost wages but pays nothing for pain and suffering. A commercial policy, such as one on a work truck, has no UM coverage unless the policyholder chose it on the form. If you were in a car you own, your own UM/UIM policy is usually where the claim starts. If you were riding in or driving a car that you, your spouse or a relative living with you does not own, such as a friend’s car or a work truck, that car’s UM coverage pays first if it has any. Your own UM coverage can pay once that car’s coverage runs out, or if that car has no UM coverage (La. R.S. 22:1295). The process differs from standard third-party claims.

Commercial Vehicle Collisions

Commercial vehicle collisions involve additional layers: employer liability, federal safety regulations, and insurance policies with higher limits. When a large commercial truck is involved, see our big truck accident lawyers page for the specific issues those cases raise.

Rural Roads

Louisiana rural roads deserve separate attention. Rural interstates and two-lane state highways account for a disproportionate share of fatal crashes relative to the population they serve. Lower traffic volumes create a false sense of safety, but emergency response times are longer and road conditions are often worse. If your crash happened on a rural highway, that context matters for how evidence is gathered and how quickly.

Learn more about the injuries that commonly result from these crashes at our car accident injuries resource.

Louisiana changed two foundational personal injury rules, the most recent taking effect January 1, 2026. Both directly affect what you can recover and how long you have to act.

The Two-Year Filing Deadline

You have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit under La. C.C. Art. 3493.1, counted from the day of the accident. Louisiana law calls this deadline to file a lawsuit the prescriptive period. It means the same thing as a statute of limitations.

The 51% Comparative Fault Bar

The comparative fault threshold changed on January 1, 2026. Comparative fault is the rule that lowers the money you can get by the percent of the accident that was your fault. Louisiana previously operated under a pure comparative fault system where even a driver who was 99% at fault could recover 1% of their damages. Act 15 of 2025 changed that. For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, La. C.C. Art. 2323 establishes a 51% bar: if you are found 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. Earlier accidents keep the old rule, where fault only reduces recovery.

No Pay, No Play

Louisiana’s No Pay No Play rule limits recovery for uninsured drivers. If you drove without insurance and your accident happened on or after August 1, 2025, you may not recover the first $100,000 in bodily injury damages or the first $100,000 in property damage. If your accident happened before August 1, 2025, the older limits apply: you may not recover the first $15,000 in bodily injury damages or the first $25,000 in property damage. This applies regardless of the other driver’s fault. There are exceptions. An attorney can evaluate whether they apply.

The 51% comparative fault bar is now the most important threshold in Louisiana automobile injury law.

What Sets the Percentages

Evidence that establishes fault percentages includes accident reconstruction reports, dashcam and traffic camera footage, witness statements, police reports, cell phone records, and vehicle black box data. Each piece of evidence can move the fault percentage. This is why evidence preservation in the days immediately after a crash matters more now than it did before the 2026 reform.

See our Louisiana fault laws overview for more background.

Every driver on Louisiana roads is required to carry minimum liability coverage. Knowing what those minimums are helps you understand both what you can claim and what you may face if the at-fault driver is underinsured.

The Minimum Liability Limits

The mandatory minimum is $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident for bodily injury liability, plus $25,000 for property damage. These figures have not changed with recent tort reform. They are also low. A serious injury case easily exceeds $15,000 in medical expenses alone. When the at-fault driver carries only minimum coverage and your damages are higher, you need other recovery options.

UM/UIM Coverage

Louisiana auto policies generally include UM/UIM coverage unless a named insured rejected it on the form the insurance commissioner prescribes. If you are not sure whether you have UM/UIM coverage on your policy, check your declarations page or call your insurer. Roughly 11-15% of Louisiana drivers are uninsured. UM/UIM coverage is not optional protection to skip.

Med-Pay

Medical payments (med-pay) coverage is a separate optional add-on that pays your medical bills regardless of fault. It functions as first-dollar coverage while liability questions are being resolved. It is relatively inexpensive and worth having. It does not reduce your third-party claim.

Rideshare and Delivery Drivers

Rideshare and delivery drivers face a coverage gap between their personal policy and their employer’s commercial policy. The gap period, when the app is on but no passenger is accepted, typically has minimal coverage. If you were injured by an active rideshare driver, an attorney needs to investigate which policy was active at the time. The Louisiana Department of Insurance publishes information on required coverage minimums.

No Stacking

Louisiana does not let UM/UIM limits stack across the vehicles on a policy, but many clients do not know they have UM coverage at all, and finding it can substantially increase the funds available to pay a claim.

Car accident claims are built on evidence. The evidence that exists six months after an accident is often a fraction of what existed the week of the crash. The timeline for gathering it is short.

The Police Report

The police report is the starting point. Whether it is a Louisiana State Police report or a municipal department report, obtain a copy within days. Read it. Reports contain errors. Errors in the official record can create fault disputes that are hard to undo later.

Camera Footage

Dashcam and traffic camera footage is frequently the most valuable evidence in disputed-fault cases. Traffic and business cameras record over their footage on a set cycle, so if footage exists it needs to be preserved before it is gone. A preservation letter puts the camera owner on notice to keep it.

Cell Phone Records

Cell phone records are subpoenaed through the discovery process in litigation. They can confirm whether the other driver was on a call or texting at the time of impact. Telematics data from connected vehicles records speed, braking, and impact forces. This data exists in the vehicle’s systems but requires timely requests to preserve.

Medical Records

Medical records establish two things: the nature of your injuries and the timeline connecting them to the crash. Gaps in treatment create causation arguments for insurers. See your doctor within 48 hours of the accident, document everything, and follow through on the recommended treatment plan.

Social Media

Social media surveillance is now standard practice for insurance adjusters. Louisiana’s Code of Civil Procedure allows discovery of social media posts under La. C.C.P. Art. 1462. Posts, check-ins, and photos that appear to contradict injury claims will be used against you. The safest approach is to post nothing about the accident, your physical condition, or your activities.

The Preservation Letter

Once the facts give an honest basis for one, we send a preservation letter without waiting for a lawsuit. It creates legal exposure for the opposing party if they destroy evidence after receiving it.

The decisions made in the first 48 hours after a crash affect what evidence is available and what statements are on the record.

1. Call 911 and Report the Crash. Call 911. In Louisiana, the driver must notify the police right away when a crash injures or kills anyone or causes more than $500 in property damage, even if every car can still be driven. Inside a city or town, notify the local police department; outside one, notify the nearest sheriff’s office or state police station (La. R.S. 32:398).
2. Do Not Settle Before Maximum Medical Improvement. Do not accept any settlement offer before you have reached MMI.

Louisiana law allows injured drivers to recover two categories of damages: special (economic) damages and general (non-economic) damages.

Special Damages

Special damages are calculable: past and future medical expenses, lost wages from time missed at work, loss of earning capacity if the injury affects your ability to work long-term, and property damage to your vehicle. Loss of earning capacity is the gap between what you could have earned over your working life and what you can earn now after the injury. A job expert works out that gap, and an economist turns it into what it is worth in today’s dollars.

General Damages

General damages include pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement.

Loss of Consortium

Your close family may file its own loss of consortium claim under La. C.C. Art. 2315 for the impact on their relationship with you. This claim covers what your family loses because of your injury, like your company, your affection, and your support. It is separate from your own claim for your injuries. That claim belongs to the same relatives who could bring a wrongful death claim: your spouse and children first, then your parents if you have no spouse or child, then your brothers and sisters, then your grandparents.

Wrongful Death and Survival Claims

When a crash results in death, surviving family members may file a wrongful death action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 for their own losses, and a survival action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 for the victim’s losses between injury and death.

Punitive Damages for a Drunk Driver

Punitive damages are available in Louisiana only in limited circumstances. One of those circumstances is a crash caused by an intoxicated driver under La. C.C. Art. 2315.4. Standard negligence cases do not support punitive damages.

Louisiana consistently ranks in the top 10 nationally for traffic fatality rates per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to NHTSA and IIHS data. The state recorded 753 traffic fatalities in 2024 and over 37,000 injury crashes statewide. That translates to roughly one injury crash every 15 minutes.

Where the Crashes Happen

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development tracks crash data by corridor. Rural interstates, particularly I-49, I-10, and I-20, account for a disproportionate share of fatal crashes relative to the traffic volume they carry. Urban high-incident zones include the I-10 corridor through Baton Rouge and the I-10/I-610 interchange in New Orleans. Both carry heavy through-traffic mixed with local urban traffic.

Crash Counts by Parish

The parish numbers show where the state’s 753 deaths came from. East Baton Rouge Parish had 61 fatal crashes in 2024 and Orleans Parish 58, the two highest counts in Louisiana. Caddo Parish had 38, Lafayette and St. Tammany parishes 31 each, Calcasieu Parish 28, Ouachita Parish 27, Jefferson Parish 23, Ascension Parish 21 and Bossier Parish 19. The injury counts run far higher: 8,198 people were injured in Orleans Parish crashes, 7,979 in East Baton Rouge Parish, 4,525 in Lafayette Parish and 2,487 in Calcasieu Parish. The counts come from LSU’s Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety, which compiles every crash report filed in the state.

Trey Morris Injury Lawyers has handled Louisiana car accident cases for over 20 years from six offices, in Shreveport, Bossier City, Minden, Ruston, Covington, and Lake Charles. The firm handles cases in Louisiana courts from Caddo Parish to Orleans Parish.

Our Rating and Record

The firm holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer review rating available to attorneys. Multiple attorneys have been recognized by Super Lawyers. The firm has accumulated 2,870 five-star Google reviews from clients across Louisiana.

The Contingency Fee

Cases are handled on a contingency fee basis. That means you pay nothing upfront, and our fee is a percentage of the money we get for you. If we get you no money, you owe us no attorney fees.

For results in cases similar to yours, view our case results, or contact us to discuss your situation.

How Intake Works

Trey Morris Injury Lawyers’ intake process includes both a comparative-fault assessment and an evidence preservation checklist as standard first steps.