What is Louisiana's road fatality rate?

Louisiana has a road fatality rate of 17.7 per 100,000 population and 1.5 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 45.0% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Louisiana in 2023?

In 2023, Louisiana recorded 811 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 7,293.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Louisiana?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 53.4% of all fatalities (3,895 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Louisiana?

Road fatalities in Louisiana are increasing with a +7.8% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 752 in 2015 to 811 in 2023.

How does Louisiana compare to the national average for road safety?

Louisiana's fatality rate of 17.7 per 100K is 45.0% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Louisiana ranks #10 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Louisiana's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 29.5% of road fatalities in Louisiana, representing 2,148 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 19.9% and pedestrian incidents for 17.6%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Louisiana?

In Louisiana, urban roads account for more fatalities: 3,347 rural vs. 3,895 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 45.9% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Louisiana: higher-rate fatality band

Louisiana is in the higher per-capita third: 811 traffic deaths in 2023 at 17.7 per 100,000 (#10 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

811
Deaths (2023): 17.7
Per 100k residents: Above average; 1.5
Per 100M VMT: -95
2022–2023 deaths

Higher per-capita fatality band

Louisiana ranks #10 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (17.7/100k) - top-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Louisiana in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Louisiana sits in the higher-rate third at 17.7 per 100k (#10 of 51), 45% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#10 of 51
higher-rate third: 17.7/100k
2023 fatality rate: #18/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

811 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

51%

Urban 413 (50.9%)
Rural 364 (44.9%)
Trafficway Not in State Inventory 34 (4.2%)

Highway fatality milepost

Milepost LA · Louisiana #10 of 51 · 17.7/100k

Louisiana · 17.7/100k · 811 in 2023 · #10 of 51

RANK 17.7/100k
VMT #10 of 51
BOOK 1.5/100M
ALC 7,293 book
SPD near Oklahoma
PED 19.9% spd
RUR 17.6% ped
VS-US +45.0% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

Road Safety Index

22/100

Louisiana

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate F

17.7/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.46/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety F

17.6%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control F

29.5%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

+7.8%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Louisiana

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Louisiana's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 17.1%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 40.3% · 327
Pedestrian 17.1% · 139
Tree (Standing Only) 7.2% · 58
Ditch 5.3% · 43
Pedalcyclist 4.3% · 35

Light condition

Daylight 41.9% · 340
Dark - Not Lighted 33.8% · 274
Dark - Lighted 17.4% · 141
Dusk 2.6% · 21
Dawn 2.0% · 16

Roadway class

State Highway 43.6% · 354
U.S. Highway 18.6% · 151
Interstate 17.0% · 138
Municipal 9.9% · 80
County 8.8% · 71

Weather at crash

Clear 82.7% · 671
Cloudy 7.6% · 62
Rain 5.8% · 47
Fog, Smog, Smoke 2.2% · 18
Sleet or Hail 0.2% · 2

Arizona

18
Louisiana

18
Oklahoma

18
Kentucky

18
Montana

18
Tennessee

19

What this shows Louisiana sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Nighttime

53
Unrestrained

41
Alcohol-Impaired

30
Weather-Related

22
Distracted

21
Speeding

20

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Louisiana, involved in 53.4% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Louisiana vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

18 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 18% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Louisiana plotted against a representative sample of 26 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Louisiana can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Louisiana's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Louisiana moved from 752 deaths in 2015 to 811 in 2023 (+7.8%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	752	16.4	270	140	106
2016	757	16.6	240	145	127
2017	770	16.8	255	167	115
2018	771	16.9	228	117	164
2019	727	15.9	238	75	118
2020	828	18.1	258	166	144
2021	971	21.2	248	235	184
2022	906	19.8	222	182	181
2023	811	17.7	189	224	145

Per-capita county spikes in Louisiana: St. Helena and Grant

Fatalities are spread across 64 Louisiana counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are St. Helena (55.7/100k) and Grant (54.8/100k), while volume still ranks East Baton Rouge first.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	EAST BATON ROUGE (33)	607	73	67.4	↑ increasing
2	ORLEANS (71)	439	60	48.8	↑ increasing
3	CADDO (17)	320	38	35.6	↑ increasing
4	CALCASIEU (19)	315	42	35.0	↑ increasing
5	JEFFERSON (51)	272	32	30.2	↑ increasing
6	ST. TAMMANY (103)	260	40	28.9	↑ increasing
7	TANGIPAHOA (105)	253	37	28.1	↑ increasing
8	LIVINGSTON (63)	229	25	25.4	↑ increasing
9	OUACHITA (73)	228	28	25.3	↑ increasing
10	LAFAYETTE (55)	209	28	23.2	↑ increasing
11	ASCENSION (5)	196	24	21.8	↑ increasing
12	RAPIDES (79)	195	29	21.7	↑ increasing
13	LAFOURCHE (57)	181	19	20.1	↑ increasing
14	ST. LANDRY (97)	160	13	17.8	↑ increasing
15	TERREBONNE (109)	140	15	15.6	↔ stable
16	ACADIA (1)	128	14	14.2	↑ increasing
17	ST. MARTIN (99)	106	17	11.8	↑ increasing
18	BOSSIER (15)	104	14	11.6	↑ increasing
19	IBERIA (45)	98	11	10.9	↑ increasing
20	WASHINGTON (117)	90	9	10.0	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 64 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, Oklahoma (17.7/100k) and Arizona (17.5/100k) sit closest to Louisiana's 17.7 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Louisiana's fatality rate.

Oklahoma

17.7 per 100K

718 fatalities (2023)

Arizona

17.5 per 100K

1,304 fatalities (2023)

Kentucky

18.0 per 100K

814 fatalities (2023)

Montana

18.4 per 100K

208 fatalities (2023)

Tennessee

18.6 per 100K

1,323 fatalities (2023)

Alabama

19.1 per 100K

974 fatalities (2023)

St. Helena-rate peers and Louisiana road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Louisiana (#10 of 51; volume #18/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →