A New Orleans man apparently died of natural causes while driving his car, which crashed in New Orleans East last week. Investigators initially thought the 61-year-old man died from the car crashitself, but a report from the coroner’s office said he died of natural causes while driving.
As reported at wwltv.com, the man was driving on North 1-10 around 1:30 a.m. last week. According to New Orleans police, he lost control of his car, hit a fence and crashed into a tree. Paramedics arrived at the scene and pronounced him dead at the scene. No one else suffered injuries in the crash.
While it does not get the attention of other distracted and impaired driving stories, medical episodes while driving can lead to serious and fatal car accidents. A Berkeley study reported that medical handicaps other than alcoholism are factors in 5 to 10 percent of traffic accidents. The medical episodes can come from epilepsy, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mental illness.
The unfortunate aspect of these types of car accidents is that the driver usually has no warning of an oncoming episode while behind the wheel. The Berkeley study while it is possible to identify medical conditions, it is not feasible to examine all drivers for signs of medical episodes.
Do you have a condition that could lead to a medical episode while driving?
Harrell & Nowak, L.L.C. – New Orleans injury attorneys