Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

15,306 CRASHES IN
BATON ROUGE, LA
2024

All metrics benchmarked against2023

In 2024, Baton Rouge recorded 15,306 total crashes, an increase from 14,708 in 2023, representing a 4.1% year-over-year rise in crash volume. While total crashes and injuries increased, the most notable shift was a 13.3% decrease in traffic fatalities, which fell from 45 in 2023 to 39 in 2024.

15,306

▲ 4.1%was 14,708

Total Crash Events

39

▼ -13.3%was 45

Fatal Crashes

11,965

▲ 5.1%was 11,379

Injury Crashes

3,390

▼ -2.2%was 3,466

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Fatal Crashes" and "Injury Crashes" count crash events — this source publishes crash-level counts only, not individual persons.

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall traffic safety trends in Baton Rouge show an increase in crash frequency from 2023 to 2024. The total number of crashes rose by 598 incidents, a 4.1% increase. This was accompanied by a 5.1% increase in total injuries to 11,965, though total fatalities declined from 45 to 39.

3,390

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2024

▼ -2.2% vs prior (3,466)

The number of hit-and-run crashes decreased from 3,466 in 2023 to 3,390 in 2024. The hit-and-run rate, measured as a percentage of total crashes, also declined from 23.6% in the prior year to 22.1% in the current year. This reflects a slight downward trend in both the volume and proportion of hit-and-run incidents.

When Crashes Happen

The weekly timing of crashes remained consistent between the two periods. Friday was the peak day for crashes in both 2024, with 2,633 incidents, and 2023, with 2,504 incidents. The overall distribution of crashes by day of the week did not show a significant shift year-over-year.

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Crash Severity Breakdown

While the total number of crashes increased, the number of fatalities decreased from 45 in 2023 to 39 in 2024. The share of crashes resulting in an injury increased slightly, from 77.4% in 2023 (11,379 incidents) to 78.2% in 2024 (11,965 incidents). The proportion of fatal crashes relative to all crashes remained stable at 0.3% for both years.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal39fatal crashes0.3%
↓-13.3%prior 45
Injury11,965minor injury crashes78.2%
↑5.1%prior 11,379
No Injury3,302no injury crashes21.6%
↑0.5%prior 3,284

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Severity derived from reported fatal/injury indicators (no KABCO A/B/C codes)

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The ranking of top contributing factors remained unchanged year-over-year. 'Violations' was the leading factor in both periods, with the count of crashes attributed to it increasing by 4.4% from 10,944 in 2023 to 11,430 in 2024. The second-ranked factor, 'Movement prior to crash', also saw its count increase from 3,168 to 3,276, while crashes related to 'Driver condition' rose from 285 to 294.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Violations11,430 (74.7%)↑4.4%prior 10,944
Movement prior to crash3,276 (21.4%)↑3.4%prior 3,168
Driver condition294 (1.9%)↑3.2%prior 285
Vehicle condition67 (0.4%)↓-33.0%prior 100
Vision obstructions49 (0.3%)↓-5.8%prior 52
Road surface49 (0.3%)↑40.0%prior 35
Roadway condition48 (0.3%)↑2.1%prior 47
Non-motorist action37 (0.2%)→0.0%prior 37
Weather condition31 (0.2%)↑19.2%prior 26
Traffic control14 (0.1%)↑133.3%prior 6

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes in both years predominantly occurred during daylight (11,097 in 2024 vs. 10,814 in 2023) and on dry roads (13,319 in 2024 vs. 13,222 in 2023). However, there was a notable increase in crashes occurring on wet road surfaces, which rose from 1,158 incidents in 2023 to 1,700 in 2024. Similarly, crashes during rain increased from 772 to 1,140 year-over-year.

Weather

Clear12,783 (84.6%)
↑0.1%prior 12,774
Rain1,140 (7.5%)
↑47.7%prior 772
Cloudy1,140 (7.5%)
↑33.8%prior 852
Fog, smog, smoke22 (0.1%)
↓-33.3%prior 33
Freezing rain or freezing drizzle16 (0.1%)
Other10 (0.1%)
Severe crosswinds3 (0.0%)

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight11,097 (73.5%)
↑2.6%prior 10,814
Dark - continuous street lights2,854 (18.9%)
↑6.8%prior 2,673
Dark - street lights at intersection only396 (2.6%)
↑11.2%prior 356
Dawn/dusk384 (2.5%)
↑25.9%prior 305
Dark - not lighted171 (1.1%)
↑6.2%prior 161
Dark - unknown lighting167 (1.1%)
↑83.5%prior 91
Other26 (0.2%)
↓-29.7%prior 37

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry13,319 (88.2%)
↑0.7%prior 13,222
Wet1,700 (11.3%)
↑46.8%prior 1,158
Water (standing, moving)39 (0.3%)
↑56.0%prior 25
Ice/frost32 (0.2%)
↑300.0%prior 8
Mud, dirt, gravel9 (0.1%)
↓-18.2%prior 11
Other9 (0.1%)
↓-10.0%prior 10
Sand1 (0.0%)

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Baton Rouge Crash Data, accessed programmatically via the Socrata 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: Socrata 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: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31
  • Report generated: June 19, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-01-01 through 2024-12-31 (366 days)
  • Geographic scope: Baton Rouge, LA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 15,306

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). "Baton Rouge, LA Crash Intelligence Report: 2024." Published June 19, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31. Data source: Baton Rouge Crash Data, Socrata Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/louisiana/baton-rouge/2024-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

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Baton Rouge, LA Crash Report — 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com