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 · NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA · 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/louisiana/fatal/new-orleans/2023-annual-report
Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis
59 CRASHES IN
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
2023
The jurisdiction experienced a decrease in fatal crashes and fatalities from 2022 to 2023. Fatal crashes decreased by 15.7%, from 70 fatal crashes in 2022 to 59 fatal crashes in 2023. Total fatalities also decreased by 17.8%, from 73 fatalities in 2022 to 60 fatalities in 2023. The most notable shift was a 55.6% decrease in pedestrians killed, from 36 in 2022 to 16 in 2023.
59
▼ -15.7%was 70
Total Crash Events
60
▼ -17.8%was 73
Persons Killed
43
Persons Injured
10
▼ -44.4%was 18
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (60) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (59) 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
Overall, fatal crashes in the jurisdiction decreased year-over-year, falling by 11 fatal crashes, representing a 15.7% reduction from 70 in 2022 to 59 in 2023. Similarly, total fatalities decreased by 13, marking a 17.8% decline from 73 in 2022 to 60 in 2023. This indicates a positive trend in traffic safety outcomes for the period.
10
Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023
▼ -44.4% vs prior (18)
Hit-and-run fatal crashes decreased significantly, from 18 in 2022 to 10 in 2023, representing a reduction of 8 fatal crashes. The hit-and-run rate among all fatal crashes also decreased from 25.7% in 2022 to 16.9% in 2023, a decline of 8.8 percentage points.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
16
Pedestrians Killed
7
Cyclists Killed
37
Motorists Killed
0
Pedestrians Injured
0
Cyclists Injured
43
Motorists 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 remained Sunday in both periods, with 13 fatal crashes in 2023 compared to 17 in 2022. The peak hour for fatal crashes shifted from 10 PM in 2022 (10 fatal crashes) to 11 PM in 2023 (6 fatal crashes). December saw a notable decrease in fatal crashes, falling from 10 in 2022 to 3 in 2023, while April fatal crashes increased from 3 in 2022 to 8 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 clear weather conditions decreased from 63 in 2022 to 54 in 2023, while fatal crashes in foggy conditions decreased from 3 to 1. Regarding lighting conditions, fatal crashes in 'Dark - Lighted' conditions decreased from 30 in 2022 to 21 in 2023. Conversely, fatal crashes in daylight conditions increased from 17 in 2022 to 21 in 2023, and fatal crashes in 'Dark - Not Lighted' conditions decreased from 18 to 9.
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 remained relatively stable, decreasing slightly from 99 in 2022 to 98 in 2023. 'UNKNOWN MAKE' vehicles involved in fatal crashes decreased from 13 to 10, while Chevrolet vehicles decreased from 11 to 9. Honda and Toyota vehicles involved in fatal crashes remained stable at 10 each in both periods, and Ford vehicles increased from 7 to 9.
Top Vehicle Makes (98 vehicles)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
14 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (138 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 saw a slight increase from 24 in 2022 to 25 in 2023. Fatal crashes in 60 mph speed zones increased from 7 in 2022 to 10 in 2023. Conversely, fatal crashes in 25 mph speed zones decreased from 5 in 2022 to 2 in 2023.
Fatal crashes by zone: 20 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 25 mph: 2 of 2 (100%) · 30 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 35 mph: 25 of 25 (100%) · 40 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 45 mph: 3 of 3 (100%) · 50 mph: 4 of 4 (100%) · 55 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 60 mph: 10 of 10 (100%) · 70 mph: 2 of 2 (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, 'The First Harmful Event was Not a Collision with a Motor Vehicle in Transport', decreased from 53 fatal crashes in 2022 to 39 fatal crashes in 2023. Angle collisions remained constant at 9 fatal crashes in both periods. Front-to-Rear collisions increased slightly from 5 fatal crashes in 2022 to 6 fatal crashes 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
The most common vehicle body type in fatal crashes, '4-door sedan, hardtop', remained stable at 30 in both 2022 and 2023. Light Pickups involved in fatal crashes increased from 13 in 2022 to 16 in 2023, while Compact Utility vehicles decreased from 13 to 9. Two Wheel Motorcycles involved in fatal crashes increased from 4 in 2022 to 6 in 2023.
Vehicle Type
Showing top 9 of 18 reported. 9 additional (10 total) not shown: 2-door sedan,hardtop,coupe, Utility station wagon (includes suburban limousines, Suburban, Travellall, Grand Wagoneer), 3-door/2-door hatchback, 5-door/4-door hatchback, Other motored cycle type (mini-bikes, pocket motorcycles "pocket bikes"), School Bus, Sedan/Hardtop, number of doors unknown, Single-unit straight truck or Cab-Chassis (GVWR range 10,001 to 19,500 lbs.), Transit Bus (City Bus).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records
Rural vs Urban
Fatal crashes in urban areas decreased from 67 in 2022 to 54 in 2023, while rural fatal crashes decreased from 3 to 2. The share of fatal crashes occurring on rural trafficways was 4.3% in 2022 (3 out of 70) and 3.6% in 2023 (2 out of 56). Rural roads, despite their lower volume, can have a disproportionate share of fatalities due to factors like higher speeds and longer EMS response times.
Rural vs Urban
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash-level records
Roadway Functional Class
Interstate roadways maintained 20 fatal crashes in both 2022 and 2023. Fatal crashes on Principal Arterial roads decreased from 21 in 2022 to 14 in 2023. Local roads saw a slight decrease in fatal crashes, from 13 in 2022 to 12 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
Fatal crashes on State Highway Agency-owned roadways decreased from 49 in 2022 to 36 in 2023. Fatal crashes on City or Municipal Highway Agency-owned roadways decreased slightly from 21 in 2022 to 20 in 2023. The State Highway Agency remains the jurisdiction with the most fatal crashes.
Roadway Ownership
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash-level records
Person Type
The number of drivers involved in fatal crashes increased from 93 in 2022 to 97 in 2023. Pedestrians involved in fatal crashes saw a significant decrease from 40 in 2022 to 16 in 2023. Passengers involved increased from 24 to 29, and bicyclists involved increased from 4 to 7.
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 fatal injuries (K) decreased from 73 in 2022 to 60 in 2023. Persons sustaining serious injuries (A) increased from 3 to 5, while those with possible injuries (C) increased from 15 to 23. Persons with no reported injury (O) decreased from 48 to 46.
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 vehicle occupants reported as using 'Shoulder and Lap Belt Used' increased from 53 in 2022 to 67 in 2023. The count of occupants reported with 'None Used/Not Applicable' safety equipment also saw a slight increase from 24 in 2022 to 25 in 2023.
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 dominant point of impact, '12 Clock Point', decreased from 49 instances in 2022 to 42 in 2023. '6 Clock Point' impacts increased from 8 to 11. Impacts at '1 Clock Point' increased from 4 to 7, while '11 Clock Point' impacts decreased from 9 to 7.
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 11 smaller categories (16 records): Undercarriage (2), 4 Clock Point (2), 8 Clock Point (2), 9 Clock Point (2), Left-Back Side (2), Left-Front Side (1), Non-Collision (1), 7 Clock Point (1), 3 Clock Point (1), 5 Clock Point (1), Top (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 decreased from 44 in 2022 to 34 in 2023. Two-vehicle fatal crashes also decreased from 20 to 16. Conversely, three-vehicle fatal crashes increased from 3 in 2022 to 5 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 4, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
- Geographic scope: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Total crash records analyzed: 59
- Total persons involved: 149
- Total vehicles involved: 98
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). "New Orleans, Louisiana Crash Intelligence Report: 2023." Published August 4, 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/louisiana/fatal/new-orleans/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 4, 2026 · All rights reserved