Two die in wreck near Kentwood
KENTWOOD — Two women were killed and two were injured Friday when an 18-wheeler barreled into their car, State Police said.
The wreck happened about 6 p.m. Friday on La. 38, east of Kentwood in Tangipahoa Parish, Trooper First Class Nick Manale said Saturday in a news release.
Four women were in a 2005 Lincoln LS sedan, which was stopped in the eastbound lane of La. 38, waiting to turn left into a private drive, the release says.
The truck driver did not see that the Lincoln in front of him was stopped as his 2007 Western Star bore down on the car from behind, the release says.
When the truck driver recognized the situation, he tried to pass the car on the left to avoid a rear-end crash, Manale’s release says.
But as the driver wheeled the truck into the westbound lane, the Lincoln started turning left and the truck plowed into the car’s left side.
The two backseat passengers in the Lincoln, Lorina Smith, 74, and Catherine Simmons, 73, were pronounced dead at the scene by the Tangipahoa Parish Coroner’s Office. Neither woman was properly restrained, Manale’s release says.
The two women in the front seat of the Lincoln, driver Elizabeth Pittman, 66, and Carol Gill, 75, were wearing seat belts. Both survived the crash with serious injuries, the release says.
All four women were from the Kentwood area. Pittman is a member of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board, where she is known as Gail Pittman McDaniel. She represents a district in the northern part of the parish.
The truck driver, Stennis Taylor, 50, of Magnolia, Miss., was not injured, Manale’s release says. Taylor was wearing a seat belt.
Troopers booked Taylor into the Tangipahoa Parish Jail on two counts each of negligent homicide and negligent injuring, the release says.
Although alcohol or drugs are not suspected in the crash, State Police is running toxicology tests on both drivers, the release says.