Lafayette Parish, Louisiana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Louisiana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 31 deaths in 31 fatal crashes in Lafayette Parish in 2024.

FARS records 269 deaths in 260 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 11.0 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, Lafayette Parish was number 10 of 64 counties of Louisiana.

Deaths in Lafayette Parish fell by 22.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (345) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (269).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 11.9% of the fatal crashes in Lafayette 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 Lafayette 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.Lafayette Parish: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	31	31	8
2023	28	26	10
2022	39	39	4
2021	35	33	9
2020	26	24	7
2019	21	19	7
2018	18	18	7
2017	18	18	8
2016	24	24	5
2015	29	28	10
2015 to 2024	269	260	75

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 48 (2003)2024: 31

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

Table 2.Lafayette Parish: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	31	31
2023	28	26
2022	39	39
2021	35	33
2020	26	24
2019	21	19
2018	18	18
2017	18	18
2016	24	24
2015	29	28
2014	31	31
2013	38	34
2012	29	27
2011	25	22
2010	29	27
2009	31	27
2008	40	35
2007	39	38
2006	45	37
2005	38	32
2004	31	28
2003	48	39
2002	38	37
2001	26	25
2000	36	31
1999	37	33
1998	32	29
1997	34	32
1996	29	26
1995	28	26
1994	16	15
1993	30	27
1992	33	32
1991	27	23
1990	35	31
1989	32	30
1988	25	25
1987	23	22
1986	32	27
1985	26	21
1984	33	28
1983	35	31
1982	36	30
1981	42	35
1980	45	41
1979	36	32
1978	38	35
1977	28	28
1976	38	31
1975	21	20

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.Lafayette Parish beside Louisiana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lafayette Parish	Louisiana	United States
2024	12.2	16.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	11.0	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. Lafayette Parish had 254,674 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lafayette Parish: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Louisiana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 260 fatal crashes	75	260 fatal crashes	28.8%	30.9%
A speeding-related driverof 260 fatal crashes	35	260 fatal crashes	13.5%	22.4%
No restraint usedof 125 occupant deaths with restraint use known	63	125 occupant deathswith restraint use known	50.4%	57.5%
Pedestriansof 269 deaths	63	269 deaths	23.4%	17.9%
Bicyclistsof 269 deaths	28	269 deaths	10.4%	4.0%
Motorcyclistsof 269 deaths	39	269 deaths	14.5%	10.9%
On a rural roadof 260 fatal crashes with the condition reported	31	260 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	11.9%	45.1%
In the darkof 258 fatal crashes with the condition reported	156	258 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	60.5%	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.Lafayette 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	15	1 or 2	8	18	43
Monday	7	7	11	18	43
Tuesday	10	4	8	16	38
Wednesday	9	6	7	11	33
Thursday	8	9	13	19	49
Friday	4	3	4	18	29
Saturday	9	4	4	6	23
All days	62	35	55	106	258

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.Lafayette Parish: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Louisiana
Interstate	39	15.0%	14.5%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.8%	1.4%
Other principal arterial	77	29.6%	23.6%
Minor arterial	53	20.4%	21.2%
Major collector	28	10.8%	16.6%
Minor collector	5	1.9%	5.6%
Local	56	21.5%	17.0%
Not reported	0	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.Lafayette Parish: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	96
Dark, not lighted	73
Dark, lighted	77
Dawn	4
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	6
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Lafayette Parish: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	210
Cloudy	32
Rain	13
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	3

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Lafayette Parish that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lafayette	In all of Louisiana
Interstate 10	Interstate	25	472
Interstate 49	Interstate	15	118
State Route 182	State highway	12	78
US Route 90	US highway	14	298
US Route 167	US highway	27	107

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.Lafayette 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
Lafayette Parish: 11.0

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 Lafayette Parish
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Acadia Parish	Louisiana	11	156	26.1
Iberia Parish	Louisiana	12	134	19.1
St. Landry Parish	Louisiana	16	197	23.9
St. Martin Parish	Louisiana	7	123	23.4
Vermilion Parish	Louisiana	4	86	14.7

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 Lafayette 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. Lafayette Parish, Louisiana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/la/lafayette/. 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.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/la/lafayette/" title="Fatal crashes in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/la/lafayette/">Fatal crashes in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

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 Lafayette in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 345 deaths in Lafayette Parish from 2005 to 2014. It records 269 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lafayette in 2024?

The rate of Lafayette Parish in 2024 was 12.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Louisiana was 16.3. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 75 of 260 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 Lafayette?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 93 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.