A 28-year-old woman died when her small car hit an abandoned SUV on an elevated interstate shoulder, then flipped over the guardrail into a waterway below, Louisiana State Police said.
A news release said the impact sent the Ford Explorer SUV into Interstate 55, where it hit a pickup truck just before 1 a.m. Sunday near Manchac in Tangipahoa Parish.
The driver of the car was identified as Sarah Martin of Ponchatoula.
The driver of the 2010 Toyota Tacoma hit by the SUV told investigators he was not injured, Trooper William Huggins said.
Martin was not properly buckled, and her 2014 Toyota Corolla was upside down and completely submerged, the news release said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Manchac, also called Akers, is an unincorporated community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans.