Calcasieu Parish had its first traffic fatality of the year on Jan. 1, authorities said.

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kim Myers said 40-year-old Alvin Hodges was killed when the vehicle he was driving crashed at the intersection of Evangeline Highway and Second Street in Starks.

Hodges, of Starks, and a passenger were traveling westbound on Evangeline Highway when he appeared to have crossed the center line and run off the road, striking a culvert, Myers said. The car flipped and came to rest on its roof in a ditch, she said.

Myers said a passenger was taken to an Alexandria hospital, where she is listed in moderate but stable condition.

Neither Hodges nor the passenger was wearing a seatbelt, Myers said.

(MGN Online)