Unrestrained Teenage Driver Killed in St. Landry Parish Crash

ST. LANDRY PARISH – Shortly after 9 p.m. on May 1, 2017, troopers from Louisiana State Police Troop I began investigating a single vehicle fatal crash on LA Hwy 363 near the St. Landry Parish / Evangeline Parish line. The crash took the life of 16-year-old Adrian N. Johnson of Washington.
The initial investigation by State Police revealed that the crash occurred as Johnson was traveling southbound on LA Hwy 363 in a 2006 Kia Spectra. As Johnson was driving southbound, her Kia struck a cow which was in the southbound lane of travel. After striking the cow, the Kia traveled across the northbound lane into a ditch where it then struck a culvert.
Johnson was unrestrained at the time of the crash and suffered fatal injuries. She was pronounced deceased on scene by the St. Landry Parish Coroner’s Office. Impairment is not suspected to have been a factor in the crash, but per standard procedure a toxicology sample will be submitted to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab for analysis.
Louisiana law requires that all occupants in a vehicle, regardless of seating position, be properly restrained. Louisiana State Police would like to remind everyone of the importance of buckling up before each and every ride. While not all crashes are survivable, statistics show that the chances of surviving a crash rise significantly when properly restrained.