Tragedy, Motorcyclist Dies in St. Martin Parish I-10 Crash

LAFAYETTE, La. - (KPEL News) - Another traffic tragedy has happened in Acadiana according to officials with the Louisiana State Police.

This time, Louisiana State Police Troop I Spokesman Trooper Thomas Gossen says that a motorcyclist died in St. Martin Parish Friday night after a crash involving three vehicles.

The beginning of this year started out with several fatalities investgated by Louisiana State Police, and this crash is the tenth death of 2023 in the Acadiana area. Gossen says that doesn't even count any fatal crashes that have happened on local roads in the different parishes of our area.

In this case, the crash happened at around 9:30 Friday night on the I-10 westbound lanes near mile marker 108. This is right before the exit for Breaux Bridge.

Gossen says 71-year-old Bobby Ray Carver of Hueytown, Alabama ended up crashing into a car that had been involved in a crash right before he drove into the back of that disabled vehicle.

Officials, in their preliminary crash report, say one vehicle struck another in one of the the travel lanes of I-10, and the vehicle got so messed up it wasn't able to be moved from the lane of traffic.

As Carver was riding his 2019 Harley-Davidson Road Glide down the lanes, he hit the vehicle and he ended up in the middle of the roadway. The St. Martin Parish Coronoer's Office pronounced the man dead at the scene where his motorcycle came to rest on the interstate. He was wearing a DOT-approved helmet.

The driver of one vehicles submitted to a breath test, and Gossen says investigators found she had no alcohol in her system. In addition, he says she showed no type of impairment.

A routine toxicology sample was taken for Carver. It will be sent to the state lab for analysis. This case is still undervestigation.

Since January 1, 2023, there have been nine fatal crash with ten deaths happening as a result.