2 bad accidents put spotlight on unwieldy vehicles
Many 18-wheelers and garbage trucks travel through St. Charles Parish as they deliver goods to other cities and parishes in the state or dump trash in Avondale.
And as a pair of recent wrecks have illustrated, that can put parish drivers in a precarious position.
Last month, 38-year-old Luling resident Misty Carroll was traveling northbound on I-310 when she ran into a garbage truck that had run out of fuel near the top of the Hale Boggs Bridge. Carroll was killed as a result of the accident, and a 6-year-old passenger was injured.
In almost the same spot six months earlier, Luling resident Craig Perrier, Jr., 30, was heading to work at 5:30 a.m. when he ran into the back of a garbage truck that he said was traveling between 35 and 40 miles per hour. Perrier’s vehicle was going 70 miles per hour.
“I didn’t see the garbage truck until it was too late because it was going slow and it didn’t seem to be lit properly,” Perrier said. “I rammed into the back of the truck, then hit the middle barrier and the outside barrier.”
As a result of the crash, Perrier fractured his tibial plateau and broke his shoulder.
“I am still dealing with the effects of the crash everyday,” Perrier said. “I walk with a limp now and the best outlook is that I will get 75 percent of the use of my right leg back.
“Now, half of my knee is metal.”
And while Perrier’s injuries were severe, he knows that he is lucky to be alive – especially considering the state of his Ford F-150, which was crushed like a can by the force of the collision.
“My truck was destroyed,” he said. “When I looked at the damage I thought ‘why did God save me?’ I should have been dead.”
Perrier said the scariest thing is that the passenger side of his truck was split in two.
“And that’s where my son usually rides with me,” he said.
Sheriff Greg Champagne said that he has written to the state in the past asking the Department of Transportation and Development to lower the speed limit on the Hale Boggs Bridge to 60 miles per hour.
“I think 70 miles per hour is way too fast, especially considering that I-310 north of the bridge is 60 miles per hour,” he said. “There have been many accidents on the bridge due to various causes, one of which is high winds that surprise some drivers as they cross the crown.
“Also, the merge lanes present a danger on each side as slow traffic coming up the lanes merges with the faster traffic coming through.”
While large vehicles such as garbage trucks or 18-wheelers seem to make the problem worse, Champagne said that those trucks also cause problems when they detour to River Road.
“I have had complaints in recent months about a number of garbage trucks and 18-wheelers taking River Road and Barton Avenue to get to Avondale rather than going on I-310 and 90,” he said. “They try to shorten their route, but violate the weight limit on Barton and we have been on the lookout for that.”
Perrier will also be on the lookout for garbage trucks from now on as well.
“I’ll be honest, every time I see a garbage truck now I get nervous,” he said.
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