§ 40:1356 — Limitation of liability; reporting impaired applicants for license or licensed drivers;

§1356. Limitation of liability; reporting impaired applicants for license or licensed drivers;
confidentiality
A. As used in this Part, "health care provider" means and includes any person defined
in R.S. 40:1231.1(A), and "board" means the Louisiana Medical Advisory Board.
B. No person shall have a cause of action for damages or loss against any health care
provider nor shall any criminal liability be imposed as a result of a report by the health care
provider to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or the Louisiana Medical
Advisory Board of any visual ability or physical condition, impairment, or disability of an
applicant for a driver's license or of a licensed driver, which may impair such person's
general ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a motor
vehicle, whether the health care provider is statutorily mandated to make such a report or
whether such report is made voluntarily, when the health care provider is acting without
malice and in the reasonable belief that such action is warranted to protect the public.
C. No person shall have a cause of action for damages or loss against any member
of the board for his actions as a result of his official duties when the member of the board is
acting without malice and in the reasonable belief that such action is warranted by the
information as presented to the board.
D. A health care provider who conducts an examination of an applicant for a driver's
license or of a licensed driver, at the board's request, relative to an individual's general ability
to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a motor vehicle, shall not be
liable for damages or loss as a result of his report to the board nor shall such health care
provider be considered a guarantor of the applicant's or licensed driver's ability to exercise
ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a motor vehicle.
E.(1) Any office of motor vehicles employee or agent in the performance of his
duties related to drivers' licenses, law enforcement officer, health care provider, or any family
member having first-hand knowledge of any condition of an applicant for a driver's license
or of a licensed driver may file a report with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
stating that he believes an applicant for a driver's license or a licensed driver is unable to
safely operate a motor vehicle.
(2) The report shall state that the person reasonably and in good faith believes an
applicant for a driver's license or a licensed driver cannot safely operate a motor vehicle and
shall be based upon personal observation or physical evidence which shall be described in
the report, or the report shall be based upon an investigation by a law enforcement officer.
The report shall be a written declaration in the form prescribed by the Department of Public
Safety and Corrections and shall include the name, address, telephone number, and signature
of the person making the report.
(3) Upon receipt of the report, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall
send written notification to the applicant for a driver's license or the licensed driver requiring
him to submit to a medical examination. The medical examination shall be conducted, and
the completed medical examination form shall be submitted to the department not later than
thirty days after the date written notification of the need for a medical examination is sent.
Upon receipt of the examination form or lapse of the thirty days if no form is received, the
department shall take appropriate action as provided in R.S. 32:424 against the applicant for
a driver's license or the licensed driver.
(4) No person, nor the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, nor the board
shall be liable for damages or loss as a result of the failure to file a report or the failure to act
upon or investigate a report.
(5) Any person who makes a report pursuant to this Section shall be immune from
any criminal or civil liability that otherwise might result from making the report when that
person is acting without malice and in the reasonable belief that such action is warranted to
protect the public.

Legislative History

Acts 1988, No. 702, §1, eff. July 15, 1988; Acts 1995, No. 1079, §1; Acts 2001, No. 806, §1; Acts 2018, No. 206, §4.