North Vermilion senior writing college paper to help make 167 safer

North Vermilion senior Emma Hebert is doing her part to make Hwy. 167 safer between Maurice and Abbeville.
Hebert is a 17-year-old North Vermilion student taking a dual enrollment English class from LSU.
She was also a best friend of NV senior Ramsie Baumgardner, who recently died in a car accident on Hwy. 167.
Hebert is writing a college English paper on why more lights need to be installed in hopes of preventing vehicle accidents. This paper requires that students make a claim, support it with credible evidence, and persuade their audience to take action. The final paper is due at the end of the month.
“I decided something needs to be done,” said Hebert. “I am writing my paper to state officials such as the head of Louisiana DOTD (Department of Transportation and Development), state representatives, and the state senate. I urge these individuals to realize how unsafe Highway 167 is and act so that tragedies like Ramsie’s do not occur again.”
In the introduction to her paper, Hebert names the four people killed on U.S. Hwy. 167 because of a head-on collision.
She names Alana Duhon and Sydney Colomb, North Vermilion students who died in a head-on collision in 2018.
Also mentioned is Brandon Isaac, who died in the Baumgardner head-on collision. Isaac was the driver of the car that hit Baumgardner head-on.
Her paper is titled: “Be the Light. Lighting Down on La. 167”
Here is part of her paper:
“Alana Duhon, 16. Sydney Colomb, 15. Brandon Isaac, 31. Ramsie Baumgardner, 18. Who are these people, you might ask? These are the names of individuals who were killed in head-on collisions on Louisiana Highway 167 in the past six years. Three of the four were students at my school, North Vermilion High School.
Alana Duhon was in her early sophomore year and had just gotten her driver’s license; she was overcome with excitement and couldn’t wait to drive.
Sydney Colomb was a freshman who had a large group of friends; she had her whole life ahead of her.
Brandon Isaac’s six-year-old daughter, Annelise, was left without a father; her dad won’t be there to guide her through life or walk her down the aisle at her wedding.
Ramsie Baumgardner was my best friend. She had turned 18 ten days before her death. In just four months, she was going to cross the stage at graduation and receive her high school diploma. Ramsie had plans to move to Orange Beach; she wanted to live life soaking up the sun and feeling her toes in the sand.
With a long and full life ahead of them, all of these people were gone in a moment due to an unsafe roadway, Highway 167. The lack of lighting and signage on this roadway makes it perilous, and Louisiana officials must take action to prevent head-on collisions. Although this won’t bring her back, help me make this Ramsie’s legacy.
Hebert set up a survey online asking about how safe is Hwy. 167 between Maurice and Abbeville. Thus far, 1,122 people have taken her survey. Here is the link to the survey: https://forms.gle/KvJkBQUAGEqc8B7
Here are the questions being asked on the survey.
One question is the age bracket you fit in with a possible five different age brackets.
What city do you live in?
Do you feel safe driving down .167 during the day? If no, why not?
Do you feel safe driving down 167 at night? If no, why not?
Update on Police Jury about making Hwy. 167 safer.
Todd Vincent of Sellers and Associates gave the police jury what it would cost to have two J-turns installed at the intersections of La. 696 and La. 697. The cost would be $4.63 million to establish two J-turns at the intersections.
The police jury took no action on J-turns. Instead, the police jury agreed to wait on DOTD to complete a study on how to make Hwy. 167 safer. The DOTD study is expected to be completed at the end of April.