Navigating the interstate system in Baton Rouge can be a perilous journey even on the best of days.
But as nerve-wracking as that drive might be, an accident involving an 18-wheeler can turn what should have been a quick trip across town into a nightmare of snarled traffic, slow-moving surface streets and frantically rearranged schedules.
An example occurred on August 24, when a chemical-carrying 18-wheeler toppled over on Interstate 10 just east of the 10/12 split. Police closed the eastbound lanes for 14 hours, and the resulting gridlock spread quickly throughout south Baton Rouge. Similar closures have raised questions about responsible parties and the ability of people adversely affected by the resulting delays to seek restitution.
“There’s no one way to handle a spill. Each incident has its own idiosyncrasies,” says Peter Ricca, the manager of the Chemical and Radiological Emergency Response Unit at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. “But the responsible party always foots the bill.”
The trucking company must pay cleanup costs resulting from an accident involving hazardous materials. Inside Baton Rouge city limits, the police department handles traffic control, and the fire department’s Hazmat team works the scene. Outside city limits but inside East Baton Rouge Parish, the sheriff’s office handles traffic control, and Louisiana State Police works the scene.
A determination on whether DEQ first responders should be dispatched is made. The final bill for the cleanup includes costs incurred by all public agencies, an amount that depends on the size and scope of the spill.
DEQ bills for the hours logged by its first responders and a flat fee for equipment used during the clean-up, Ricca said. For example, DEQ deploys air monitors to determine if hazardous fumes are present at the accident site. The expense of transporting and implementing that equipment is charged to the trucking company.
Most trucking companies have contracts with businesses that provide cleanup in case of an accident, says Cathy Gautreaux, executive director of the Louisiana Motor Transport Association. Police officers and DEQ employees on the scene determine whether the cleanup company is located within a suitable geographic distance to respond in a timely manner. If not, DEQ contacts a local contractor within range of the spill.
“The question we always ask after a spill is, ‘Why did it take so long to clean up?’” Gautreaux says. “We don’t want the truck to impede traffic any more than drivers want us there. We don’t want to point fingers, just engage in constructive criticism of what was done and what could be done better.”
Accidents that prolong commutes not only impact motorists, they impact businesses that make deliveries. The resulting damages depend on the commodity lost, whether it’s a perishable food product or time. A business that promises to have a shipment delivered at a specific time loses the cost of the driver sitting in traffic and potentially loses a client.
There is little or no recourse for businesses that suffer losses from accident-related traffic delays. Those businesses could file suit against the trucking company, Ricca says, much as DEQ or State Police would bill the trucking company for services rendered as the result of an accident.
The primary difference, however, is that the Hazardous Materials Transportation and Motor Carrier Act mandates that the responsible party—a trucking company, for example—compensates public agencies for their services. Businesses affected by the resulting gridlock aren’t afforded the same protection.
Attorney Kyle Marionneaux learned that lesson while representing a Baton Rouge concrete company over losses incurred when a truck due at a job site was stuck in traffic caused by an overturned 18-wheeler. The concrete went bad, and the company lost several thousand dollars.
Marionneaux was successful in the 19th Judicial District Court, and the suit was settled before the case went to appeals court, where he believes the plaintiff would have lost.
“If someone approached me with a similar case now, I don’t think I would pursue it unless the client lost enough money to make it worth their while,” he says. “I don’t think it would be worth the fight because in my mind, [remuneration is] not a foreseeable consequence.”
In a claim of that nature, the court tries to determine how far the responsibility of the defendant extends. Courts generally do not recognize that trucking companies cover the losses of drivers not directly involved in an accident, even if the trucker is cited, says Doug Williams, a partner at Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson who specializes in cases involving interstate common carriers.
The reason plays into the theory of duty-risk analysis: weighing whether the duty of an individual or company to conduct themselves in a certain manner extends a certain risk of harm to others. In an accident involving hazardous materials, does the duty of being a good driver extend to paying for the losses of others stuck in traffic?
A 1984 Louisiana Supreme Court decision says the answer is emphatically no. The court said the rules of conduct are designed to protect “some persons under some circumstances against some risk,” and there must be an ease of association between the rules, the risk of injury and the loss to be recovered.
An attorney would concentrate on finding a “unique cause of action,” Marionneaux says, or a way to present his or her case in such a way that it would not fall under the general policy. Unless a company has suffered a massive financial blow, such as an equipment failure, arguing a trucking company should pay for a loss that came from being stuck in traffic would be difficult because there is little evidence to prove direct responsibility.
“There would be a chain reaction,” Marionneaux says. “If a trucking company would have to pay for everything, even 10 spots down the line, where would it end? That’s why there has to be a more direct cause.”
So who pays for the loss? Depending on the pay structure and policies, the individual driver who had the misfortune to be stuck in traffic or the business itself must absorb the costs of lost time, money or clients.
“Our legal system doesn’t try to compensate for every inconvenience or delay out there,” Williams says. “If there’s a delay in traffic, some people view it as an inconvenience or the risk that comes with using the roads.”
ACCIDENTS CAN HAPPEN
Recent accidents that have closed Capital Region interstates for more than two hours:
June 7 I-12 west at Amite River bridge
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 8 a.m.; closed for 6 hours, 4 minutes
June 7 I-12 west at Amite River bridge
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 10:09 a.m.; closed for 7 hours, 27
June 10* I-110 south at Chippewa Street
3 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 9:15 p.m.; closed for 2 hours, 25
June 21 I-10 west near 10/12 split
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 5:51 a.m.; closed for 3 hours, 49
June 21 I-110 south at Florida Street
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 5:10 p.m.; closed for 4 hours, 50
July 14 I-12 east near La. Hwy. 447
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 8:37 a.m.; closed for 6 hours, 12
July 21 I-12 east near La. Hwy. 447
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 8:31 a.m.; closed for 4 hours, 44
July 23 I-12 west at Amite River bridge
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 10:38 a.m.; closed for 3 hours, 16
Aug. 5 I-110 south at Florida Street
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 5:45 p.m.; closed for 3 hours, 22
Aug. 18 I-10 west at Highland Road
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 7:38 a.m.; closed for 2 hours, 10
Aug. 24* I-10 east at 10/12 split
2 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 5:40 a.m.; closed for 14 hours, 28
Sept. 2 I-110 north at La. Hwy. 19
3 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 9:23 a.m.; closed for 6 hours, 16
Sept. 2 I-110 south at Airline Highway
3 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 9:23 a.m.; closed for 4 hours, 49
Sept. 2 I-12 west near La. Hwy. 1032
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 6:40 p.m.; closed for 2 hours, 21
Sept. 22 I-12 east at Essen Lane
3 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 1:53 p.m.; closed for 3 hours, 25
Sept. 22 I-12 east near Essen Lane
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 2:51 p.m.; closed for 3 hours, 12
Oct. 11 I-10 east at 10/12 split
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 8:08 a.m.; closed for 2 hours, 17
Oct. 29 I-12 east at La. Hwy. 3002
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 10:04 a.m.; closed for 11 hours, 35
Nov. 1 I-10 east at La. Hwy. 1
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 11:02 a.m.; closed for 3 hours, 10
Nov. 4 I-110 north at Airline Highway
3 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 7:51 p.m.; closed for 3 hours, 44
Nov. 5 I-10 east at La. Hwy. 415
1 vehicle involved
Time of accident: 5 a.m.; closed for 3 hours, 39
*Accident involved hazardous materials
SOURCES: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
