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Wrong-Way Driving Accident Lawyer in New Orleans
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New Orleans Wrong-Way Driving Accident Lawyers Near Me
Free Consultation for Wrong-Way Crash Cases in Kenner
A wrong-way crash occurs when a driver travels against the lawful direction of traffic and collides with another vehicle traveling in the proper direction. These crashes can result in high-impact collisions, particularly when vehicles meet head-on. The two vehicles meet with the force of both speeds combined.
Families are left with hospital bills, missed paychecks, and questions nobody has answered yet.
At Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys, our New Orleans wrong way accident attorneys help injured people put their lives back together after devastating crashes. We have recovered approximately $3 Billion for injury victims and their families. Our record includes 230+ Million dollar verdicts and settlements. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
If a car accident caused by a wrong way driver hurt you or someone you love, we are ready to fight for you. You can also learn how our wrong-way driving accident lawyers across Louisiana handle these claims statewide.
Types of Wrong-Way Accident Injuries Our New Orleans Lawyers Handle
Head-on impacts concentrate force on the front of the car and on the people inside it. The injuries tend to be severe. Our team handles the full range of harm these crashes cause.
- Fourth-Degree Burn
- Second Degree Burn
- Third Degree Burn
- Muscle Strain
- Electrical Burn Injury
- Contusion Injury
- Chemical Burn
- Sprain
- Skull Fracture
- Shoulder Injury
- Collapsed Lung
- Organ Damage
- Lacerations and Abrasions
- Concussion
- Knee Injury
- Internal Bleeding
- Hip Fracture
- Herniated Disc
- Catastrophic Injury
- Wrongful Death
- Chronic Pain
- Internal Injuries
- Eye Injury
- CTE Brain Injury
- Brain Injury
- Neck injury
- Soft Tissue Injury
- Spinal Cord Accident
- Paralysis Injury
- Whiplash
- Pain & Suffering
- Scarring & Disfigurement
- Back Injury
- Broken Bones
- Burn Injury
- And More ...
New Orleans Wrong Way Crash Statistics
Wrong way collisions are uncommon compared to fender benders, and far more likely to kill or permanently injure someone. The most recent statewide figures show the scale of the problem.
753
people were killed in Louisiana traffic crashes in 2024
161
of those deaths involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher
21%
of fatal crashes in the State Police troop area covering New Orleans were hit-and-run
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Wrong-Way Crash
The wrong-way driver is the obvious defendant. They are not always the only one, and they are not always the one with enough insurance to cover a catastrophic injury. Depending on what our investigation turns up, responsibility may reach:
- The driver who traveled the wrong direction
- An employer, if that driver was working at the time
- A trucking company, when a commercial vehicle is involved
- A public agency responsible for roadway signs, lighting, or ramp design
- A vehicle or parts manufacturer, if a mechanical failure contributed
Claims involving a commercial truck follow different rules and different insurance layers, which is why our New Orleans truck accident lawyers get involved early in those cases. Claims against a public agency follow their own procedures and deadlines, so we identify that issue at the start rather than late in the case.
Understanding Louisiana Wrong Way Driving Laws
Louisiana law is clear about which side of the road you belong on. Recent changes have made fault and insurance status far more important than they used to be. Here is what matters most for a wrong way collision injury claim.
The Traffic Laws a Wrong-Way Driver Breaks
Louisiana requires drivers to stay on the right half of the roadway (La. R.S. 32:71). On a one-way street, a driver may travel only in the posted direction (La. R.S. 32:78). On a divided highway, drivers must stay on the right-hand roadway and may not cross the median except at a proper opening (La. R.S. 32:82).
How Long You Have to File
any Louisiana personal injury claims are subject to a two-year prescriptive period under Civil Code article 3493.1, beginning when the injury or damage is sustained. Other types of claims may have different deadlines, so the applicable prescription period should be confirmed based on the facts of the case. That two-year period applies to injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2024.
How Fault Gets Divided
Louisiana changed its comparative fault rule effective January 1, 2026. For claims governed by the amended Article 2323, a person found 51% or more at fault is not entitled to recover damages. If the person’s fault is less than 51%, the recoverable damages are reduced in proportion to that person’s percentage of fault. The applicable rule can depend on when the cause of action arose, so an attorney should review the timing and facts of the claim.
The No Pay, No Play Rule
If you were driving uninsured, La. R.S. 32:866 blocks recovery of the first $100,000 of bodily injury damages and the first $100,000 of property damage. That bar does not apply in several situations, including when the other driver is cited and convicted of DWI, intentionally causes the crash, or flees the scene. Some of these exceptions may be particularly relevant in a wrong-way crash, depending on the facts and any resulting criminal case.
How Our New Orleans Wrong Way Accident Lawyers Build Your Case
Evidence disappears quickly. Ramp camera footage gets overwritten, vehicles get repaired, and witnesses move on. Our New Orleans car accident lawyers start working the day you call.
Our team handles:
- Securing scene photos, camera footage, and 911 recordings
- Pulling crash reports and any DWI citation or conviction record
- Preserving vehicle data recorders before repair or salvage
- Locating witnesses and taking statements while memories are fresh
- Identifying every applicable policy
- Working with reconstruction experts on speed, direction, and impact
- Handling all insurer communication so you are not cornered
Backed by 679+ years of combined legal experience and over 180 employees, including 130+ staff and 47 attorneys, we have the resources to take these cases as far as they need to go.
Compensation After a Wrong-Way Crash
Louisiana law lets injured people recover both economic losses and the human cost of what happened. We build claims around the full picture, not just the bills already in hand.
We pursue compensation for:
- Emergency treatment, surgery, and hospital care
- Future medical needs and rehabilitation
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Pain, suffering, and emotional distress
- Permanent disability or disfigurement
- Property damage
Severe injuries can outlast a driver’s policy limits. We look for every available source of coverage.
What to Do After a Wrong-Way Crash in New Orleans
The first few hours shape the whole claim. If you are able, take these steps.
- Call 911. Louisiana law requires drivers to report a crash immediately when anyone is injured or killed, or when property damage tops $500 (La. R.S. 32:398)
- See a doctor even if you feel fine, because you might not immediately realize you are seriously injured
- Photograph the vehicles, the lane markings, the ramp or street signage, and any skid marks
- Get names and phone numbers from anyone who saw it happen
- Ask the officer for the other driver’s insurance information, since Louisiana requires investigating officers to instruct drivers to provide the liability carrier’s name and the agent’s contact details (La. R.S. 32:398(B))
- Write down what you remember that same night
Louisiana crash reports are confidential. The law releases them only to a limited group that includes the people involved, their attorneys, their insurers, and succession representatives, and they become available within seven working days after the investigation is complete (La. R.S. 32:398(I)). Our attorneys can help obtain and review the crash report when permitted by law.
Mistakes to Avoid After a Wrong-Way Crash
A few early decisions can quietly weaken a strong case. Watch for these:
- Giving a recorded statement before you have legal advice
- Posting about the crash or your recovery on social media
- Accepting a fast settlement before the full injury is known
- Letting your vehicle be repaired or scrapped before it is inspected
- Waiting so long that footage and witnesses are gone
If you have already done one of these, call us anyway. Most of these problems can still be managed.
Contact a New Orleans Wrong-Way Driving Accident Lawyer in Metairie Today
Injured in an Accident? Find Legal Help Near You
After a wrong-way crash, your focus belongs on recovery. We handle the insurance company so you do not have to.
Our New Orleans traffic accident lawyers serve clients throughout Orleans and Jefferson Parish, including Metairie and Kenner, from our New Orleans area office on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie. Our attorneys handle personal injury matters in the New Orleans area and are familiar with the local courts and claims process.
Call 888.501.7888 today for a free consultation.
With our No Fee Unless We Win promise, you pay nothing unless we recover for you. That is the G Guarantee.
When you need results, Get Gordon, Get It Done.
Fatal Wrong Way Crashes and Louisiana Wrongful Death Claims
Some wrong-way crashes do not end with a hospital stay. They end with a phone call no family is ready for. Nothing about a legal claim undoes that. What it can do is hold the responsible driver accountable and protect the people left behind.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim
Louisiana does not let just anyone file. La. Civ. Code art. 2315.2 sets a strict order, and only the first surviving group on the list may bring the claim:
- The surviving spouse and children, or either the spouse or the children
- The surviving parents, if there is no spouse or child
- The surviving siblings, if there is no spouse, child, or parent
- The surviving grandparents, if none of the above survive
If you are not sure where your family falls, call us. Because eligibility and prescription rules are specific to the circumstances, families should have the applicable claims and deadlines reviewed promptly.
Your Family May Have Two Separate Claims
Most people have heard of wrongful death. Far fewer know about the survival action, and families lose real money by missing it.
A wrongful death claim covers the losses the surviving family members sustained because of the death. Louisiana law recognizes loss of consortium, service, and society as compensable, recoverable by these same categories of family members (La. Civ. Code art. 2315).
A survival action is a different claim. Under La. Civ. Code art. 2315.1, it belongs to the person who died and passes to the same family members in the same order. It recovers what that person suffered between the crash and their death, including their medical bills and the pain they endured. When someone survives a head-on impact for hours or days, this claim can carry serious value.
Our New Orleans personal injury lawyers pursue both claims together so nothing is left on the table.
The Deadline Works Differently Than an Injury Case
A wrongful death claim prescribes one year from the date of death, or two years from the day the injury was sustained, whichever period is longer (La. Civ. Code art. 2315.2(B)). The survival action follows the same rule. Because the crash date and the date of death are often not the same day, do not assume you have two years. Let someone check the calendar against your specific dates.
The 51 percent fault bar applies to these claims too, and fault is fought over just as hard in a fatal case.
What If the Wrong-Way Driver Died in the Crash?
This happens more often than people expect. In its study of fatal wrong-way crashes on divided highways from 2010 through 2018, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that more than half the people killed were the wrong-way drivers themselves.
Families in that position often assume the claim died with the driver. It did not.
Louisiana’s direct action law lists specific circumstances in which an injured person, or the family members named in La. Civ. Code arts. 2315.1 and 2315.2, may pursue the at-fault driver’s insurer directly. One of those circumstances is that the insured has died (La. R.S. 22:1269(B)(1)(f)). The same provision lists an uninsured motorist carrier as another.
A driver’s death does not necessarily eliminate an injured person’s potential insurance claim. Louisiana law provides specific circumstances in which an injured person or qualifying survivor may pursue an insurer directly, including when the insured has died. Whether that option applies depends on the facts and applicable policy.
These claims do get harder. There may be a succession involved, and the case must be built without any account from the driver who caused it. That is work our team is built for.
Don’t Wait — Talk to a New Orleans Wrong-Way Driving Lawyer Today
At Gordon Mckernan Injury Attorneys, we understand that emotional and physical recovery come hand and hand after an injury or accident. We also know that you may not have the energy or time to fight with an insurance company and the complexities of your personal injury claim.
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Simply follow the steps below.
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Once your case has been evaluated and deemed a good fit for our firm, our team will go to work immediately on gathering evidence, building your case, and getting you the compensation that you deserve.
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Wrong-Way Driving Accident Lawyer in New Orleans Blog Posts
Injured? Get a FREE Consult Now!
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If you or a loved one has been injured, don't wait— contact Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys today for a free consultation. Our team is ready to fight for you and secure the compensation you deserve.
With over 30 years of experience, a proven track record of success, and a commitment to client care, we are the best personal injury attorneys in Louisiana to handle your case.
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Office Locations
Denham Springs Office
163 Del Orleans Ave., Denham Springs, LA 70726
Gonzales Office
220 S. Burnside Ave. Gonzales, LA 70737
New Orleans Office
3900 Veterans Memorial Blvd. STE 300 Metairie, LA 70002
Zachary Office
4361 Main St. Zachary, LA 70791
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