The Louisiana State Police have reported that a Jan. 15 traffic accident in Tangipahoa Parish involving three vehicles left a 60-year-old woman dead and a 64-year-old man clinging to life. The fatal crash took place at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Interstate 55 near Hammond. Police filed no immediate charges against any of the drivers involved, but a LSP representative said that the investigation into the crash was ongoing.
According to a LSP report, a 26-year-old Franklinton woman was proceeding northbound on Interstate 55 when her car struck the rear of a northbound Ford F-150 driven by a 62-year-old Amite man. After striking the pickup truck, the car crossed into the path of oncoming traffic where it struck a southbound sedan head-on.
The driver of the southbound sedan was seriously injured in the car crash, and paramedics transported him to a medical facility in Hammond for treatment. He was later reported to be in critical condition. The man’s wife, who had been traveling in the sedan’s front passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman who had been behind the wheel of the northbound car suffered what were described as moderate injuries, and the driver of the F-150 escaped the accident unhurt.
While the investigation into this crash may be ongoing, accidents of this kind are often caused by fatigued or distracted drivers. When police reports are inconclusive and no charges are filed, personal injury attorneys may conduct their own investigations to establish that negligent driving contributed to an accident. These efforts could searching for witnesses who may not have spoken to the police and checking the accident scene for nearby surveillance cameras that could have recorded the events in question.
