Study: La. second worst in highway deaths BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) (wrkf) - A new report concludes that Louisiana has more highway deaths per mile than any state in the nation except Montana.

The study was done by the Reason Foundation in Los Angeles, which describes itself as a nonpartisan public policy group that promotes libertarian policies.

The report is based on spending and performance figures submitted to the federal government by Louisiana and other state highway agencies.

Mark Lambert, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation and Development, said the state's highway fatality rating is unacceptable.

The report said fatality rates are a key measure of a state's road performance.

In 2006, the national fatality rate was 1.4 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. In Louisiana, the rate was 2.1 deaths per 100 million miles traveled 49th in the U.S. © Copyright 2009, wrkf