Louisiana is a beautifully diverse state that draws millions of tourists each year from around the globe. With so much to offer, Louisiana is a great place to live and visit, but it’s not without its share of risk. Large urban areas such as New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport see a lot of traffic at all times of the year, and traffic increases considerably around Mardi Gras. With increased traffic comes increased rates of car accidents—and even in rural areas, you can get into a car accident.
If another driver injured you or killed a close family member in a car accident due to their carelessness or recklessness in Louisiana, you may obtain compensation for your injuries and losses. However, the process is complex, and you likely have a lot of questions about how to pursue compensation to cover your medical bills and other damages.
The experienced legal team of Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers offers injured motorists a free consultation with one of our legal professionals. We don’t require that you sign a contract or pay any money to speak with us, and you can reach us 24/7 by calling 800-898-4877 or CLICK HERE to complete our online contact form.
Helping Car Accident Victims for More Than 20 Years
The attorneys at Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers have helped car accident victims and their families throughout Louisiana for more than 20 years. During that time, we have obtained substantial settlements and verdict awards for our clients, and we have recovered tens of millions of dollars in total compensation.
Our lawyers have received consistent recognition as some of the best personal injury attorneys in the country, and we earned top attorney designations from the National Trial Lawyers Association and the Association of Distinguished Counsel.
We are passionate about helping those in need, and we always place our clients first. As a result of our client-first mentality and outstanding client service, our lawyers have received many five-star client reviews along with perfect 10.0 client ratings on Avvo and the organization’s Clients’ Choice award. Additionally, our website proudly displays dozens of client testimonials we have received.
Areas We Serve in Louisiana
Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers’ Louisiana law office is located at 400 Poydras Tower, #1975, New Orleans, 70130. We serve car accident victims across the state, including:
No matter where you live or visit in Louisiana, you can contact Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers for help pursuing compensation if another driver caused a car accident that injured you. We will evaluate your claim and advise you of your options. If you have a strong case for obtaining compensation, you can rely on us to help you get the full amount of compensation you deserve. You can contact our intake department anytime, day or night, by calling 800-898-4877, or you can CLICK HERE to get started.
Louisiana Car Accident Statistics
According to Louisiana’s Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation, the state saw nearly 42,000 injury crashes in 2022, with 764 fatalities. The areas in Louisiana that historically have the highest rates of car accident-related fatalities include East Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and the Shreveport area in Caddo Parish. Jefferson, Lafayette, and Lafourche parishes also saw high rates of fatal crashes in 2022, along with St. Tammany, Ouachita, and Tangipahoa.
Incidentally, Louisiana recently ranked near the top of the list for states with the worst drivers and highest rates of fatal car accidents. March, April, and May tend to see the highest numbers of fatal and serious injury crashes, but the numbers are comparatively lower in June, July, October, and January. Understandably, more accidents seem to occur in cloudy, rainy, and inclement weather.
Louisiana is a dynamic state, and whether you like big cities or small towns, the state has a lot to offer. Thousands of people descend on New Orleans during Mardi Gras celebrations, and the state has many other festivals, such as Alligator Festival in Luling or the Bayou Country Superfest.
Unfortunately, one disadvantage of having so many activities is that Louisiana’s roadways quickly become congested, making car accidents common. Whether driving through a rural parish or in the heart of Baton Rouge, nobody is immune from becoming a victim to a reckless, negligent, or careless driver who causes a car accident that injures or kills them or someone they love.
If you suffered injuries or lost a loved one in a Louisiana car accident that was not your fault, you can reach out to the legal professionals at Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers for help. We have successfully handled hundreds of car accident cases, and we are prepared to help you get the compensation you need.
Types of Injuries You Can Suffer in a Louisiana Car Accident
Car accidents are so dangerous because of the forces that moving vehicles can generate. Some passengers will walk away unharmed from fender benders, but others will suffer life-changing injuries. Some common (and painful) injuries you could suffer in a Louisana car accident include:
Neck injuries and soft-tissue damage
The violent actions in a car accident can throw your head frontward, backward, or side-to-side and can painfully stretch the ligaments in your neck well beyond their normal range. As a result, victims can feel debilitating pain. Ligaments in the shoulders and upper back can also stretch, pressing against nerves and leaving injured motorists with chronic pain.
To treat neck injuries and soft-tissue damage, victims should not immobilize their necks in a foam collar like they see on TV. Instead, they should stretch and exercise under the guidance of a physical therapist to regain their range of motion and reduce pain. Although mild neck injuries can clear up in a matter of months, more serious injuries might cause pain for years.
Fractures
The human body has hundreds of bones, any one of which could break under the force of a car accident. Depending on the impact, bones might break in one place or shatter into several pieces. With bad breaks, victims may need to undergo surgeries to permanently install pins, screws, or metal plates that hold pieces of bone together. Broken bones cause tremendous pain and might immobilize motorists until the bone heals.
Traumatic brain injuries
The human brain is incredibly complex, and fortunately well protected in the skull. However, any violent action to the head can cause the brain to strike the inside of the skull, resulting in potentially serious damage to the brain. Brain injuries like concussions can leave victims with headaches, or cause convulsions, vomiting, memory problems, and sleep disturbances, among many other problems. Moderate and severe brain injuries often require surgeries, time in the hospital, and rehabilitation to regain functioning and movement.
Spinal cord injuries
The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves connecting the brain to the rest of your body. Any damage to the spinal cord can impair your ability to move or feel sensations, some of which might prove permanent. Less serious spinal cord injuries can include herniated disks, where the jelly-like pads between your vertebrae rupture, causing intense pain. In severe cases, you can become paralyzed.
Burns
After a car accident, the fuel tank or system in one of the vehicles can rupture, leaking gasoline or diesel that can quickly ignite, or passengers can get splashed with antifreeze or battery acid. Serious second- and third-degree burns might require skin grafts or even the amputation of limbs.
Cuts, abrasions, and bruises
Car accidents can cause deep lacerations that are far more serious than accidentally cutting yourself while slicing fruit, for instance. The sheer forces and violence of car accidents create shards of glass and other sharp debris that can slice you to the bone and even puncture your skull and internal organs. Also, you can slam your torso, arms, legs, and head into the door, roof, or dashboard, causing deep bruising and large abrasions. You should always get a medical evaluation for any cut, abrasion, or bruise no matter how minor it may appear.
These are a few of the painful injuries that we see after car accidents. Your attorney can gather all your medical records and test results to formally document your injuries. You need to keep a written journal and record where and for how long you feel pain and its intensity. You should also hold onto all prescription painkiller bottles. We have seen jurors blown away when we show them a clear trash bag with all the orange bottles for each prescription an injured motorist has taken.
Non-Physical Injuries Resulting from Car Accidents
Not all injuries are visible. Instead, victims frequently suffer emotional distress because of their physical injuries. We have seen many of our clients experience a wide range of mental and emotional issues following a car accident, including:
- Anger
- Grief
- Depression
- Irritability
- Fear
- Hopelessness
- Embarrassment
These emotional issues can cause people to withdraw from their families and friends and refuse to leave their homes, which only increases depression and loneliness. Fortunately, Louisiana law recognizes physical injuries as sufficiently serious to warrant compensation—but you must act fast. As with your physical injuries, keep a journal of your emotional distress and note how your life has changed for the worse after your car accident.
Types of Compensation You Can Recover for Your Injuries and Losses
Every car accident is different, and some cause more significant harm than others. You deserve to obtain compensation for all areas of your life impacted by the accident and your injuries, the car accident lawyers and legal professionals at Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers can help you properly and fully document all the economic and non-economic losses you suffered.
Economic Damages
You may obtain compensation for the economic damages you incurred that include things like:
Medical care
Many of our clients need extensive treatments for their injuries. With the rising cost of medical care, even minor injuries can cost tens of thousands of dollars—money most individuals don’t have and weren’t planning on spending for injuries sustained through no fault of their own. A successful lawsuit might recover compensation for:
- Medical bills
- Surgeries
- Hospital visits
- Doctor appointments
- Transportation to and from the hospital
- X-rays and other tests
- Prescription drugs
- Over-the-counter drugs
- Equipment like braces, crutches, and wheelchairs
- Rehabilitation
Very serious injuries can often require continuing medical care, such as at-home attendants or physical therapy, and you might qualify for a sum of money for this future treatment.
Lost wages
Serious injuries prevent many victims from returning to work as they recuperate, and some injuries are so devastating that you cannot return to your old job, thus reducing your income permanently. Lost income is an economic loss you can receive compensation for.
Property damage
If your car, motorcycle, or bicycle was damaged in the accident, you can receive money to fix or replace it.
Non-economic Damages
Along with economic damages, Louisiana law allows car wreck victims to recover non-economic damages to compensate them for certain intangible injuries, such as:
- Pain and suffering resulting from your physical injuries following a car accident
- Mental anguish and emotional distress you suffered because of the car wreck
- Disfigurement if the accident leaves you permanently scarred or changed
- Lost enjoyment of life if your injuries keep you from pursuing your favorite hobbies like walking, sports, or playing with children or grandchildren.
- Loss of consortium if the car accident killed a close family member, such as your spouse, child, or parent
Non-economic damages are harder to calculate, and you will need a car accident attorney to help you determine the types and amounts of compensation you can pursue.
Punitive Damages
If your car accident case goes to trial, the court may also award punitive damages on top of any economic or non-economic damages. Courts usually only award punitive damages in car accident cases where egregious misconduct, wanton recklessness, or unlawfulness led to the accident. One example of when you may receive punitive damages is if a driver was intoxicated when they caused the car wreck. You may receive punitive damages even if the driver is not convicted of the crime, but the court awards punitive damages only at its discretion.
Keep in mind that not every car accident victim qualifies for all of the above compensation, so consult with a Louisiana car accident lawyer to review the circumstances of your accident. Our team at the law offices of Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers will perform a full case review to identify the maximum amount of compensation that you may recover. We will then come up with a game plan for making sure you get everything you deserve.
Don’t Lose Your Legal Rights!
You deserve compensation for your injuries and losses, but Louisiana makes you move fast to protect your right to that compensation. You only have one year from the date of the car accident to file a lawsuit in court for your injuries. If you delay and miss this deadline, a judge will likely dismiss your lawsuit and prevent you from refiling. This means you will not recover compensation and you cannot hold the responsible driver legally liable for your injuries.
Don’t delay! We’ve met too many clients who waited too long before calling us after a car accident, wrongly believing they could negotiate with an insurance company on their own. But a lawsuit is the only leverage you have over an insurance company. Missing your deadline closes the curtain on your ability to receive any kind of settlement or verdict for your injuries.
A Car Accident Lawyer Can Get Tough with Insurance Companies
Many drivers have no other assets than their insurance policy. Therefore, if you need compensation to pay for your economic losses, you will need to make a claim with their insurer–or better yet, have your car accident attorney do it for you. We wish it were otherwise, but the insurance industry is not a neutral party. Insurance companies are in business for one reason—profit—so they have the incentive to deny as many car accident claims as possible, including yours.
At the law offices of Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers, we’ve gone up against many of Louisiana’s most powerful insurance companies and have successfully fought to receive compensation for our clients. To make things go as smoothly as possible for your car accident claim, we need you to follow some simple advice:
- Hire a lawyer quickly. Only a personal injury attorney is in your corner and truly represents your interests.
- Sign no documents without your lawyer’s advice. Insurers want you to sign away your right to compensation, and only a legal expert can read and understand the fine print.
- Don’t expect the insurance agent to give you the real number for how much compensation you deserve for your injuries. The less serious your injuries, the less they need to pay. Only your lawyer can add up all your economic and non-economic losses and come to a fair conclusion.
- Document the accident and your injuries as soon as possible after the car accident. The insurance company will work quickly to get witness statements and inspect vehicles. You need to collect your own evidence and not rely on the driver’s insurance agent. An experienced car accident attorney can help you do this.
Negotiating with an insurance company requires discipline, detail, and determination. Through our decades of experience handling car accident cases, we’ve mastered the art of negotiation, which has allowed us to obtain thousands of favorable settlements and jury verdicts for our injured clients. If you need compensation, do not try to negotiate yourself or hire a new lawyer fresh out of law school. For the best results, go with an experienced professional.
Schedule a Free Consultation with a Louisiana Car Accident Lawyer
The Louisiana car accident attorneys of Stewart J. Guss Personal Injury Lawyers are nationally recognized car accident lawyers who have protected the rights of injured victims for more than 20 years. If you or a family member was recently injured in a car accident, you need an experienced car accident lawyer to look out for your best interests.
Call our office right now for your free consultation. Because we take all of our personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, you will not owe us anything unless we win your case. We are available 24 hours, 7 days a week, so call us today at 800-898-4877 or contact us online by CLICKING HERE.
See what past clients have to say:
Review: 5/5
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Mr. Guss was wonderful. He fought hard against the insurance company to get us what we deserved. I went from owing almost $5000 in medical bills to actually getting money in my pocket. Absolutely Amazing!!!!! A big thank you from me and my family!!!”
-Karley B.
Since starting his firm in 1999, Stewart J. Guss has had the honor of representing clients from all over the world, helping them recover from even the most catastrophic injuries.
Today, thanks to a strong belief in those values of compassion, respect, and approachability, the firm has grown to employ over 120 legal professionals in numerous offices across 4 states, with nationwide reach.
