Louisiana Personal Injury Laws: Deadlines to Sue, Fault Rules and Damage Caps

Two years. Delictual (tort) actions, including personal injury claims, are subject to a two-year prescriptive period that begins on the day the injury or damage is sustained. This two-year rule took effect July 1, 2024, when the former one-year rule (Civil Code art. 3492) was repealed.

Two years. Damage to movable property (such as a car) falls under the general two-year period for delictual actions, running from the day the damage is sustained. For damage to immovable property (land and buildings), the two years run from the day the owner knew or should have known of the damage.

A malpractice lawsuit against a licensed physician, nurse, dentist, hospital, nursing home or other listed health care provider must be filed within one year from the act or omission, or within one year from discovering it, but in all events no later than three years from the act or omission. This rule applies to everyone, including minors and people under a disability. For a wrongful death claim based on medical malpractice, the period is one year from the death.

One year from the death, or two years from the day the injury or damage was sustained, whichever is longer. For wrongful death claims based on medical malpractice, the period is one year from the death. A separate survival action (for the injured person's own damages before death) has the same time limit.

Family members may sue in classes, in this order: (1) the surviving spouse and children; (2) if none, the surviving parents; (3) if none, the surviving brothers and sisters; (4) if none, the surviving grandparents. Adopted relatives count, and a parent who abandoned the person during childhood is treated as not surviving.

Modified comparative fault with a 51% bar, effective January 1, 2026. An injured person who is 51% or more at fault cannot recover damages; a person who is less than 51% at fault has damages reduced by his or her percentage of fault. Fault is assigned to everyone who contributed, including non-parties. Damages are not reduced when the other party was an intentional wrongdoer.

Caps apply to claims against the state and local governments ($500,000 for general damages) and to medical malpractice claims against qualified health care providers ($500,000).

Total recovery for all malpractice claims for injury to or death of a patient is limited to $500,000 plus interest and costs, not counting future medical care and related benefits. A health care provider qualified under the Medical Malpractice Act is personally liable for no more than $100,000; amounts above that, up to the cap, are paid by the Patient's Compensation Fund.

Only in specific situations listed in the Civil Code. Examples: exemplary damages may be awarded when injuries were caused by a defendant's wanton or reckless disregard for others' safety while driving intoxicated (art. 2315.4), and against a perpetrator of criminal sexual activity against a child age 17 or younger (art. 2315.7). No general statutory standard of proof or dollar cap was found.

No general pre-suit notice-of-claim requirement was found in the statutes reviewed, but service of citation on the state, a state agency or a political subdivision must be requested within 90 days after the lawsuit is filed, or the case is dismissed. Lawsuits must be filed in Louisiana state court. Total liability for general damages (excluding medical care, lost earnings and property damage) is capped at $500,000 per person for personal injury and $500,000 for a wrongful death.

Strict liability. The owner of a dog is strictly liable for injuries to people or property caused by the dog that the owner could have prevented and that did not result from the injured person's provocation of the dog.

Minimum liability coverage is $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage. Under the "no pay, no play" rule, an owner or driver who did not carry required coverage cannot recover the first $100,000 of bodily injury damages or the first $100,000 of property damage from an accident, with exceptions (for example, if the other driver is convicted of DWI, caused the crash intentionally, or fled the scene).

A driver in a crash causing injury, death, or property damage over $500 must immediately notify the local police department if inside an incorporated city or town, or otherwise the nearest sheriff's office or state police station. If the crash happens in an area under an evacuation order or a declared state of emergency, the driver has 72 hours to give notice and exchange information.

In La. R.S. 32:398 the written crash report is made by the investigating law enforcement agency on electronic forms approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Within 48 hours after completing the investigation, the agency forwards a copy (or the crash data) to the Department of Transportation and Development (and, for crashes inside a city, to the city police department). Crash reports are confidential and are available only to the parties, their insurers, healthcare providers, lawyers, certain family members and news organizations, within 7 working days after the investigation is complete on request.

A driver in a crash causing injury, death, or property damage over $500 must give name, address and vehicle registration number, and on request show a driver license, to anyone injured or to the driver or attendant of damaged property, and to police. Hit-and-run driving is the intentional failure of a driver involved in or causing any crash to stop at the scene, give their identity (or report the crash to police), and give reasonable aid. Without death or serious bodily injury: up to $500 fine and/or up to 6 months in jail (at least 10 days in certain alcohol- or drug-related cases). When the driver knew or should have known of death or serious bodily injury: up to $5,000 fine and/or 2 to 10 years, with 2 years served without parole, probation or suspension. Repeat impaired-driving or vehicular-homicide/injury offenders face 5 to 20 years.

Louisiana's slip-and-fall rules come from statutes. A store or other merchant must use reasonable care to keep aisles, passageways and floors reasonably safe; a person who falls in a store must prove the condition was an unreasonable and foreseeable risk, that the merchant created it or had actual or constructive notice of it beforehand, and that the merchant failed to use reasonable care. Constructive notice means the condition existed long enough that it would have been found with reasonable care. For other property, the owner or custodian of a thing or building is liable for damage from its defect only if the owner knew or should have known of the defect, the damage could have been prevented with reasonable care, and the owner failed to use that care.

A public entity (the state, a parish, a city or other political subdivision) can be held liable for an injury caused by the condition of a thing in its care, such as a sidewalk or street, only if it had actual or constructive notice of the particular defect before the accident, had a reasonable chance to fix it, and failed to do so. Constructive notice means facts that infer actual knowledge. A public entity that only puts up warnings or barricades on property it does not own or control does not thereby take on responsibility for that property. The statute does not itself say whether the owner of property next to a public sidewalk is responsible for it.

One set of laws covers both the state and local governments (parishes, cities and other political subdivisions). Suits must be filed in a Louisiana state court, and total liability for general damages for personal injury or wrongful death to one person is capped at $500,000, not counting property damage, medical care, and lost earnings or support. A public entity is liable for a defective thing in its custody only if it had actual or constructive notice of the defect and a reasonable chance to fix it. The sections reviewed do not set a separate written notice-of-claim deadline before suing a local government; the general filing deadline for injury suits applies.

A landowner who lets people use land for recreation (such as hunting, fishing, swimming, boating, camping, hiking or bicycling), with or without charge, does not promise the land is safe, does not make the visitor an invitee or licensee, and is not liable for injuries from natural or man-made defects in the land. The protection does not cover a willful or malicious failure to warn of a dangerous condition, and it generally does not protect owners of commercial recreational developments or facilities. A separate statute similarly limits the duty of owners of land not used mainly for commercial recreation, except for deliberate, willful or malicious injury.

Every person operating or riding on a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or motorized bicycle must wear a safety helmet secured with a chin strap, regardless of age. Exceptions include parade participants with a local permit and autocycles equipped with qualifying supports or a roll cage. Violating the law is punishable by a $50 fine. The helmet statute does not say that not wearing a helmet reduces damages in a lawsuit.

Lane splitting is banned in Louisiana. No one may ride a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles, and a motorcyclist may not pass in the same lane as the vehicle being passed. Motorcycles may ride no more than two abreast in one lane, and drivers may not deprive a motorcycle of the full use of a lane. Police officers on official duty are exempt from the passing and between-lanes rules.

Where traffic signals are not in place or not working, a driver must stop and yield to a pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk on the driver's side of the road or the road the driver is turning onto, and may not pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian. A pedestrian crossing anywhere other than a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection must yield to vehicles, and between adjacent signalized intersections pedestrians may cross only in a marked crosswalk. Pedestrians may not suddenly step into the path of a vehicle too close to yield, and every driver must use due care to avoid hitting a pedestrian.

A bicyclist on a highway has the rights and duties of a vehicle driver, except for special bicycle rules. Drivers passing a bicycle must leave at least 3 feet and keep that clearance until safely past (fine up to $250), and may pass a bicycle in a no-passing zone only when it is safe. Bicyclists must ride as near the right side as practicable, with exceptions such as passing, turning left or avoiding hazards; may not ride more than two abreast except on bike paths; and may ride on the shoulder. A parent or guardian may not knowingly let a child under 12 ride a bicycle on a public road or path without an approved helmet.

The Uber/Lyft-type (transportation network company) driver, or the company on the driver's behalf, must carry primary auto insurance. While the driver is logged in and waiting for a ride request (pre-trip acceptance period), coverage must be at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage. During a prearranged ride, coverage must be at least $1,000,000 for death, bodily injury and property damage. Both periods must include uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage to the extent required by R.S. 22:1295, and if the driver's insurance lapses or falls short, the company must provide the coverage from the first dollar.

Louisiana adopts the federal motor carrier safety regulations, including driver qualifications (49 CFR 391), hours of service (49 CFR 395), inspection, repair and maintenance (49 CFR 396) and financial responsibility (49 CFR 387), enforced by the State Police. They apply to carriers covered by federal rules, to vehicles carrying hazardous materials or 16 or more people, and also to intrastate commercial vehicles over 26,000 pounds used in commerce or industry, with state amendments. Federal minimum insurance for interstate carriers is in 49 CFR 387.9.

Louisiana's workers' compensation law sets the general rule for construction injuries. A worker's compensation rights against the employer, and against a 'principal' (a company that contracts out work that is part of its trade or business), are exclusive of other claims except for intentional acts. The worker may still sue a third party (someone other than the employer, principal or co-employees acting in the course of employment) whose fault caused the injury, while also receiving compensation.