NEW ORLEANS — Driving on Louisiana highways can be a bit nerve-wracking at times.
“People are going to drive as they please,” Chris Vick from Metairie said. “Dangerous drivers just drive any kind of way. Whether their license is suspended, revoked or what, they don’t care.”
“Oh my god, Interstate 12 is so dangerous,” Crystal Brown from New Orleans said. “I feel like the truck drivers need to be a little bit more courteous.”
Preliminary data shows 971 people died in crashes on Louisiana highways last year. That’s a 17% increase from 2020.
It’s the highest increase in one year since crash fatality records have been kept.
“Just think about it, the loss of nearly 1,000 motorists on our roadways, that’s devastating,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
Wednesday, Edwards signed a new five-year plan to reduce serious accidents on the highway by 50% by 2030.
Based on state data, distracted and unsafe driving, impaired driving, not wearing a seatbelt and road and infrastructure conditions are some of the main causes of crashes where people are killed or injured.
“We need to do better,” Edwards said.
The state is in the process of installing cameras to help track and ticket speeders on the elevated portion of I-10 over the Atchafalaya Basin between Baton Rouge and Lafayette.
Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson says the same technology could work elsewhere as well.
“If this technology proves to be effective in reducing the consistent driver behavior on that corridor, the responsible thing would be to look at other similar structures like the Bonnet Carre (Spillway),” Wilson said. “Electronic enforcement is a proven countermeasure. It’s happened in other places.”
There have been at least 65 accidents on the 12-mile spillway bridge between LaPlace and Kenner over the past 12 months.
St. John Sheriff Mike Tregre said putting speed cameras on the Bonnet Carre is worth discussing.
“I’m sure I’ll get some blowback, a little negativity on it, but if it saves lives, if it proves to do so, how can I be against it?” Tregre said.
The sheriff added that he would love to sit down with state officials and discuss the idea and the technology.
The state legislature would have to approve the idea.
The new state strategies also include increased education efforts and community outreach, stronger laws and policies to prohibit risky behavior on the road, and engineering solutions on roadways where there are a lot of severe accidents.