Lafayette, LA — October 10, 2024, a woman was injured following a garbage truck accident at 4:00 a.m. along West Pinhook Road.
According to initial details about the accident, it happened in the area of the Pinhook Road and Kaliste Saloom Road.
Authorities said that a woman was riding on a motorcycle going along Pinhook at the time. While doing so, it’s said that a garbage truck was turning out of a parking lot and attempting to enter another one. In doing so, the motorcycle crashed into the truck. The woman on the motorcycle was thrown from the bike and left with critical injuries. No other injuries were reported.
At this time, no further information can be confirmed.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
I certainly don’t know more about this wreck than what’s already been reported. But with any motorcycle accident, I just hope investigations aren’t letting any kind of bias affect things. A lot of people are simply biased against motorcyclists, and this can lead them to jump to conclusions rather than letting the evidence speak for itself.
For example, I handled a case a while back where a family was surprised to hear an officer blame their loved one for speeding and weaving through traffic before hitting a truck. They knew the rider was a safe driver, so they wanted a second opinion. We started digging into things, and it turned out the officer based his entire report on a witness statement. After speaking to that witness, though, it was clear the officer completely mishandled the investigation.
That witness never blamed the motorcyclist. All they told the officer was the motorcycle passed them on the left—a perfectly reasonable, normal maneuver. It was actually the semi-truck cutting off the motorcyclist that led to the crash. With this and a report from independent accident reconstructionists, we got the police to admit their officer made a mistake, and they amended the reports. It was only after that we were able to do right by the victim’s loved ones and see they got a just resolution.
Unfortunately, mistakes like this are more common when crashes involve types of drivers people tend to look at negatively. Motorcyclists are high up on that list, which is why investigations into crashes like this should be handled with care. Whatever happened here, it should be up to the evidence to speak for itself. Letting any kind of bias get in the way certainly won’t do anyone any good.
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