Fatal Crashes Only
This report covers fatal crashes only, from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System — the federal census of every crash on a US public road that killed someone within 30 days. It does not include injury or property-damage-only crashes, and its totals are not comparable with the all-severity crash reports published elsewhere on this site.
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YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS · 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/arkansas/fatal/little-rock/2023-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
51 CRASHES IN
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
2023
In 2023, there were 51 fatal crashes resulting in 53 fatalities, an increase from 46 fatal crashes and 49 fatalities in 2022. This represents a 10.87% rise in fatal crashes and an 8.16% rise in fatalities year-over-year. The most notable year-over-year shift was a 233.33% increase in fatal crashes involving DUI, rising from 3 in 2022 to 10 in 2023.
51
▲ 10.9%was 46
Total Crash Events
53
▲ 8.2%was 49
Persons Killed
34
▲ 41.7%was 24
Persons Injured
7
▼ -12.5%was 8
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (53) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (51) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Fatal crashes increased by 10.87%, from 46 in 2022 to 51 in 2023. Concurrently, total fatalities rose by 8.16%, from 49 in 2022 to 53 in 2023. This indicates an upward trend in fatal crash incidents and associated fatalities.
7
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023
▼ -12.5% vs prior (8)
The number of fatal crashes involving hit-and-run incidents decreased from 8 in 2022 to 7 in 2023. Consequently, the hit-and-run rate for fatal crashes decreased from 17.4% in 2022 to 13.7% in 2023.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
21
Pedestrians Killed
1
Cyclists Killed
29
Motorists Killed
2
Other Killed
1
Pedestrians Injured
0
Cyclists Injured
33
Motorists Injured
0
Other Injured
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for fatal crashes shifted from Saturday (11 fatal crashes) in 2022 to Monday (10 fatal crashes) in 2023. The peak hour for fatal crashes also shifted, from 1 AM (6 fatal crashes) in 2022 to 11 PM (5 fatal crashes) in 2023. Fatal crashes on Mondays increased by 233.33%, from 3 in 2022 to 10 in 2023.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Road & Environmental Conditions
Fatal crashes occurring in rainy conditions increased from 4 in 2022 to 9 in 2023, while those in cloudy conditions doubled from 2 to 4. Fatal crashes in daylight remained constant at 16 in both years, but those in 'Dark - Lighted' conditions increased from 11 in 2022 to 16 in 2023.
Weather
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in fatal crashes increased from 66 in 2022 to 81 in 2023. Chevrolet vehicles involved in fatal crashes more than doubled, increasing from 7 in 2022 to 16 in 2023, becoming the most frequently involved make. Dodge vehicles also saw a significant rise in involvement, from 4 in 2022 to 12 in 2023.
Top Vehicle Makes (81 vehicles)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
9 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (127 persons with recorded sex)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Fatal crashes occurring in 35 mph speed zones remained constant at 23 in both 2022 and 2023. Fatal crashes in 65 mph speed zones increased from 9 in 2022 to 12 in 2023. The data indicates a consistent distribution of fatal crashes across various speed limits, including both lower urban and higher highway zones.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 30 mph: 2 of 2 (100%) · 35 mph: 23 of 23 (100%) · 40 mph: 5 of 5 (100%) · 45 mph: 3 of 3 (100%) · 60 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 65 mph: 12 of 12 (100%) · 70 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 75 mph: 1 of 1 (100%)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Posted speed limit at crash location
Manner of Collision
The dominant manner of collision in both periods was 'The First Harmful Event was Not a Collision with a Motor Vehicle in Transport,' increasing slightly from 29 fatal crashes in 2022 to 30 in 2023. Angle collisions increased from 8 fatal crashes in 2022 to 10 in 2023. Front-to-Front collisions saw a notable increase, rising from 2 fatal crashes in 2022 to 6 in 2023.
Manner of Collision
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash-level records
Vehicle Type
Four-door sedans remained the most common vehicle body type in fatal crashes, increasing from 20 in 2022 to 26 in 2023. Compact Utility vehicles involved in fatal crashes increased from 10 to 16 year-over-year. Motorcycle involvement in fatal crashes also saw an increase, rising from 5 in 2022 to 6 in 2023.
Vehicle Type
Showing top 9 of 16 reported. 7 additional (7 total) not shown: School Bus, Utility station wagon (includes suburban limousines, Suburban, Travellall, Grand Wagoneer), Truck-tractor (Cab only, or with any number of trailing unit; any weight), 5-door/4-door hatchback, Large Van-Includes van-based buses (B150-B350, Sportsman, Royal Maxiwagon, Ram, Tradesman,...), Unknown light vehicle type (automobile,utility vehicle, van, or light truck), ATV/ATC [All-Terrain Cycle].
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
Roadway Functional Class
Minor Arterial roads continued to have the highest number of fatal crashes, increasing from 17 in 2022 to 20 in 2023. Fatal crashes on Interstates also saw a slight increase, from 14 in 2022 to 15 in 2023. Fatal crashes on Local roads increased from 3 in 2022 to 5 in 2023.
Roadway Functional Class
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash-level records
Roadway Ownership
State Highway Agencies continued to oversee the most fatal crashes, increasing from 27 in 2022 to 31 in 2023. Fatal crashes on City or Municipal Highway Agency roads increased from 8 in 2022 to 12 in 2023. Conversely, fatal crashes on roads owned by Town or Township Highway Agencies decreased from 11 in 2022 to 8 in 2023.
Roadway Ownership
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash-level records
Person Type
Drivers remained the most frequently involved person type in fatal crashes, increasing from 66 in 2022 to 80 in 2023. Pedestrian involvement in fatal crashes increased from 19 in 2022 to 22 in 2023. Passenger involvement also rose from 23 in 2022 to 30 in 2023.
Person Type
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash-level records
Person Injury Severity
The number of persons sustaining fatal injuries (K) increased from 49 in 2022 to 53 in 2023. Persons with no reported injury (O) in fatal crashes significantly increased from 35 to 48. Minor injuries (B) more than doubled, rising from 11 in 2022 to 21 in 2023.
Person Injury Severity
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash-level records
Occupant Safety Equipment
The number of persons reported using shoulder and lap belts in fatal crashes increased from 39 in 2022 to 54 in 2023. Conversely, persons reported with no safety equipment used decreased from 28 in 2022 to 23 in 2023. The count of 'Reported as Unknown' increased from 18 to 31.
Occupant Safety Equipment
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Point of Impact
The '12 Clock Point' (front impact) remained the most frequent point of impact in fatal crashes, increasing from 41 in 2022 to 50 in 2023. The '6 Clock Point' (rear impact) increased slightly from 5 in 2022 to 6 in 2023. The '11 Clock Point' also increased from 3 in 2022 to 6 in 2023.
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 5 smaller categories (7 records): 10 Clock Point (2), 9 Clock Point (2), 8 Clock Point (1), 2 Clock Point (1), 7 Clock Point (1).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
Vehicles Per Crash
Single-vehicle fatal crashes increased from 25 in 2022 to 28 in 2023. Two-vehicle fatal crashes decreased from 20 in 2022 to 16 in 2023. Fatal crashes involving three vehicles saw a significant increase, rising from 1 in 2022 to 7 in 2023.
Vehicles Per Crash
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash-level records
Data Sources & Methodology
Primary Data Source
All crash data in this report is sourced from NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), accessed programmatically via the NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.
Data Retrieval
- Access method: NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SoQL queries)
- Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
- Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
- Date filter applied: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31
- Report generated: August 5, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
- Geographic scope: Little Rock, Arkansas
- Total crash records analyzed: 51
- Total persons involved: 135
- Total vehicles involved: 81
Analytical Methodology
- Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
- Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
- Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
- Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
- Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
- Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
- AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.
Limitations & Disclaimers
- Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
- Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
- Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
- AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
- Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.
Non-Affiliation Disclosure
This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.
Data License
The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.
Corrections & Feedback
If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.
Suggested Citation
ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "Little Rock, Arkansas Crash Intelligence Report: 2023." Published August 5, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), NHTSA FARS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/arkansas/fatal/little-rock/2023-annual-report
About the Publisher
ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.
Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · NHTSA FARS
Period: 2023-01-01 – 2023-12-31
Generated: August 5, 2026 · All rights reserved
Someone you love in this data? We’ll help you find out if you have a case.
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