Holiday travel in Louisiana often looks like long lines of brake lights, out-of-state plates, and drivers who are more rushed than calm. You may be planning a quick trip from New Orleans to visit family, or driving in from another parish, when traffic suddenly piles up and one bad decision turns into a serious car accident.
If you were injured in one of those accidents during holiday travel, you might already be dealing with medical bills, missed work, property damage, and calls from an insurance company that wants to close your claim fast. It can feel unfair when you did your best to drive safely but still ended up in a crash.
You’re not imagining the risk. The National Safety Council notes that car travel has the highest fatality rate per passenger mile of any major form of transportation, and holiday periods repeatedly see spikes in serious and fatal motor-vehicle crashes across the country.
Recent analysis also shows that New Orleans ranks among the worst cities in the United States for holiday traffic, with congestion, miles traveled, and crash counts all rising sharply during the holiday season.
And when those accidents happen, the insurance company doesn’t shrug and say “that’s unfortunate.” They jump straight into defense mode. They know holiday chaos gives them excuses. RUDIN LAW doesn’t let them hide behind any of it.
Stack these factors together and you get a perfect setup for the kinds of wrecks we see all season long in Louisiana.
Holiday Travel Creates a Perfect Storm on Louisiana Roads
Holiday periods bring more people to the roads in a short window of time. According to national data, hundreds of people are killed on U.S. roads over major holiday weekends like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, with many more suffering injuries requiring medical attention.
In Louisiana, those national patterns meet local conditions:
- Heavier traffic on interstates such as I-10, I-12, I-20, and I-49
- Tourists and out-of-state drivers entering New Orleans and other cities
- More commercial vehicles delivering holiday goods
- People driving longer distances between parishes and states
Each of these factors raises the chance of a collision. When more vehicles move through the same space, there is less room for error. Rear-end crashes, lane-change wrecks, and multi-vehicle pile-ups become more common, and auto accidents more often involve serious injuries.
RUDIN LAW sees this uptick each holiday season. More traffic. More wrecks. More insurance companies pretending they “need more time to review the claim.” We don’t buy that, and neither should you.
New Orleans Holiday Traffic Worsens Crash Risk
A recent ConsumerAffairs analysis looked at holiday traffic in major U.S. metros by measuring congestion hours, holiday miles driven, and fatal crashes in clear and bad weather. New Orleans ranked as the sixth worst city in the nation for holiday traffic, with some alarming metrics.
According to that report:
- New Orleans traffic congestion changed by about 25.95% between the fall months and the October-through-December holiday period.
- The city’s traffic surges by about 18.45% during the holidays.
- There are roughly 12.42 crashes on clear days and 5.17 crashes in bad weather per one million people during this time.
When you stack those numbers on top of the daily traffic that New Orleans residents already navigate, holidays become a high-risk season for car accidents, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, and truck accident cases. New Orleans car accident lawyers see these patterns show up in real files, not just statistics.
For you, that means a higher chance of:
- Getting rear-ended in stop-and-go congestion
- Being sideswiped by a rushed driver changing lanes
- Being hit by someone unfamiliar with New Orleans streets
- Crashing in wet or foggy conditions when traffic is already heavy
This isn’t a mystery. New Orleans holiday traffic is a circus. And when the crash happens, the insurance company will pretend you caused it. That’s their playbook. RUDIN LAW doesn’t let them run it unchallenged.
Alcohol and Impaired Driving Make Louisiana Holiday Crashes More Severe
Holidays bring parties, special events, and long nights. The National Safety Council notes that alcohol is a major contributing factor in holiday motor-vehicle deaths nationwide, and that many families take to the road during these high-risk periods.
Louisiana law prohibits operating a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs under La. R.S. 14:98, which covers impairment at a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more, or driving while under the influence of drugs or a combination of alcohol and drugs.
When impaired drivers mix with already congested holiday roads, the collisions are often worse:
- Higher-speed rear-end crashes
- Head-on collisions after lane departures
- Intersection crashes after red-light or stop-sign violations
- Wrongful death cases that leave families dealing with both emotional distress and long-term financial strain
Impaired drivers love to blame “holiday traffic.” Insurance adjusters love that excuse even more. At RUDIN LAW, we cut through the noise. You shouldn’t pay for someone else’s choice to get behind the wheel drunk. Period.
Distracted, Rushed, and Fatigued Drivers Crowd the Roads
Holiday travel also increases distracted driving and fatigue. People drive while:
- Checking GPS directions or maps
- Texting relatives about arrival times
- Managing calls from work or family
- Eating in the car to save time
- Driving overnight or after long events
These choices matter. Distracted driving and drowsy driving can slow reaction time, cause lane drift, and increase the chance of rear-end and side-impact collisions. For injury victims, that often translates into serious injuries, medical expenses, and lost income right at the time of year when money is already tight.
Long-distance drivers who come through Louisiana may underestimate how fatigue, unfamiliar roads, and crowded interstates interact. A split-second mistake on an elevated roadway or near a construction zone can change your plans for months or years, leaving you with medical care needs, missed work, and property damage claims.
Distracted and fatigued drivers don’t admit fault easily, and insurers rarely volunteer the truth. That’s why the New Orleans car accident injury lawyers at RUDIN LAW dig into phone records, time stamps, GPS patterns, and the evidence that exposes what really happened.
Weather, Construction, and Out-of-Town Drivers Add More Hazards
Holiday travel in Louisiana happens during months when weather can include heavy rain and dense fog, especially near waterways and bridges. Wet roads increase stopping distances, and fog limits visibility to a few car lengths. When drivers do not adjust speed or following distance, crashes become more likely.
Construction zones add to this risk. Narrow lanes, sudden lane closures, uneven pavement, and tight shoulders create limited room to maneuver. A distracted or aggressive driver in these areas can trigger multi-vehicle accident cases involving both local residents and out-of-state visitors.
Out-of-town drivers collide with local traffic patterns when they:
- Hesitate at one-way streets in New Orleans
- Make last-second lane changes to avoid missing an exit
- Misjudge speed on elevated expressways or causeways
- Misread unfamiliar signage in bad weather or heavy congestion
RUDIN LAW sees this all the time. Visitors get confused, cause chaos, and then their insurance company blames the local driver because you “should have anticipated it.” That’s not how Louisiana law works, and we make that clear.
What Louisiana Law Means for Your Holiday Accident Claim
Louisiana Civil Code article 2315 states that a person whose fault causes damage is obligated to repair it. Under Louisiana law, you may seek compensation for injuries, medical bills, lost wages, emotional distress, and property damage when another driver’s negligence causes a crash.
At the same time, Louisiana uses comparative fault rules. Under Civil Code article 2323, your damages can be reduced in proportion to your share of fault. Recent tort-reform legislation will move Louisiana from pure comparative fault to a modified comparative fault system with a 51 percent bar effective January 1, 2026, meaning drivers who are 51 percent or more at fault in future accident cases will not be able to recover damages at all.
For holiday accidents that happen before that effective date, damages are still reduced based on your percentage of fault, but your right to seek to recover compensation remains even if your share is high. That distinction matters when:
- An insurance company claims you were speeding or following too closely in heavy traffic
- Adjusters argue that bad weather or congestion caused the crash rather than their driver’s conduct
- Multiple drivers share responsibility in a chain-reaction collision
But know this: comparative fault doesn’t scare RUDIN LAW. Holiday traffic doesn’t scare RUDIN LAW. We’ve seen insurers twist weather, congestion, tourism, and even your own caution into excuses. We shut those excuses down fast.
At RUDIN LAW, we follow the R-U-D-E Method. We don’t let insurance companies control the conversation. We build pressure. We demand justice. And we make sure they know you’re not going away quietly.
RESEARCH: Let’s get started with a chat! We’ll walk you through a consultation, pinpointing potential problems and asking for any necessary documents.
UNDERSTAND: By the end, we’ll have a clear understanding of your legal concerns and be able to offer valuable insights and solutions to move forward.
DEVELOP: We’ll develop a customized legal strategy tailored to your specific situation, addressing your concerns and goals.
EXECUTE: We’ll implement the legal strategy, providing experienced guidance and advocacy. We fight tenaciously for the compensation you need to support your recovery.
TURN UP THE PRESSURE After a Holiday Driver Wrecks Your Plans
Holiday drivers are in a hurry. Insurance companies drag their feet. RUDIN LAW doesn’t wait around for them to play fair. Our New Orleans car accident attorneys know how dangerous holiday traffic can be in this city and across Louisiana, and we treat accidents during holiday travel as the serious cases they are.
Our firm has recovered millions for clients hurt in motor vehicle accidents, including car accident cases, truck accident claims, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, and wrongful death cases. When an insurance company tries to undervalue your injuries, your medical bills, your lost wages, or your emotional distress, we push for full compensation that reflects what this crash really did to your life.
Ready to STOP BEING POLITE®? Call (504) 500-5504(504) 500-5504 for a FREE consultation with a New Orleans injury attorney. Or contact us online and our legal team will start gathering evidence and building your claim. You don’t pay us unless we win. Period.
STOP BEING POLITE® and GET RUDE® with RUDIN LAW.
Copyright © 2025. RUDIN LAW. All rights reserved.
The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information in this post should be construed as legal advice from the individual author or the law firm, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting based on any information included in or accessible through this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country, or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.
RUDIN LAW
5500 Prytania St. #404
New Orleans, LA 70115
(504) 500-5504(504) 500-5504
https://www.GetRude.com/
