ERATH - Erath’s Milton Touchet, 84, lost his life Saturday morning when he was attempting to cross the intersection of the La. 14 Bypass and the business route La. 14 (old highway into Erath).

Touchet was hit broadside by a 2007 GMC Denali driven by 22-year old Ashley Vice of Abbeville.

According to the State Police, Touchet failed to yield at the stop sign. He was transported to Abbeville General Hospital, where he died from injuries sustained in the crash. Vice was treated for minor to moderate injuries.

It may have been the first fatality at that intersection, but there have been a handful of accidents.

Erath Chief of Police Gerald Hebert was saddened to hear Touchet passed away.

“I knew Mr. Touchet,” Hebert said. “He would come by the station, and I would talk to him at least once a week. I was sorry to learn he had passed away. He was a good guy. I’m going to miss him.”

Now, because of Touchet’s death, many in Erath are asking the question: “Is that intersection dangerous?”

“It is a busy four-lane,” Hebert said. “Cars are traveling at a good rate of speed.”

What about a traffic light at the intersection?

There is a red light at the corner of North Road and the bypass, less than a mile from the intersection where Touchet was killed.

Erath Mayor George Dupuis said the state transportation department is in no hurry to put red lights at intersections on four-lanes. He said it took a year for the highway department to do a study at the intersection of North Road and the La. 14 bypass.

Dupuis said he travels through the intersection where Touchet was killed. He does not think it is a dangerous intersection.“I don’t think it is bad. It is a matter of watching what you are doing,” Dupuis said.