Louisiana § RS 40:1356 - Limitation of liability; reporting impaired applicants for license or licensed drivers; confidentiality

§ RS 40:1356. 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.

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