BATON ROUGE - Several bills could be filed in the next few days dealing with auto insurance rate and the ongoing battle between injury attorneys and insurance companies.

One lawmaker says he would like to see more tort reform to drive down costs, especially since Louisiana has the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, according to Forbes.

"There's no doubt this is the number one issue to the people of Louisiana," Rep. Michael "Gabe" Firment, R-District 22 said.

State Rep. Mike Johnson, R- District 27 says Louisiana residents have a tendency to file lawsuits after crashes, and he suggests that makes costs higher than neighboring states.

"We have developed in Louisiana a culture of because of a lot of that advertisement that you're inundated with, that if you're in an accident, it's not just an accident, it's an opportunity to collect something," Johnson said.

Last year Governor Jeff Landry also vetoed a measure that attempted to lower payouts if a car wreck lawsuit went to trial. At the time, the governor said that people who have car insurance should be rewarded.
This year lawmakers say it's back to the drawing board. They've been having town halls to fully understand how the issue is affecting their parishes.

"I've got a constituent in LaSalle parish that owns a logging company and a trucking company," Firment said. "They came to the meeting and said look we're parking five trucks because we just can't afford the insurance."