De Soto Parish, Louisiana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Louisiana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records no fatal crash in De Soto Parish in 2024.

FARS records 75 deaths in 66 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 27.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Louisiana in the same years is 17.3.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, De Soto Parish was number 32 of 64 counties of Louisiana.

Deaths in De Soto Parish fell by 13.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (87) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (75).

In the counties of Louisiana the deaths fell by 2.5% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 87.7% of the fatal crashes in De Soto Parish with a known setting were rural, against 45.1% in Louisiana.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.
The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.
NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on 1 Apr 2026. NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Deaths in De Soto Parish by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this county has a change on record.

Deaths and fatal crashes by year

Table 1.De Soto Parish: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	0	0	0
2023	10	9	4
2022	15	13	4
2021	13	12	3
2020	12	8	1 or 2
2019	5	5	0
2018	4	4	1 or 2
2017	8	7	1 or 2
2016	5	5	1 or 2
2015	3	3	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	75	66	16

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in De Soto Parish by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 16 (1978)2024: 0

The columns with a stronger shade are the years 2015 to 2024.

Table 2.De Soto Parish: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	0	0
2023	10	9
2022	15	13
2021	13	12
2020	12	8
2019	5	5
2018	4	4
2017	8	7
2016	5	5
2015	3	3
2014	5	5
2013	4	4
2012	7	6
2011	9	8
2010	10	8
2009	6	6
2008	12	11
2007	12	11
2006	12	9
2005	10	8
2004	10	9
2003	12	11
2002	12	10
2001	7	6
2000	10	9
1999	12	11
1998	14	13
1997	14	9
1996	9	8
1995	10	9
1994	5	5
1993	10	10
1992	7	6
1991	7	6
1990	13	13
1989	3	3
1988	9	8
1987	5	5
1986	7	5
1985	10	8
1984	4	4
1983	8	8
1982	6	6
1981	8	6
1980	6	6
1979	15	13
1978	16	10
1977	7	6
1976	8	7
1975	11	10

Note: a count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2". A death is in FARS when it occurs in 30 days or less after the crash.

Rate for each 100,000 residents

Table 3.De Soto Parish beside Louisiana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	De Soto Parish	Louisiana	United States
2024	0.0	16.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	27.6	17.3	11.8

Note: the rate divides the deaths in the county by its residents. Persons who do not live in the county are in the deaths, not in the residents.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. De Soto Parish had 27,279 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.De Soto Parish: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Louisiana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 66 fatal crashes	16	66 fatal crashes	24.2%	30.9%
A speeding-related driverof 66 fatal crashes	26	66 fatal crashes	39.4%	22.4%
No restraint usedof 58 occupant deaths with restraint use known	42	58 occupant deathswith restraint use known	72.4%	57.5%
Pedestriansof 75 deaths	6	75 deaths	8.0%	17.9%
Bicyclistsof 75 deaths	0	75 deaths	0.0%	4.0%
Motorcyclistsof 75 deaths	1 or 2	75 deaths	2.7%	10.9%
On a rural roadof 65 fatal crashes with the condition reported	57	65 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	87.7%	45.1%
In the darkof 66 fatal crashes with the condition reported	28	66 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	42.4%	54.3%

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure, which uses a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. One crash can be in two or more rows. NHTSA's definitions

Note that alcohol data is often missing. For that reason, this data element may under-count the actual number of drinking drivers.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Weekday, time and road class

Table 5.De Soto Parish: fatal crashes by weekday and time of day, 2015 to 2024
Weekday	Midnight to 6 a.m.	6 a.m. to noon	Noon to 6 p.m.	6 p.m. to midnight	All
Sunday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3	5
Monday	0	1 or 2	3	5	9
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	9
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	3	12
Thursday	1 or 2	3	5	3	12
Friday	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	10
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	9
All days	10	10	25	21	66

Note: a cell with a stronger shade has a larger count. The table has the fatal crashes with a known hour and weekday.

Table 6.De Soto Parish: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Louisiana
Interstate	11	16.9%	14.5%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	1.4%
Other principal arterial	18	27.7%	23.6%
Minor arterial	5	7.7%	21.2%
Major collector	18	27.7%	16.6%
Minor collector	3	4.6%	5.6%
Local	10	15.4%	17.0%
Not reported	1 or 2	n/a	n/a

Note: the classes are those of the Federal Highway Administration. The shares are of the crashes with a reported class. Road function classes

Light condition and weather

Table 7.De Soto Parish: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	35
Dark, not lighted	25
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.De Soto Parish: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	46
Cloudy	11
Rain	8
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in De Soto Parish that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In De Soto	In all of Louisiana
Interstate 49	Interstate	11	118
US Route 84	US highway	11	42
US Route 171	US highway	12	88

Note: the table has each route with a page that has a fatal crash in the county, in name order. Local streets and county roads have no page. Their crashes are in the county totals. All routes in Louisiana

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.De Soto Parish on the county map of Louisiana

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 101 county
10 to 14.911 counties
15 to 19.913 counties
20 to 29.928 counties
30 or more11 counties
De Soto Parish: 27.6

The limits of the classes are the same for every state. A county with few residents can show a high rate from few deaths. A class is not a judgement of a county. The full map and the table of counties of Louisiana

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with De Soto Parish
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Caddo Parish	Louisiana	42	398	16.7
Natchitoches Parish	Louisiana	7	95	25.2
Red River Parish	Louisiana	3	27	33.8
Sabine Parish	Louisiana	9	61	26.5
Panola County	Texas	7	115	50.0
Shelby County	Texas	8	80	32.3

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of Louisiana have a population nearest to that of De Soto Parish. The list is for navigation and is in name order. The number is the deaths from 2015 to 2024.

Official channels

NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)NHTSA's query tool for FARS counts.
NHTSA FARS EncyclopediaNHTSA's tables of FARS data.
Louisiana Highway Safety CommissionThe highway safety office of Louisiana.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. De Soto Parish, Louisiana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/la/de-soto/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

The address of this page does not change.

Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 1975 to 2024. The factors use the vehicle and person files from 2015. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Map: Census Bureau cartographic boundary file, 2021 edition. Data to 31 Dec 2024. The figures are totals. No page of this site is about one crash or one person.

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

How many deaths did FARS record in De Soto in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 87 deaths in De Soto Parish from 2005 to 2014. It records 75 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

How many fatal crashes in De Soto had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 16 of 66 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. This count is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. NHTSA says that alcohol data is often missing, so the count may be too low.

How many fatal crashes did FARS record on signed routes in De Soto?

FARS records 11 fatal crashes on Interstate 49 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 11 fatal crashes on US Route 84 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 12 fatal crashes on US Route 171 in the county from 2015 to 2024.