A pedestrian was killed after being struck in Baker, Louisiana, with Baton Rouge Emergency Medical Services confirming it responded to the scene at Plank Road and Kent Drive. The coroner's office was also contacted following the crash, and officials say the investigation remains active.
According to WAFB, no further details about the victim or the circumstances of the crash have been released. The outlet said this is an ongoing investigation and that it would update its report as more information becomes available.
Plank Road's Troubled Safety Record
This is not the first deadly crash reported along Plank Road in recent years. Louisiana State Police investigated a fatal pedestrian crash on Plank Road at Rolling Acres Drive in Baker on November 21, 2025, according to the Louisiana State Police, which killed 73-year-old Hezzie McCaleb of Baton Rouge. Troopers said McCaleb was walking northbound near the center line of Plank Road when he was struck by a northbound 2016 Chevrolet Silverado; he was pronounced dead at the scene, and that crash also remained under investigation.
A separate crash years earlier left a pedestrian dead on Plank Road near Cannon Street on the evening of December 12, when police said the driver of a Cadillac sedan struck the victim, as wafb.com reported at the time. Plank Road has also shown up in broader safety data: WBRZ found that the road was among several corridors where at least one pedestrian or bicyclist was hit and either injured or killed in a recent four-month stretch, according to WBRZ.
A Parish With One of the State's Worst Tolls
The Baker crash adds to a grim tally across East Baton Rouge Parish. The LSU Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety reported 23 pedestrian deaths and four bicyclist deaths in the parish in 2025, according to The Advocate. That made East Baton Rouge the second-highest parish in the state for pedestrian deaths, trailing only Orleans Parish, which recorded 24 pedestrian and four bicyclist deaths that year, the newspaper reported.
The Advocate also cited a Smart Growth America study showing the Baton Rouge metro area had an average pedestrian fatality rate of 4.18 per 100,000 people and 183 pedestrian deaths from 2020 through 2024. Statewide, Louisiana has averaged 166 pedestrian fatalities annually over the past five years, per the same report. The newspaper separately noted that three pedestrians died in East Baton Rouge Parish within a single 21-hour span one weekend, underscoring how concentrated the danger can be.
Fatal Crashes Trending Upward in 2026
The numbers so far this year suggest the problem is not easing. The total number of pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists involved in fatal or severe crashes in 2026 is already higher than at the same point last year, according to LSU's Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety, as cited by the same WBRZ report. Nationally, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has documented a 72 percent increase in pedestrian deaths from motor vehicle crashes since 2009, the station reported, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recorded more than 7,000 pedestrian deaths and over 70,000 pedestrian injuries in U.S. traffic crashes in 2024.
Another fatal pedestrian crash in East Baton Rouge Parish, this one on U.S. 61 just south of LA 42, killed 48-year-old Travis Weams of Prairieville in July 2025. State police said a garbage truck struck Weams after he exited his car and walked into the northbound lane, and a Ford Mustang struck him afterward, per the Louisiana State Police. No identity, cause, or additional circumstances have been confirmed for the pedestrian killed in Baker, and authorities have not said whether a citation or arrest resulted from the crash. The investigation remains open.
