By LEONARD GRAY

DESTREHAN – The deaths of four members of a Destrehan family when the car they were in plunged into the north side of the Airline Drive canal near Destrehan on Feb. 2 prompted action from Rep. Gary Smith.

Smith, who called the deaths “so tragic” said when he heard about the fatalities, he immediately called the Louisiana Department of Transportation and De-velopment with an idea to prevent similar fatality accidents in the future.

What Smith came up with was an idea he’d seen in action in Alabama, where state highway officials placed a three-to four-feet high cable-restraint fence in the median of their interstate highways.

“I’ve been in conversations with the state and asked them to check into it,” Smith added.