Posted on July 29, 2016
Under Louisiana laws, a driver who caused the death of another person in a vehicle accident in which it is determined that his or her use of drugs or alcohol contributed to the fatality may be charged with negligent homicide. A man was recently arrested and is now facing such a charge after his prior release on bail while toxicology results were pending. He was initially arrested at the scene of a February car accident that claimed the life of another driver.
According to the accident report prepared by Gonzales police, the 27-year-old man was traveling at approximately 90 mph on Interstate 10 West when he was distracted and smashed into the rear of an SUV that was going in the same direction. The impact apparently caused both vehicles to roll down an embankment. The SUV driver was partially ejected and died at the accident scene.
Although the alleged responsible driver admitted to having taken drugs the day before, officers at the scene reportedly observed no signs of alcohol or drug impairment. He was arrested for misdemeanor traffic violations and negligent homicide but was released after posting bail on the misdemeanor traffic citations while authorities awaited the toxicology analysis. Once the results were available, he was arrested again and is held on bail of $100,000, though the results of the testing were not disclosed publicly.
Regardless of the outcome of a criminal case against an alleged negligent driver, the family who lost a loved one in a car accident that resulted from the negligence of others may pursue financial relief. End-of-life expenses are not likely to be included in the budget of many families and can be crippling. However, with properly documented evidence of negligence, along with the successful presentation of a wrongful death claim in a Louisiana civil court, the grieving family may be awarded monetary compensation for those expenses, along with other documented losses sustained.
Source: theadvocate.com, “Man arrested in fatal crash acknowledges drug use day before, but police said after wreck he didn’t appear to be ‘under the influence’“, David J.Mitchell, April 20, 2015