Left-Turn and Intersection Motorcycle Crashes in New Orleans, LA Right of Way, Stop Signs and Signals

The right-of-way rule when nothing controls the crossing

Revised Statute 32:121 governs vehicles approaching or entering an intersection from different highways at approximately the same time. The driver on the left is required to yield to the vehicle on the right. The section modifies that rule where a driver is approaching on a highway not designated as a through highway, and it does not apply where traffic is otherwise controlled. On the residential grid off Freret, Broad or Elysian Fields, that single rule decides a large share of arguments, and the phrase doing the work is approximately the same time, which is a question of speed and distance rather than opinion.

Stop signs, yield signs and the four-way crossing

Revised Statute 32:123 sets out what a stop actually requires. A driver approaching a stop sign stops at a clearly marked stop line, or before entering the crosswalk, or at the point nearest the intersecting roadway where the driver has a view of approaching traffic, and then yields to vehicles already in the intersection or approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard. Where all approaches are controlled by stop signs, the first vehicle to stop goes first. A rolling stop is therefore two separate failures: the stop and the yield. Both leave physical traces in resting positions and damage patterns.

Signals, and the hundred-foot requirement

Revised Statute 32:104 begins with a general rule that a driver may not turn or move right or left until the movement can be made with reasonable safety. Its signaling requirement is specific. A signal must be given continuously during not less than the last one hundred feet traveled before turning. The same section requires a signal before stopping or suddenly decreasing speed when there is an opportunity to give one to a following driver. For a rider approaching a crossing, that is the difference between a car that announced its intention and a car that simply appeared in the path.

Why these crossings are hard to reconstruct here

Orleans Parish geometry works against clean sight lines. The neutral grounds along the major avenues carry streetcar track, and the transit agency's own safety guidance warns riders about rails and crossing them at an angle. Pavement condition is an aggravating factor rather than a footnote; the city's Office of Supervision and Engineering describes roughly sixty-five percent of streets as being in poor condition or worse. Add parked vehicles close to corners and mature street trees, and a driver's claim of an obstructed view becomes a factual question that only photographs from both approach positions can answer.

What to photograph, and from where

Four sets of frames matter. From the rider's approach, at the rider's eye height, showing what was visible at fifty, a hundred and two hundred feet out. From the other driver's approach, showing the same. The resting positions before anything is moved, with a fixed reference such as a curb line or a manhole in frame. Then the surface between the two, capturing gouges, fluid, transfer paint and any defect. Wide frames establish geometry and traffic control. Tight frames preserve detail that a resurfacing contract or a patch crew erases within weeks.

How the fault split gets argued

Because article 2323 makes fault a percentage and cuts recovery off entirely at fifty-one percent, the defense in an intersection file works the margins. Expect questions about speed, about whether braking started earlier, about lane position within the travel lane, and about whether the rider entered the crossing on a stale phase. Nothing in 32:121 or 32:123 asks whether the vehicle with the right of way was easy to see, but a percentage argument does. The answer is built from measurements and records, which is why an early recorded estimate of speed is worth more to an adjuster than it is to a rider.

Getting the report and the item number

The crash report is the spine of the file. Revised Statute 32:398 requires a report where injury, death or property damage above five hundred dollars results, and requires the investigating agency to forward the report or its data to the Department of Transportation and Development within forty-eight hours of completing the investigation. The City of New Orleans publishes how police reports are requested, citing the Public Records Law and directing in-person requests to the Records and Identification Division at 1615 Poydras Street on weekdays between nine in the morning and three in the afternoon. Keep the item number; every later request runs through it.

About this explainer

This page describes published right-of-way and signaling rules for general information and is not an assessment of fault in any particular collision, nor advice on how a claim should be handled. Which rule controls a crossing depends on the traffic control actually present and on evidence about timing and distance. Someone reviewing a specific crash should raise those details with the attorney who advertises on this site.