Louisiana Motorcycle Accident Laws – Important Info for Drivers

Louisiana has some rather interesting motorcycle accident laws. They treat accidents a bit differently than most states including the statute of limitations. Most all states require some specific laws for motorcycles which include helmet laws, helmet speakers, eye protection and lane sharing or splitting.

Statute of Limitations

Louisiana does not require a lawsuit to be filed within only weeks of a motorcycle accident. They have a one year statute of limitations that allows for delayed lawsuits to be filed with no pre-lawsuit requirements. This allows the injured party to file suit any point up to one year after the accident. This gives accident victims the time to ensure that their injuries and damages are only temporary.

Comparative Negligence

This law states that is the injured party is also at fault to a certain degree, in which case at this point would refer to a motorcyclist, the damages they can recover are reduced by that percentage of fault. For instance if you are found to be 10% at fault and you are asking for a $10,000 recovery, your recovery will be decreased by 10% or $1,000.

Insurance Limitations

Louisiana has a very low insurance limit law only requiring $10,000 for bodily injury. This means that if you are involved in an accident with someone who only carries the state minimum, the most you can be awarded for your damages is $10,000 regardless of your damages and medical bills. This may sound unfair but it helps limit the amount of false claims that are registered each year.

Other Motorcycle Laws

There are also motorcycle operation laws that help protect cyclists from injury. These laws include helmet laws, eye protection, passenger laws and lane occupancy. Helmet laws state that all riders must wear a helmet, eye protection is required unless the cycle is equipped with a wind screen, you must have a passenger seat and foot rest when carrying a passenger and two motorcycles may occupy the same lane when both agree. When it comes to passing another vehicle, a motorcycle may not occupy the same lane of the vehicle they are passing.

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