An accident that occurred along Interstate 10 east of Duston resulted in the death of a 92-year-old man from Lafayette. Police reported that the crash took place around 8 a.m. on April 29. The man was driving a Chevy pickup truck westbound along the interstate when it hit a GMC SUV that was stopped in the road. Officials stated that the SUV had stopped due to the presence of vehicles from a prior accident along the highway.
The Coroner’s Office for Lafayette Parish pronounced the driver of the pickup truck dead at the scene of the accident. The operator of the SUV, a 35-year-old man from Gray, was transported to Lafayette General Hospital for treatment of injuries that were characterized as moderate. Louisiana State Police said that the drivers of both vehicles had been wearing their seatbelts at the time of the collision. They also stated that they do not believe that impairment due to drug or alcohol use was a factor in the crash.
The death of an at-fault driver does not mean that an injured party cannot seek compensation for injuries suffered in an accident. Insurance companies may still be responsible for providing compensation as a result of car accidents that leave operators deceased.
It may be beneficial for an individual who was hurt in a collision to discuss the details of the incident with a personal injury attorney. A lawyer can explain how the process of seeking a settlement works and how a plaintiff might go about seeking a settlement in a case where the allegedly at-fault driver died. An injury settlement may include compensation to address a variety of issues, including medical expenses, long-term care costs, emotional trauma and the loss of property that might arise as the result of a crash.
Source: The Advocate, “92-year-old Lafayette man dies in crash on I-10 Wednesday,” May 3, 2015