The young brothers last week on Texas Flat Road in Hancock County are among 13 people who have died in car accidents there over the last three years, according to the coroner.
The toll of fatal collisions on the two-lane route, often used by Louisiana drivers as an alternate route when Interstate 10 traffic is heavy near the state line, is raising new safety questions among county leaders and grieving families. The accident on Friday was the second deadly crash on Texas Flat Road this year. Those wrecks killed four people, including two 14-year-olds.
Law enforcement officials say speeding is common on the straight, 13-mile thoroughfare between Kiln and Picayune. And some victims鈥 families are now leading a growing push for better policing on the road and pleading that leaders across the state do more to prevent future tragedies.
鈥淚t feels like a raceway,鈥 said Richard Bouchard, whose grandson died on Texas Flat Road earlier this year. 鈥淣ow we鈥檝e got more sad stories. We鈥檙e going to continue to have sad stories unless we do something.鈥
The road鈥檚 dangers are just one example of the problem in Mississippi, where the has long been among the nation鈥檚 highest.
Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam called the issues on Texas Flat Road 鈥渃arelessness and speed.鈥 But state law prohibits deputies from using radar, and sheriff鈥檚 departments rarely issue tickets that hold speeding drivers accountable.
鈥淚t鈥檚 virtually impossible,鈥 Adam said.
Tragedies on Texas Flat Road
In the last three years, crashes across rural Texas Flat Road have killed parents, working professionals, one pedestrian and at least five teenagers.
Last week, authorities said a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler dump truck killed brothers from Pearl River County. The sheriff called the crash an accident and said the department does not expect to file charges in the deaths of 21-year-old John Michael-David Foster and 14-year-old Rowdy Liam Foster.
Michael-David Foster was a hardworking and selfless older brother to Rowdy Foster, a talented golfer, according to their obituaries.
Texas Flat Road has several dangers. Drivers pass other cars by accelerating into the opposite lane. County Supervisor Greg Shaw said distracted driving is also a problem. He recalled a half-foot drop-off on the road鈥檚 shoulders before the county began fixing them and resurfacing the asphalt this year.
Drivers on Texas Flat Road also veer outside their lanes so often that a Gulf Regional Planning Commission analysis marked three spots on the road as among the Coast鈥檚 intersections with the highest rates of lane departure crashes. Others say the road needs far better law enforcement patrols to at least deter speeding.
Bouchard鈥檚 grandson, 14-year-old Ayden Stockstill, died on Texas Flat Road last May. His family said he was buckled up in the backseat on his way to soccer tryouts when a speeding driver hit his parents鈥 car.
The driver and Stockstill both died, and Stockstill鈥檚 parents were injured.
Bouchard and his family are now leading a push to change state law. They are asking the Legislature to strengthen the ranks of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, require proof of insurance for a car tag and let sheriff鈥檚 departments use radar.
Texas Flat Road in Hancock County has become a deadly corridor recently, claiming the lives of 13 people in three years.
Sheriff鈥檚 agencies across the state have long asked for access to the technology, which Mississippi law only allows the Highway Patrol and some police departments to use. The push has failed for years because some lawmakers say deputies would abuse it and collect profits from barely speeding drivers.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol does not police Texas Flat Road, which is maintained by the county. Troopers headed to Hancock or Pearl River counties sometimes pass through and write tickets if they encounter problems, according to the agency.
The responsibility of enforcement falls on the sheriff鈥檚 department, which says deputies ride the road but can do little else to ensure safety.
Scotty Adam, president of the Board of Supervisors, said more deputies on the road could help deter speeding.
But 鈥渢hey can鈥檛 be everywhere all the time,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the problem.鈥
鈥楯ust horrible鈥
The issue grows when a crash snarls traffic on Interstate 10. Facing backups, many cars and 18-wheelers take Texas Flat Road instead.
鈥淲hen you have oversized loads and you have big trucks that weigh 50,000 pounds or more, those roads usually aren鈥檛 equipped for that,鈥 said state Sen. Philman Ladner.
He said he would like the Mississippi Department of Transportation to work with Louisiana to one day add another bridge across the state line, where even minor crashes can stall traffic and send more drivers across Texas Flat.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 just a possibility,鈥 Ladner said.
The road鈥檚 deadliest year in recent memory was 2023, according to the coroner. Six people died on Texas Flat that year, including three teenagers from Diamondhead.
Three people died from car accidents on the road in 2024. Adam, the board of supervisors president, called the numbers 鈥渁stounding.鈥
Bouchard is busy these days telling his grandson鈥檚 story and asking state leaders to help change the law. But he paused to consider the road鈥檚 13 recent fatalities.
鈥淭hat is worse than I thought,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat is just horrible, just horrible that we do that to ourselves.鈥