A motorcycle accident lawyer in Houma, LA, who riders can turn to will address the medical, insurance, and legal issues that follow a serious crash on US-90, LA-24, or a local Terrebonne Parish road. A collision in the Houma area can leave a rider facing painful injuries, medical bills, missed work, and costly motorcycle repairs while an insurance carrier investigates what happened.
At Ory Law Group, we represent injured motorcyclists throughout Houma and the Highway 90 corridor, with a fully staffed office at 254 Barrow St. We can investigate the crash, document your losses, communicate with insurers, and pursue a claim when another party may be legally responsible.
Serious injuries demand serious representation. Call us at (855) 628-8679 for a free case review.
Common Causes of Motorcycle Crashes in the Houma Metro Area
Houma sits at the heart of Terrebonne Parish, where commuter traffic, oilfield vehicles, and tourist travel converge on a handful of key routes.
- Left-turning drivers who fail to see an oncoming motorcycle at busy US-90 and LA-24 intersections
- Distracted drivers checking phones during morning and evening commuter congestion
- Sudden lane changes around slow-moving commercial trucks hauling oilfield equipment
- Poor visibility during heavy rain is common to the Bayou region
- Speeding on rural parish roads with narrow shoulders and drainage canals close to the pavement
Houma also pulls in traffic that doesn't behave like local traffic. Anglers and tourists heading toward Cocodrie and the coast pass through town on weekends, often unfamiliar with the swing bridges and the timing of the lights around them. Add in tropical weather, which can drop heavy rain and standing water on canal-side roads with little warning.
These are the crashes where the fault gets contested rather than conceded. We start by identifying which evidence at that specific location will answer the question, because the answer is rarely in the driver's account alone.
When Does a Houma Motorcycle Crash Become a Disputed Claim?
A motorcycle crash can become difficult to resolve when the physical evidence and the drivers' accounts do not tell the same story. That can happen at a congested intersection, near a bridge, during a lane change, or when a driver says a motorcycle was difficult to see.
Houma's road network funnels traffic through a small number of convergence points. LA 24 runs concurrent with LA 182 through downtown, meets LA 3040 at Martin Luther King Boulevard in Bayou Cane, crosses US 90 at exit 202, and picks up LA 311 on the Schriever side, so a single commute can cross four route designations in a few miles.
A Terrebonne Parish crash is filed in the 32nd Judicial District Court at 7856 Main Street in Houma, and knowing how a case moves through that court shapes how we build the file from day one.
Those conditions can make the precise sequence of events important. A driver may say a motorcycle entered the lane unexpectedly, while the rider may say the driver turned, merged, or changed lanes without yielding.
We look for evidence that can clarify those competing accounts, including:
- Photographs of the vehicles, motorcycle, roadway, traffic controls, and the surrounding area
- Witness statements and contact information
- Available traffic, business, residential, or vehicle-camera footage
- Police or crash reports
- Vehicle and motorcycle damage
- Roadway markings, signs, and temporary traffic controls
- Medical records documenting the injuries and treatment
If an insurer has already assigned fault without addressing the available evidence, contact our law firm for a free case review with our Terrebonne Parish motorcycle crash lawyer.
Does Louisiana's Comparative Fault Law Affect My Claim?
Louisiana's current comparative fault law allows a person to recover damages when the person's assigned fault is less than 51%, but the recovery is reduced by that person's percentage of fault. Under Louisiana Civil Code article 2323, a person found 51% or more at fault is not entitled to recover damages under the statute's comparative-fault rule.
For example, suppose a rider has $100,000 in damages and is determined to be 20% at fault. If the other requirements for recovery are satisfied, the comparative-fault reduction would leave $80,000 in damages recoverable under the statute.
That makes the evidence concerning fault particularly important. Speed, lane position, traffic signals, right of way, visibility, and the actions of other drivers may all become relevant when fault is disputed.
However, a rider should not assume that an insurer's initial percentage is the final determination. We examine the factual basis for that percentage when assessing fault.
If an insurer has assigned you a share of the fault, call us at (855) 628-8679 before you accept that number.
Does Louisiana's Helmet Law Prevent You From Filing a Claim?
Louisiana's motorcycle helmet requirement does not state that a rider loses the ability to pursue a claim simply because the rider was not wearing a helmet. La. R.S. 32:190 requires any person who operates or rides upon a motorcycle to wear an approved safety helmet, secured with a chin strap, while the vehicle is in motion. The requirement covers passengers, not just operators, which matters when a passenger is the one bringing the claim.
Helmet use can still become an issue in an insurance dispute. An insurer may argue that the absence of a helmet contributed to a particular injury, and the rider may have an opportunity to address that contention with medical and other evidence.
Helmet use is a separate question from who caused the collision. A driver who failed to yield or turned across a motorcycle's path remains responsible for that regardless of what the rider was wearing.
The argument also has a limited reach. Even where an insurer raises helmet use, it goes to one part of a claim and leaves lost wages, property damage, and the rest of a rider's losses untouched.
La. R.S. 32:190.1 separately requires an approved eye-protection device unless the motorcycle has a qualifying windshield.
If an insurer is relying on helmet use to challenge your motorcycle claim, let our team examine how that issue relates to the actual injuries involved.
Damages Available in a Houma Motorcycle Accident Claim
A motorcycle accident claim may involve several categories of damages, depending on the injuries, property loss, liability, and other facts. The claim is not limited to the immediate motorcycle repair bill.
Potential damages may include:
- Medical expenses and related treatment costs
- Lost wages and employment income
- Reduced earning capacity
- Physical pain and suffering
- Disability or impairment
- Motorcycle and other property damage
- Other losses supported by the evidence
- Wrongful death damages in qualifying fatal cases
The records supporting those losses matter as much as the crash evidence. Medical bills, employment records, repair estimates, and photographs establish what the crash actually cost.
A fatal motorcycle collision can give rise to two separate claims. A wrongful death claim belongs to the family and covers what they lost. A survival claim belongs to the rider's estate and covers what the rider could have recovered had they lived, including the losses between the crash and the death.
Louisiana uninsured motorist coverage and police crash reports can often fill in gaps even without an exchange at the scene.
What Our Clients Say:
Can a Motorcycle Crash Be Connected to a Work Injury?
A motorcycle collision can raise workers' compensation issues when the rider was performing work-related duties at the time of the crash. Whether workers' compensation applies depends on the employment circumstances and what the rider was doing when the collision occurred.
This question can arise in Houma because of the region's industrial, maritime, oil and gas, and service-sector activity. A worker may be traveling between job locations, transporting equipment, or performing another task for an employer when a collision occurs.
Workers' compensation and a third-party claim are not the same thing. An injured worker may have both, and pursuing one does not automatically resolve the other.
Disputed Louisiana comp claims are filed with the Office of Workers' Compensation Administration, which keeps a district office in Houma, and are decided by a workers' compensation judge rather than a district court judge.
Our team includes Heather Peth Fairchild, who served as a Louisiana Workers' Compensation Judge before joining us, so we can tell early whether a crash that happened on the clock belongs in the comp system, a third-party claim, or both.
If you were riding for work when the crash happened, call us at (855) 628-8679 and tell us what you were doing at the time.
What Is the Current Deadline for a Louisiana Motorcycle Claim?
Most Louisiana injury claims arising on or after July 1, 2024, carry a two-year prescriptive period under La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1. A prescriptive period is the legal deadline for filing suit, and this one starts running the day the injury or damage is sustained.
That means older website content stating that Louisiana gives motorcycle accident victims one year to file a standard personal injury claim may be outdated for claims governed by the current statute.
Fatal crashes run on a different clock. A wrongful death or survival claim must be brought within one year of the death or two years from the day the injury was sustained, whichever is longer, so the deadline has to be worked out from the facts rather than assumed.
Why Local Counsel Matters in a Houma Motorcycle Accident Case
A motorcycle crash is tied to a specific roadway, parish, and court system. Investigating one may mean returning to the crash location, identifying nearby businesses or potential witnesses, and examining the traffic controls or construction signage that were in place that day.
Along the bayou, that evidence does not wait. Skid marks and debris wash out after a heavy rain, roadside businesses overwrite camera footage on a rolling cycle, and a swing bridge log is easiest to obtain while the date is recent.
Houma crashes also cross parish lines more often than riders expect. A rider may live in Lafourche Parish, be struck in Terrebonne, and work for an employer based in St. Mary, which raises questions about where the case belongs before anyone reaches the merits.
Our Houma office at 254 Barrow St. puts our team in the community where your case began, and our Thibodaux and New Iberia offices cover the rest of the corridor when a claim reaches across parishes.
If your motorcycle crash happened in Houma or elsewhere in Terrebonne Parish, call us at (855) 628-8679 to schedule a free case review.
FAQs: Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Houma, LA
A few more questions often come up once riders start looking into their options.
Does it matter that my crash happened at a bridge or a construction zone instead of a regular intersection?
The locations can impact your claim, since they usually involve unique right-of-way rules or temporary signage that affect how fault is assigned. We look closely at the specific traffic controls in place at the time of the crash, including bridge operator logs and any posted construction signage, instead of relying on general assumptions about who had the right of way.
I was riding for work, hauling equipment to a job site. Does that change anything?
A crash happening while working might affect your claim, depending on whether you were acting within the scope of your employment and whether workers' compensation overlaps with your injury claim. Our team's background with workers' comp cases is useful for sorting out which benefits apply and in what order, since pursuing both incorrectly can sometimes reduce what you're able to recover overall.
The other driver was from out of town, and I never got their insurance information. What now?
Louisiana uninsured motorist coverage and police crash reports can often fill in gaps even without an exchange at the scene. We track down that information through the investigating agency and, where needed, through the vehicle's registration and insurance database records, which is more common in Houma than people expect, given how much through traffic passes toward the coast.
Will I have to go to court, or does this usually settle?
Most cases resolve through negotiation, but we prepare every file as though it might go in front of a jury in Terrebonne Parish. A file that is ready for trial tends to be valued differently than one that is not.
What if I already gave a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company?
A recorded statement can complicate a claim depending on what was said, but it does not end it. We advise you to let us know what you can recall as soon as possible so we can address any issues promptly and directly.
Start With the Facts of Your Houma Motorcycle Crash
A disputed motorcycle collision should not be reduced to a quick conclusion about who was at fault. The roadway, vehicle damage, witness accounts, available video, medical records, insurance coverage, and circumstances surrounding the crash can all contribute to the picture.
At Ory Law Group, we have a fully staffed Houma office at 254 Barrow St., as well as additional offices in Thibodaux and New Iberia. We serve clients throughout Terrebonne Parish and communities along the Highway 90 corridor.
If you want to discuss what happened before responding further to the insurance company, call us at (855) 628-8679 for a free case review.