After 5 students' car-crash deaths, police take driver-safety message to Nicholls

Dan Copp, The Courier
·2 min read

Multiple law-enforcement agencies were on the Nicholls State University campus Tuesday and Wednesday to raise awareness about the deadly consequences of impaired driving.

The two-day event comes after the Nicholls community was rocked by five students' deaths in highway crashes in November and December.

“This is a response to those five Nicholls students who were killed in the fall semester,” State Police Trooper Ross Brennan said. “So we held a multi-agency meeting back in December and this is a product of it. Nicholls Police invited us and a dozen other agencies to come here.”

Other agencies on hand included the Terrebonne, Lafourche St. Mary and Assumption parish sheriff’s offices, Port Fourchon Harbor Police, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and the Thibodaux, Morgan City and Berwick police departments.

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The Assumption Sheriff’s Office set up an “impaired obstacle course” on campus, where participants wore googles that simulated impaired driving.

Law-enforcement officials said they hoped students take what they learned from the event and share their knowledge with others in an effort to reduce fatal crashes.

“We wanted to find a way to get our message out to the community,” Brennan said. “We started with the Nicholls students because they have already experienced tragedy and know first-hand what can happen when people drive impaired or distracted. They can reach more people by going home and telling their friends and family. This gives them the tools to put out that safety message.”

State Police Troop C, which covers Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption and west St. James and St. John parishes, made 480 DWI arrests in 2021. Seventeen crashes involved impaired driving. State Police investigated 46 fatal crashes last year that resulted in 60 deaths.

Members of the Assumption Parish Sheriff's Office created an obstacle course Monday at Nicholls State University that simulated impaired driving.
Members of the Assumption Parish Sheriff's Office created an obstacle course Monday at Nicholls State University that simulated impaired driving.

Five of those fatalities were Nicholls students who lost their lives in crashes that occurred over the last two months.

The first crash happened in Chackbay on Nov. 20 and claimed the lives of Nicholls students Lily Dufrene, 19, Hali Coss, 19, and Michaila Bowling, 18.

A crash Dec. 17 in St. Landry Parish killed Nicholls student Lindy Rae Simmons, along with two of her siblings.

A third crash Dec. 19 in Houma killed 21-year-old Nicholls biology student Kennedi Foret.

All three of those crashes involved some form of impaired driving, Nicholls Police Chief Alex Barnes said.

“Five students have fallen victim to others not necessarily making smart choices or driving responsibly,” Barnes said. “From the way it looks, our students made the right choices but have fallen victim to others. What we’re looking for now is our students’ help in having those difficult conversations with their friends, family and loved ones to spread the word to get more people to be responsible.”

— Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: After 5 students' deaths, police take driver-safety message to Nicholls