Licensed in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas
Licensed in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas
A traumatic brain injury can begin with a car wreck, a fall, or an on-the-job accident, and the cause often decides who pays and how a claim moves forward. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention link most TBIs to falls, motor vehicle crashes, firearms, and assaults. In Louisiana, the legal path differs sharply between a roadway crash, a property fall, and a workplace injury, so understanding the cause early helps protect your right to pursue fair compensation.
A head injury rarely feels the same twice, and neither do the claims that follow one. The causes of TBI claims range from steering-wheel impacts to slick stairwells to falls from a scaffold, and the cause shapes nearly every legal question that comes next.
At Lukov Injury Law, we help Louisiana families sort through those questions after a brain injury turns daily life upside down. You work directly with Abby from the first call to the final resolution, not a case manager passing your file from desk to desk.
This guide compares how traumatic brain injuries arise from car wrecks, falls, and workplace accidents, and why each cause follows a different legal road in Louisiana. Contact us today to talk through what happened in a free case review.
A traumatic brain injury happens when a sudden jolt, bump, or blow disrupts how the brain works. The cause matters because it points toward who may be responsible and which Louisiana laws apply to your claim.
Falls are the single largest source of traumatic brain injuries in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They lead the count for adults age 65 and older, who also face the highest risk of hospitalization and death from a head injury. A fall on a wet floor, a broken stair, or an unmarked hazard can cause lasting harm in an instant, often long after the bruises fade. When the fall happens on someone else’s property because of poor upkeep or a hidden danger, a premises liability claim against the owner or manager may follow.
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of traumatic brain injury, and the CDC notes they lead for people ages 5 to 24. The violent forces in a collision can throw the head against glass, metal, or an airbag, or shake the brain inside the skull without any direct impact. These injuries often surface in car accident claims, where fault and insurance coverage drive the case. A crash that seems minor can still leave a concussion or worse.
Jobs that involve heights, heavy equipment, or moving vehicles carry a real risk of head injury. A fall from a ladder, a dropped tool, or a forklift collision can each produce a traumatic brain injury on the clock.
What sets these cases apart is the Louisiana workers’ compensation system, which changes how an injured worker pursues recovery. We cover that path in more detail further below.
The CDC also lists firearm-related injury and assault among the leading causes of traumatic brain injury. These cases can overlap with criminal matters and may involve more than one responsible party, which adds steps a typical crash claim does not. While they fall outside the three main categories compared here, they show how widely a brain injury can begin. Each cause carries its own evidence, its own deadlines, and its own legal questions, so two head injuries that look alike medically can follow very different legal roads.
A brain injury from a crash usually runs through the at-fault driver and that driver’s insurance. The cause is a roadway collision, so the rules of negligence and comparative fault sit at the center of the claim.
A car wreck claim turns on showing that another driver failed to use reasonable care. Speeding, running a red light, following too closely, and distraction are common forms of negligence behind a crash. Louisiana’s hands-free law, La. R.S. 32:59, bars holding or manually using a phone while driving, so evidence of phone use can support an injured person’s case. Police reports, photos, and witness statements help establish what happened.
Louisiana recently changed how shared blame affects a claim. For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, the state follows a modified comparative fault rule with a 51 percent bar, set by La. C.C. art. 2323, so a person who is 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing. At 50 percent or less, an injured person can still recover, but the award is reduced by their share of the blame. Crashes before that date fall under the older pure comparative fault system.
Time limits in Louisiana are firm and unforgiving. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the prescriptive period for a personal injury claim is two years from the date of the injury, under La. C.C. art. 3493.11. Older injuries may fall under the prior one-year period, which is why confirming your deadline early matters. Waiting too long can end a valid claim before it ever reaches a courtroom.
The cause of a traumatic brain injury points toward different responsible parties and different bodies of law. A quick side-by-side view shows how a car wreck, a fall, and a workplace accident diverge once a claim begins.
The table below sketches the typical responsible party, the legal framework, and the deadline that usually applies. Every case turns on its own facts, so treat this as a starting map rather than a final answer.
| Cause of TBI | Who May Be Responsible | Legal Framework | Typical Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car wreck | At-fault driver and their insurer. | Negligence and comparative fault.
La. C.C. art. 2323
|
2 years
La. C.C. art. 3493.11
|
| Fall on property | Property owner or manager. | Premises liability — negligence theory. | 2 years
La. C.C. art. 3493.11
|
| Workplace accident | Employer through workers’ compensation, or a third party at fault. | Workers’ compensation, with possible third-party tort claim. | Varies by claim type
Workers’ comp and third-party deadlines differ
|
Because the responsible party and the deadline shift with the cause, naming the cause correctly is one of the first steps in any claim. A Louisiana traumatic brain injury lawyer can help match your situation to the right legal path before a deadline slips by.
A brain injury on the job stands apart from a crash or a fall. Louisiana workers’ compensation usually sets the terms, and that system carries trade-offs an injured worker should understand from the start.
In Louisiana, workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against your employer for an on-the-job injury. That means an injured worker usually cannot file a standard negligence lawsuit against the employer, even when the employer was careless. In exchange, the system pays benefits without requiring the worker to prove the employer was at fault. Our overview of workers’ compensation claims explains how those benefits work.
The exclusive remedy rule covers the employer, not everyone involved. If a non-employer caused or contributed to the injury, a separate third-party claim may exist alongside the workers’ compensation case. Examples include a defective machine made by an outside manufacturer, a careless driver who hits a worker on the road, or a contractor on a shared site. A third-party claim can reach damages that workers’ compensation alone does not cover.
Running a workers’ compensation claim and a third-party claim together takes care. The workers’ compensation insurer may hold a right to be repaid from a third-party recovery, which affects how much an injured worker keeps in the end. Deadlines, notice rules, and benefit offsets all interact in ways that are easy to miss when a worker is also trying to recover. Sorting out which claim covers what, and in what order, is one reason injured workers often seek legal guidance early.
A traumatic brain injury can reshape work, relationships, and daily routines, and the legal path depends heavily on how the injury happened. At Lukov Injury Law, we help Louisiana families identify the cause, the responsible parties, and the deadlines that protect a brain injury claim.
You work directly with Abby from start to finish, with no file passed down a chain of handlers. Call us today to talk through your situation in a free case review.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information and should not be treated as legal advice. Laws change over time, and outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this article or contacting Lukov Injury Law LLC. For advice about your situation, contact a qualified attorney. Time limits apply to legal claims, so do not delay in seeking legal help.
Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They lead the count for adults age 65 and older. Motor vehicle crashes, firearm-related injury, and assault round out the leading causes nationwide.
A car wreck claim usually targets the at-fault driver and their insurer under negligence and comparative fault rules. A fall claim often follows a premises liability theory against the property owner or manager who failed to fix or warn about a hazard. Both generally share the same two-year prescriptive period.
In most cases, no. Louisiana workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against your employer, so a standard negligence suit against the employer is usually barred. You may, however, have a separate third-party claim against a non-employer whose carelessness contributed to the injury.
A third-party claim is a tort claim against someone other than your employer who helped cause your injury. Examples include a manufacturer of a defective machine, a careless driver, or another contractor on the site. It can pursue damages that workers’ compensation benefits alone do not cover.
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the prescriptive period for a personal injury claim is two years from the date of the injury, under La. C.C. art. 3493.11. Older injuries may fall under the prior one-year rule. Workplace claims follow their own timelines, so confirm your deadline early.
Yes. For accidents on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana uses a modified comparative fault rule with a 51 percent bar under La. C.C. art. 2323. A person 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, while someone 50 percent or less at fault recovers an award reduced by their share. Earlier accidents follow pure comparative fault.
The cause points toward who may be responsible and which laws apply. A crash runs through driver negligence and auto insurance, a property fall runs through premises liability, and a workplace injury runs through workers’ compensation. Naming the cause correctly helps match your case to the right legal path and deadline.
Yes. A traumatic brain injury can be serious even when symptoms seem mild at first, so speak with a medical professional after any blow to the head. Prompt medical care protects your health and creates a record that links your injury to the accident. Only a doctor can evaluate your condition.
