Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

1,336 CRASHES IN
BATON ROUGE, LA
OCTOBER 2023

All metrics benchmarked againstOctober 2022

In October 2023, Baton Rouge recorded 1,336 vehicle crashes, a 2.3% decrease from the 1,368 crashes reported in October 2022. While the total number of crashes saw a slight decline, the number of fatalities fell significantly, from 5 in the prior period to 2 in the current period. Conversely, the number of injuries reported increased by 7.0% year-over-year, from 996 to 1,066.

1,336

-2.3%was 1,368

Total Crash Events

2

-60.0%was 5

Fatal Crashes

1,066

7.0%was 996

Injury Crashes

308

3.7%was 297

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 · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall traffic collisions in Baton Rouge showed a slight downward trend, with 32 fewer crashes in October 2023 compared to the same month in 2022, representing a 2.3% decrease. Despite the reduction in total crashes, the number of people injured increased by 7.0%, rising from 996 to 1,066. However, fatalities saw a notable decrease from 5 to 2 year-over-year.

308

Hit-and-Run Crashes — October 2023

3.7% vs prior (297)

The number of hit-and-run incidents increased in October 2023 compared to the same month in the prior year. There were 308 hit-and-run crashes recorded, up from 297 in October 2022. This represents an increase in both the absolute count and the proportion of total crashes, with the hit-and-run rate rising from 21.7% to 23.1% year-over-year.

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes remained largely consistent year-over-year, with Wednesday being the peak day for crashes in both October 2023 (243 crashes) and October 2022 (213 crashes). In both periods, weekdays generally saw higher crash volumes than weekends. Sunday was the day with the fewest crashes in both October 2023 (124) and October 2022 (168).

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Crash Severity Breakdown

The severity of crashes shifted year-over-year, with a notable decrease in fatalities but an increase in injuries. The number of fatal crashes dropped from 5 in October 2022 to 2 in October 2023. Conversely, the proportion of crashes resulting in an injury increased from 72.8% to 79.8% of all incidents, corresponding to a rise in total injuries from 996 to 1,066.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal2fatal crashes0.1%
-60.0%prior 5
Injury1,066minor injury crashes79.8%
7.0%prior 996
No Injury268no injury crashes20.1%
-27.0%prior 367

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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 · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The primary contributing factors cited in crashes remained consistent, with 'Violations' being the most common factor in both October 2023 and October 2022. The count of crashes attributed to violations decreased by 5.4%, from 1,057 to 1,000 incidents. The second-ranked factor, 'Movement prior to crash,' saw its count increase by 10.9% from 258 to 286 incidents, while crashes linked to 'Driver condition' increased in count from 18 to 23.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

Violations1,000 (74.9%)-5.4%prior 1,057
Movement prior to crash286 (21.4%)10.9%prior 258
Driver condition23 (1.7%)27.8%prior 18
Vehicle condition10 (0.7%)-28.6%prior 14
Vision obstructions5 (0.4%)
Road surface4 (0.3%)
Roadway condition3 (0.2%)-40.0%prior 5
Non-motorist action3 (0.2%)-50.0%prior 6
Lighting condition1 (0.1%)
Weather condition1 (0.1%)

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

While most crashes in both periods occurred in clear weather on dry roads, there was a notable increase in incidents under adverse conditions in October 2023. Crashes reported during rain increased from 15 to 55, and incidents on wet road surfaces rose from 23 to 75 year-over-year. Crashes in daylight conditions remained the most frequent and were stable, with 967 incidents in October 2023 compared to 972 in the prior year.

Weather

Clear1,210 (92.1%)
-6.3%prior 1,291
Rain55 (4.2%)
266.7%prior 15
Cloudy43 (3.3%)
22.9%prior 35
Fog, smog, smoke5 (0.4%)
Other1 (0.1%)

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight967 (73.8%)
-0.5%prior 972
Dark - continuous street lights255 (19.5%)
-9.6%prior 282
Dark - street lights at intersection only27 (2.1%)
-27.0%prior 37
Dawn/dusk26 (2.0%)
-27.8%prior 36
Dark - not lighted20 (1.5%)
33.3%prior 15
Dark - unknown lighting9 (0.7%)
28.6%prior 7
Other6 (0.5%)

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry1,237 (94.1%)
-5.4%prior 1,308
Wet75 (5.7%)
226.1%prior 23
Ice/frost1 (0.1%)
Mud, dirt, gravel1 (0.1%)
Other1 (0.1%)

Source: Baton Rouge Crash Data · Socrata Open Data · 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31 · 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: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31
  • Report generated: June 19, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-10-01 through 2023-10-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: Baton Rouge, LA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 1,336

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: October 2023." Published June 19, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2023-10-31. Data source: Baton Rouge Crash Data, Socrata Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/louisiana/baton-rouge/october-2023-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 — October 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com