Louisiana car accident statistics (2020-2024)

Car accident deaths in Louisiana by year

Car accident deaths increased from 729 in 2020 to 863 in 2021, the highest yearly count during the period. The count then fell to 776 in 2022, 707 in 2023 and 659 in 2024. The lowest year was 2024, with 70 fewer deaths than 2020. All traffic deaths followed the same yearly direction, with counts of 828, 971, 906, 811 and 752, respectively.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Louisiana's share of the national car accident death total was 2.2% in 2020, 2.3% in 2021 and 2.1% in 2022. It was 2.0% in both 2023 and 2024. Across 2020 through 2024, Louisiana accounted for 2.1% of the national total of 176,219 deaths.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

2024 figures come from the FARS Annual Report File and can be revised when NHTSA publishes the final file.

Who died in Louisiana car accidents

People in cars, SUVs, pickups or vans accounted for 2,627 deaths, or 70.4% of Louisiana's car accident deaths during 2020 through 2024. This was the largest person category. People in other vehicles accounted for 283 deaths, or 7.6%, the smallest category. Nonoccupants (FARS person-type grouping) accounted for 824 deaths, or 22.1%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Each category counts people killed in qualifying passenger-vehicle-involved crashes. The nonoccupant label follows the FARS person-type classification; it is not a literal test of whether someone was outside a vehicle. That grouping can include occupants of parked motor vehicles.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Collision types and setting

Manner of collision identifies the first harmful event. Angle (side impact) recorded 677 deaths; Head-on, 473; Rear-end, 326; Sideswipe, 116; Other, 17; and Unknown, 5. Not a collision with a motor vehicle in transport recorded 2,120 deaths (56.8%). That row includes events such as rollovers or impacts with fixed objects or parked vehicles. Vehicles stopped in traffic can be in transport.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime accounted for 1,577 deaths (42.2%) and nighttime for 2,140 (57.3%); time was unknown for 17 (0.5%). Urban locations recorded 2,053 deaths (55.0%) and rural locations 1,650 (44.2%); land use was unknown for 31 (0.8%).^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Counties with the most car accident deaths

The county table lists the counties with the most car accident deaths during 2020 through 2024. East Baton Rouge Parish recorded 366 deaths, followed by Orleans Parish with 251, Caddo Parish with 193, Calcasieu Parish with 159 and St. Tammany Parish with 152. Lafayette Parish recorded 148 deaths; Jefferson Parish, 145; Tangipahoa Parish, 142; Ouachita Parish, 140; and Rapides Parish, 126.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

The remaining listed counts were Livingston Parish, 124; Lafourche Parish, 114; Ascension Parish, 111; St. Landry Parish, 82; and Terrebonne Parish, 72. Death counts and population-based rates describe different measures. Among the listed counties, Lafourche Parish had the highest average annual rate at 23.7 deaths per 100,000 residents, while Jefferson Parish had the lowest at 6.7.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Up to 15 counties with the most deaths in the period, largest first. Rates for counties with few deaths change sharply with each death.

How Louisiana compares with the national rate

Louisiana's car accident death rate was 16.2 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. The national rate was 10.5, placing Louisiana higher than the United States in this comparison. The corresponding death counts were 3,734 in Louisiana and 176,219 nationally. These rates use deaths grouped by crash location, not the residence of the people who died.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

The calculation divides deaths during the period by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates and multiplies by 100,000. It does not adjust for miles driven or visitors. Louisiana's separately reported July 1, 2024 population estimate of 4,614,878 is not the denominator. Readers searching for a car accident lawyer should keep this crash-location grouping in mind when reading the counts.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

About these figures

FARS is a census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Inclusion requires a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and an occupant or nonoccupant death within 30 days. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded. State and county counts follow crash location, not residence.^[8][6][7]

The 2020 through 2023 records are FARS Final Files. The 2024 Annual Report File may change when the Final File replaces it. Rates divide period deaths by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates, Vintage 2025, then multiply by 100,000. They measure average annual deaths per 100,000 residents without adjusting for miles driven or visitors. The separate July 1, 2024 population estimate is not the rate denominator.^[8][6][7]

See also

• FARS Annual Report File and Final File
• Car accident statistics for East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Orleans Parish, Louisiana (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Caddo Parish, Louisiana (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana (2020-2024)