A one-car accident in Louisiana on April 10 resulted in the death of a New Iberia resident. The fatal crash took place near Charenton while a vehicle was traveling along Chitimacha Trail. One passenger died in the crash while three other occupants fled the scene after the accident. Investigators believe that driver impairment may have been a a factor in the crash.
According to a report from the initial investigation, the vehicle involved in the car accident exited the roadway after the driver failed to navigate a curve. Afterwards, the car struck a culvert and then flipped over multiple times. A 20-year-old passenger who was not wearing a seat belt was ejected from the vehicle and declared dead at the scene.
After three of the vehicle occupants fled the scene, sheriff’s deputies located two of them in a field. The driver of the vehicle, a 28-year-old man, was taken into custody and held at the St. Mary Parish Jail. He was issued several criminal charges, including vehicular negligent injuring, vehicular homicide, hit and run, failure to report an accident and careless operation. Authorities obtained a toxicology sample from the driver, and it was sent to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab to be analyzed.
An injured victim of this type of accident might wish to pursue an award for damages from the responsible party through the filing of a personal injury lawsuit. This type of recourse can be available even if no criminal charges are filed against the negligent driver. Damages that may be sought in this type of civil action could include the costs of all required medical care. If the injuries proved to be fatal, the decedent’s family could choose to file a wrongful death action seeking an award of funeral and burial costs and other damages.
Source: KLFY News, “One dead, one man arrested in St. Mary Parish crash,” KLFY Newsroom, April 10, 2015
