Rapides Parish, Louisiana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Louisiana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 25 deaths in 25 fatal crashes in Rapides Parish in 2024.

FARS records 242 deaths in 228 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 18.7 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, Rapides Parish was number 11 of 64 counties of Louisiana.

Deaths in Rapides Parish rose by 9.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (222) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (242).

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

From 2015 to 2024, pedestrians were 28.5% of the deaths in Rapides Parish and 17.9% 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 Rapides 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.Rapides Parish: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	25	25	3
2023	29	29	9
2022	21	20	0
2021	40	38	10
2020	25	23	5
2019	21	21	3
2018	26	23	7
2017	13	9	4
2016	20	20	4
2015	22	20	4
2015 to 2024	242	228	49

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 47 (1980)2024: 25

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

Table 2.Rapides Parish: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	25	25
2023	29	29
2022	21	20
2021	40	38
2020	25	23
2019	21	21
2018	26	23
2017	13	9
2016	20	20
2015	22	20
2014	22	18
2013	16	16
2012	22	20
2011	25	24
2010	21	18
2009	32	29
2008	20	16
2007	23	22
2006	19	17
2005	22	21
2004	21	20
2003	26	24
2002	24	23
2001	26	24
2000	26	23
1999	25	22
1998	33	25
1997	28	25
1996	21	17
1995	23	14
1994	37	27
1993	17	16
1992	24	23
1991	25	22
1990	26	21
1989	25	24
1988	21	19
1987	22	19
1986	38	35
1985	32	25
1984	28	24
1983	25	24
1982	31	24
1981	35	33
1980	47	34
1979	39	36
1978	27	23
1977	24	22
1976	33	28
1975	36	34

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.Rapides Parish beside Louisiana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Rapides Parish	Louisiana	United States
2024	19.9	16.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	18.7	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. Rapides Parish had 125,924 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Rapides Parish: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Louisiana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 228 fatal crashes	49	228 fatal crashes	21.5%	30.9%
A speeding-related driverof 228 fatal crashes	54	228 fatal crashes	23.7%	22.4%
No restraint usedof 129 occupant deaths with restraint use known	79	129 occupant deathswith restraint use known	61.2%	57.5%
Pedestriansof 242 deaths	69	242 deaths	28.5%	17.9%
Bicyclistsof 242 deaths	8	242 deaths	3.3%	4.0%
Motorcyclistsof 242 deaths	28	242 deaths	11.6%	10.9%
On a rural roadof 226 fatal crashes with the condition reported	119	226 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	52.7%	45.1%
In the darkof 222 fatal crashes with the condition reported	116	222 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	52.3%	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.Rapides 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	4	4	13	11	32
Monday	5	6	6	11	28
Tuesday	7	6	13	9	35
Wednesday	4	8	7	11	30
Thursday	7	7	6	10	30
Friday	3	7	6	17	33
Saturday	11	8	10	8	37
All days	41	46	61	77	225

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.Rapides Parish: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Louisiana
Interstate	24	10.6%	14.5%
Other freeways and expressways	7	3.1%	1.4%
Other principal arterial	67	29.6%	23.6%
Minor arterial	31	13.7%	21.2%
Major collector	49	21.7%	16.6%
Minor collector	16	7.1%	5.6%
Local	32	14.2%	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.Rapides Parish: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	99
Dark, not lighted	82
Dark, lighted	31
Dawn	5
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	6

Table 8.Rapides Parish: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	183
Cloudy	29
Rain	8
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	4

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Rapides Parish that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Rapides	In all of Louisiana
Interstate 49	Interstate	25	118
State Route 1	State highway	11	174
State Route 28	State highway	32	37
State Route 107	State highway	5	20
US Route 71	US highway	21	98
US Route 165	US highway	13	115
US Route 167	US highway	13	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.Rapides 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
Rapides Parish: 18.7

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 Rapides Parish
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Allen Parish	Louisiana	5	57	23.7
Avoyelles Parish	Louisiana	14	87	21.9
Evangeline Parish	Louisiana	6	73	22.2
Grant Parish	Louisiana	6	66	29.7
LaSalle Parish	Louisiana	3	31	20.7
Natchitoches Parish	Louisiana	7	95	25.2
Vernon Parish	Louisiana	5	77	15.8

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 Rapides 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. Rapides Parish, Louisiana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/la/rapides/. 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 Rapides in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 222 deaths in Rapides Parish from 2005 to 2014. It records 242 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Rapides in 2024?

The rate of Rapides Parish in 2024 was 19.9 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 Rapides had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 49 of 228 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 Rapides?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 120 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.