Man extricated from car, air lifted from Hale Boggs
Both southbound lanes of the Hale Boggs Bridge were closed on Monday for almost an hour after an SUV ran into the back of a dump truck, according to state police.
The dump truck had stalled in the right lane when a Mitsubishi Montero Sport ran into the back of it, authorities said. The driver of the SUV had to be extricated from the vehicle and was airlifted by helicopter to University Hospital in New Orleans. There were no other passengers involved.
The driver of the dump truck was cited with improper stopping, according to police.
This is the fourth serious dump or garbage truck-related accident on the Hale Boggs Bridge in less than two years. Two of the accidents were fatalities.
The most recent fatality was 18-year-old Jessica Cancienne, who was a former softball star at Hahnville High School. Cancienne was killed when her 2008 Mazda Tribute ran into the back of a garbage truck on the bridge in early May 2010.
In July 2009, 38-year-old Luling resident Misty Carroll was traveling northbound on I-310 when she crashed into a garbage truck that had run out of fuel near the top of the bridge. Carroll was killed as a result of the accident and a 6-year-old passenger was injured.
In almost the same spot a few months earlier, Luling resident Craig Perrier Jr. was heading to work at 5:30 a.m. when he ran into the back of a garbage truck he said was traveling between 35 to 40 miles per hour. Perrier’s vehicle was going 70 miles per hour. Perrier’s truck was crushed like a can by the force of the collision and he fractured his tibial plateau and broke his shoulder.
The construction of hurricane protection levees inside and outside of the parish has led to a dramatic increase of dump trucks traveling through the area.
The Parish Council and Sheriff Greg Champagne have asked the state Department of Transportation and Development to lower the speed limit from 70 to 60 miles per hour, but so far the speed limit has not been changed.
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