Orleans Parish, Louisiana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Louisiana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 60 deaths in 58 fatal crashes in Orleans Parish in 2024.

FARS records 549 deaths in 520 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 14.4 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, Orleans Parish was number 2 of 64 counties of Louisiana.

Deaths in Orleans Parish rose by 48.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (371) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (549).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 5.2% of the fatal crashes in Orleans 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 Orleans 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.Orleans Parish: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	60	58	14
2023	60	59	8
2022	74	71	11
2021	69	62	12
2020	51	49	11
2019	44	41	10
2018	41	40	12
2017	45	40	11
2016	55	51	16
2015	50	49	20
2015 to 2024	549	520	125

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 96 (1981)2024: 60

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

Table 2.Orleans Parish: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	60	58
2023	60	59
2022	74	71
2021	69	62
2020	51	49
2019	44	41
2018	41	40
2017	45	40
2016	55	51
2015	50	49
2014	50	48
2013	53	51
2012	29	29
2011	37	36
2010	27	25
2009	44	42
2008	37	35
2007	41	39
2006	22	20
2005	31	31
2004	77	72
2003	39	39
2002	46	43
2001	56	50
2000	50	46
1999	83	52
1998	52	45
1997	63	59
1996	69	66
1995	54	52
1994	52	50
1993	58	51
1992	63	61
1991	75	72
1990	70	65
1989	46	40
1988	68	60
1987	76	66
1986	77	70
1985	70	63
1984	74	70
1983	87	79
1982	78	75
1981	96	92
1980	71	62
1979	89	88
1978	70	66
1977	83	78
1976	49	48
1975	74	68

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.Orleans Parish beside Louisiana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Orleans Parish	Louisiana	United States
2024	16.5	16.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	14.4	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. Orleans Parish had 363,477 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Orleans Parish: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Louisiana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 520 fatal crashes	125	520 fatal crashes	24.0%	30.9%
A speeding-related driverof 520 fatal crashes	85	520 fatal crashes	16.3%	22.4%
No restraint usedof 177 occupant deaths with restraint use known	108	177 occupant deathswith restraint use known	61.0%	57.5%
Pedestriansof 549 deaths	179	549 deaths	32.6%	17.9%
Bicyclistsof 549 deaths	42	549 deaths	7.7%	4.0%
Motorcyclistsof 549 deaths	91	549 deaths	16.6%	10.9%
On a rural roadof 515 fatal crashes with the condition reported	27	515 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	5.2%	45.1%
In the darkof 508 fatal crashes with the condition reported	336	508 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	66.1%	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.Orleans 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	42	12	15	42	111
Monday	25	11	13	19	68
Tuesday	15	5	11	22	53
Wednesday	12	13	11	20	56
Thursday	11	9	16	28	64
Friday	15	8	11	32	66
Saturday	32	11	19	34	96
All days	152	69	96	197	514

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.Orleans Parish: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Louisiana
Interstate	150	29.1%	14.5%
Other freeways and expressways	5	1.0%	1.4%
Other principal arterial	134	26.0%	23.6%
Minor arterial	84	16.3%	21.2%
Major collector	17	3.3%	16.6%
Minor collector	11	2.1%	5.6%
Local	114	22.1%	17.0%
Not reported	5	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.Orleans Parish: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	159
Dark, not lighted	99
Dark, lighted	228
Dawn	7
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	9
Other or unknown	12

Table 8.Orleans Parish: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	450
Cloudy	26
Rain	28
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	7
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	8

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Orleans Parish that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Orleans	In all of Louisiana
Interstate 10	Interstate	112	472
Interstate 12	Interstate	1 or 2	147
State Route 39	State highway	15	32
State Route 46	State highway	7	30
State Route 139	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 511	State highway	1 or 2	27
US Route 61	US highway	7	241
US Route 90	US highway	103	298

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.Orleans 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
Orleans Parish: 14.4

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 Orleans Parish
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Jefferson Parish	Louisiana	24	322	7.4
Plaquemines Parish	Louisiana	5	33	14.3
St. Bernard Parish	Louisiana	7	50	11.0
St. Tammany Parish	Louisiana	31	317	12.0

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 Orleans 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. Orleans Parish, Louisiana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/la/orleans/. 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.

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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 Orleans in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 371 deaths in Orleans Parish from 2005 to 2014. It records 549 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Orleans in 2024?

The rate of Orleans Parish in 2024 was 16.5 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 Orleans had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 125 of 520 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 Orleans?

8 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 247 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.