The legislature is taking aim at distracted driving this session. Andrew Greenstein is at the Capitol, where a news conference was held.
Cut 1 (34) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”
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Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple has faced difficulty arranging a meeting with Governor Jeff Landry, even as Landry emphasizes tackling Louisiana’s soaring auto insurance rates, the highest in the country. Sean Richardson has more.
Cut 2 (00) “…I’m Sean Richardson.”
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LSU football coach Brian Kelly spoke publicly this morning for the first time since the death of former Tiger football star Kyren Lacy. Lacy was one of Kelly’s first signees out of the transfer portal after he arrived in Baton Rouge in November of 2021…
Cut 3 (05) “…incredible personality”
Lacy died Saturday night in Houston from an apparent suicide. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office says Lacy, who shot a gun at the ground earlier in the night during a verbal argument with his sister, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a police chase.
Lacy was just 24 years old. Kelly says he’ll always remember Lacy’s incredible personality…
Lacy was a two-sport star athlete at Thibodaux High School. His first two seasons of college football were at UL Lafayette. He was the Cajuns leading receiver his freshman season and transferred to LSU for the 2022 season. Lacy developed into a second-team All-SEC receiver his senior season. Kelly says Lacy will be missed…
Funeral services for Lacy are still pending.
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The legislature is taking aim at distracted driving this session. A bill by Slidell Representative Brian Glorioso and Covington Senator Patrick McMath would make using a hand-held cell phone while driving illegal. Study after study has shown that using a hand-held cell phone while driving has deadly consequences. That’s something that Suzanne Salter knows all too well. Her 31-year-old daughter, Nicole, was killed by a distracted driver in Livonia in late 2014.
Cut 6 (14) “…heard the thump.”
Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Director Lisa Freeman says texting while driving is tantamount to driving blindfolded.
Governor Landry says addressing distracted driving will also go a long way towards addressing another one of his top priorities in this session.
Cut 8 (11) “…their insurance premiums.”
Glorioso’s and McMath’s bill — House Bill 519 — would make hand-held cell phone use a secondary violation, meaning officers won’t pull drivers over for that reason alone. But they can tack that charge onto another moving violation. Hand-held cell phone usage is already a primary violation in school zones and construction zones.
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Despite rising egg prices across the United States, families continue to embrace the beloved Easter tradition of dyeing eggs. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says at the start of April the average wholesale price in Louisiana was $3.75 per dozen and in other markets $6.23 per dozen.
Cut 9 (09) “…before you buy them.”
Strain says the Department of Justice was told by the Trump Administration to take a hard look at the price of eggs.
Cut 10 (09) “…pricing of eggs.”
Strain urges that buyers to shop around for the best prices before they buy.
Cut 11 (12) “…see that spike.”
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Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple has struggled to secure a meeting with Governor Jeff Landry, despite Landry’s push to address the state’s sky-high auto insurance rates, currently the highest in the nation. Temple says he’s made every effort to talk but hasn’t been able to engage in a substantive discussion with the governor.
Cut 12 (12) “…hasn’t taken place.”
While Temple agrees with Landry that excessive claims and litigation drive up insurance costs, he disagrees with the governor’s focus on curbing legal advertising by injury attorneys. Temple calls that approach a “red herring,” arguing that advertising costs only account for a small fraction of rate calculations.
Cut 13 (10) “…cost of the claim down.”
Temple says that the legislative package he supports targets the real cost drivers, excessive bodily injury claims and litigation. Temple stresses the need to “bend the loss curve” to bring down rates, indicating that while there are disagreements, both he and Landry ultimately share a common goal: reducing Louisiana’s oppressive insurance premiums.