# Car accident lawyer in Baton Rouge > Motor vehicle collision representation from The Tadda Law Firm, about 70 percent of the firm’s practice, from one office on O'Neal Lane in Baton Rouge. Canonical page: https://www.taddalaw.com/car-accident-lawyer-baton-rouge/ Motor vehicle collisions are the largest part of this practice, roughly seven in ten matters. Cars, commercial trucks, motorcycles, and collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists. ## The vehicles are different and so are the claims A rear-end collision between two passenger cars and a crash involving an eighteen wheeler are not the same case. A commercial vehicle brings a company policy, driver logs, maintenance records, and federal safety regulation into the picture, and the coverage available is usually far larger than a personal auto policy. Motorcycle and pedestrian cases run the other way. The coverage is often ordinary, and the injuries are typically more severe, which makes finding every available policy the difference between a claim that works and one that does not. Each has its own page: [truck accident claims](https://www.taddalaw.com/truck-accident-lawyer-baton-rouge/) and [motorcycle accident claims](https://www.taddalaw.com/motorcycle-accident-lawyer-baton-rouge/). ## Coverage is the first question, not the last A meaningful share of Louisiana drivers carry no liability insurance, and many who do carry minimum limits. That makes your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage central rather than incidental: it can pay on top of the at-fault driver’s policy rather than simply replacing it. Where the driver and the registered owner are different people, or the driver was working at the time, there may be layers of coverage rather than a single policy. Erik Tadda’s description of this work is that insurance is complicated, that many adjusters do not fully understand it, and that finding other coverage is something the firm does every day. ## If you were driving without insurance Louisiana’s rule here is known as no pay, no play. Under [La. R.S. 32:866](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=88612), as amended by Acts 2025, No. 16, an owner or operator who fails to carry the required liability coverage cannot recover the first $100,000 of bodily injury or the first $100,000 of property damage from the other driver. There are exceptions written into the statute: where the other driver is convicted of or pleads no contest to driving while intoxicated from the crash, caused it intentionally, fled the scene, or was committing a felony. A passenger generally keeps the right to claim unless they own the uninsured vehicle. The threshold was lower before the 2025 amendment, so for an older accident, ask which version applies. ## What the firm does with the file Chase the crash report, identify the driver and the carrier, establish the coverage, and help with the property damage and rental so you are not stranded while the claim develops. Then monitor the medical treatment, because a claim is proved on the medical record and the record has to be right as it is made. The attorney reads the records and speaks to the adjuster. There is no case manager between you and the lawyer handling your file. ## Your car, the rental, and the deductible Property damage usually moves faster than the injury claim, and it is where most people first meet the insurance process. The at-fault driver’s liability insurer is responsible for repairing your vehicle and providing a rental while it is repaired, but only once it decides who was at fault. In the firm’s experience that can take anywhere from one to ten days, depending on how quickly the insurer reaches its own driver and whether a police report is available. If you carry collision coverage, going through your own insurer is often faster. Louisiana law bars an insurer from raising your rate over an accident you did not cause, though you will pay your deductible, which is sometimes returned once the other driver is found fully at fault. Either way the process is the same. The vehicle is inspected, in person or by photographs, and an estimate is written. You can choose your own repair shop, and if the repair costs more than the estimate, the shop requests a supplement. The insurer provides a rental while the car is being repaired, usually through a claim number you take to the rental location. ## The first week matters more than the next month Camera footage loops over and is usually gone within days. Witnesses become harder to find. Treatment gaps at the start of a claim are difficult to explain later, and an adjuster will read a delay as evidence that the injury resolved on its own. The crash report is the most useful early document where one exists, though it is often not available for one to two weeks. Until it arrives the facts have to come from the people who were there, which is why the first conversation covers what happened in detail rather than in summary. ## Fault is shared by percentage, with a line at 51 Louisiana divides responsibility for a collision by percentage. Under [Civil Code article 2323](https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=109387) as amended effective January 1, 2026, a person found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and a person below that line has their damages reduced by their share. Disputed intersection cases are where this bites hardest, because both drivers tend to remember having the green light. Witnesses, cameras, and the physical evidence are what move a case away from one account against another. ## What a motor vehicle claim is worth A claim has two parts. Special damages are the calculable losses: medical expenses, lost wages, the figures three people would price the same way. General damages cover pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, and three experienced adjusters will value those three different ways. That is why a firm number at the first call is a warning sign rather than a show of confidence. The value moves with every diagnosis and every procedure, and it usually becomes clear when treatment is complete or a physician records maximum medical improvement. No outcome is promised and past results do not predict future ones. What is promised is that the recommendation and the reasoning behind it get explained, and the decision stays with the client. For a crash in or around the city, the [Baton Rouge car accident page](https://www.taddalaw.com/car-accident-lawyer-baton-rouge/) covers the local detail. ## Louisiana deadline Louisiana delictual actions are subject to a liberative prescription of two years, commencing from the day the injury or damage is sustained. Authority: La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1, as enacted by Acts 2024, No. 423, section 1, effective July 1, 2024. ## Common questions ### Do you handle truck and motorcycle accidents as well as car accidents? Yes. Commercial truck, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian collisions are all part of the motor vehicle practice, and the attorney profiles list them individually. Truck and motorcycle claims each have their own page because the coverage and the evidence differ enough from an ordinary car claim to be worth explaining separately. ### How soon should I call after a collision? Early helps. Camera footage loops over within days, witnesses become harder to find, and treatment gaps at the start of a claim are difficult to explain later. The consultation is free, and calling early does not commit you to anything; it just means the evidence is still there if you need it. ### Can I recover if I did not have car insurance at the time of the accident? Possibly, but less. Under La. R.S. 32:866, an uninsured owner or operator cannot recover the first $100,000 of bodily injury or the first $100,000 of property damage, unless an exception applies, such as the other driver being convicted of driving while intoxicated from the crash or fleeing the scene. A passenger who does not own the uninsured vehicle is generally not affected. ### What if the police report says the crash was my fault? A crash report is an important document but it is not the final word on fault. It records what the officer saw and was told, often after the fact. Witnesses, camera footage, and the physical evidence can tell a different story, and fault is ultimately divided by percentage under Louisiana law rather than assigned all or nothing. ### What should I photograph after a car accident? The vehicles, the scene, and anything that explains how it happened: skid marks, debris, traffic signals, and the positions of the cars before they are moved. Note any witnesses and whether a nearby business has a camera, because footage loops over and is usually gone within days. ## Contact - Firm: The Tadda Law Firm - Address: 4660 O'Neal Lane, Suite A, Baton Rouge, LA 70817 - Phone: (225) 756-0007 (accepts calls and texts) - Toll free: (800) 487-5562 - Email: info@taddalaw.com - Hours: Monday to Friday 08:00 to 17:00. Saturday and Sunday closed. - Consultations: Free same-day consultations, one on one with an attorney. - Google rating: 5.0 from 311 reviews. --- This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney client relationship. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.