A collision involving two vehicles resulted in the death of one person in St. Martin Parish in the late night hours of November 23. Police continue to investigate the accident.
According to the Louisiana State Police, the fatal car crash occurred just before 9 p.m. on LA Highway 352 near LA Highway 359. A 39-year-old Breaux Bridge man, traveling west on LA Highway 352 in a 2007 Chevrolet truck, rear-ended a 2005 Mercury, driven by a 54-year-old Breaux Bridge woman. The collision caused the Mercury to travel across the eastbound lanes off the road and end up in a ditch overturned.
The woman was not wearing a seat belt when her vehicle overturned. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident by the St. Martin’s Parish Coroner’s Office. The driver of the truck, who has not been charged in connection with the accident, suffered minor injuries in the incident. Police do not believe impaired driving was one of the factors in the incident, though the cause of the accident is still unknown. Police did take routine toxicology samples, which they sent off for analysis to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab.
In similar cases, the family of the deceased victim might choose to file a wrongful death claim against the other driver to recover damages if the family can show that the other driver was both liable and negligent. This might be shown using information collected during the police investigation. If the family does file a claim and the claim is successful, the family might be awarded both economic and noneconomic damages.
Source: KLFY, “Fatal crash in St. Martin Parish”, Julie Darce, November 24, 2014
