According to Allstate, drivers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, place 188th on its America’s Best Drivers report. The average Baton Rouge driver reports a car accident about once every six to seven years. Nationally, drivers only file car accident claims every 10 to 11 years.
Baton Rouge’s crashes, injuries, and deaths often lead the state. As Louisiana’s second most populous city, you would expect a lot of accidents. But in many categories, Baton Rouge car accident statistics are worse than those in New Orleans.
If you were injured in a collision, an attorney from Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers can review your case and outline your legal options. Contact our Baton Rouge law firm at (225) 263-4787 for a free consultation.
How Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You After a Collision in Baton Rouge, LA
Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers was founded in 2018 to represent injured clients against those responsible for harming them.
Our Baton Rouge car accident lawyers have five decades of combined experience standing up to auto insurers and negligent drivers.
If you suffer an injury in Baton Rouge, LA, our attorneys can provide the following:
- A free case consultation to explain your rights and legal options for compensation
- An investigation that gathers documents and other evidence for your insurance claim
- Negotiations with the auto insurer to fairly resolve your claim
- Litigation against parties that refuse to settle
Car accident injuries can leave you with long-term disabilities and chronic pain. Contact our Baton Rouge personal injury lawyers to discuss your crash and how we can help you recover compensation for your injuries.
Are Baton Rouge’s Roads Safe?
Louisiana State University gathers and releases car accident data by parish on its Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS) website. According to the Traffic Overview Information table for East Baton Rouge Parish in CARTS, the Baton Rouge metro area had 20,411 traffic accidents in 2023. East Baton Rouge Parish has 456,781 residents, meaning the area had one crash for every 22 residents.
More importantly, the same table indicated that the parish had 72 traffic fatalities that year. This translates to 15.8 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents. While national and state numbers are not yet available for 2023, this number is well above the national average of 12.8 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2022. However, it falls below the state’s average of 19.7 deaths per 100,000 residents for 2022.
From these statistics, you can reach a few conclusions. First, Baton Rouge has a lot of crashes. Second, the city is safer than many other areas in Louisiana for drivers. Third, the city is more dangerous than similarly sized cities in the rest of the U.S.
Car Accident Statistics For Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge had 20,411 traffic accidents in 2023. These crashes fell into the following categories:
- 84.5% were multi-vehicle collisions
- 2.6% were pedestrian accidents
- 1.2% were bicycle accidents
The remaining 11.7% were single-vehicle accidents where a vehicle hit a fixed object, parked car, or animal. This group also includes crashes in which the vehicle ran off the road or overturned.
Traffic Deaths and Injuries
Baton Rouge traffic accidents caused the following outcomes:
- 72 fatal injuries
- 4,937 serious injuries that required transportation to a hospital
- 3,122 minor visible injuries or complaints of pain with no visible injury
Traffic fatalities in Baton Rouge occurred during the following crash types:
- 44.12% in multi-vehicle collisions
- 33.82% in pedestrian accidents
- 19.12% in single-vehicle accidents
- 2.94% in bicycle accidents
Based on these numbers, pedestrians are severely overrepresented in Baton Rouge traffic deaths. Only vehicle occupants in multi-vehicle collisions are underrepresented. This happens primarily because they have the car’s passenger compartment to protect them.
Causes of Traffic Crashes
Most traffic accidents occur for a small set of reasons.
In Baton Rouge, the most common causes of crashes include:
- Failing to yield the right of way (11.7%)
- Tailgating (8.1%)
- Inattentive, distracted, or careless driving (8.8%)
- Disobeying a traffic sign or signal (2.5%)
The most common crash types included:
- Rear-end collisions (34.5%)
- Side-impact collisions (19.9%)
- Sideswipe collisions (8.8%)
These statistics match up. Failing to yield the right of way typically happens at intersections or driveways, and this violation often causes side-impact collisions.
Examples of actions that lead to these crashes include:
- Turning left across the path of another vehicle
- Turning right into the path of oncoming traffic
- Going through the intersection out of turn
Tailgating and inattentive driving tend to produce rear-end crashes. When drivers do anything that takes their eyes or attention off the road, they might fail to see the driver in front of them braking, causing them to slam into the vehicle from behind.
Schedule a Free Initial Consultation With Our Baton Rouge Car Accident Attorneys
While car crashes in Baton Rouge tend to happen in a certain way, they can cause a wide range of losses. Contact Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation to discuss your injuries and how we can help you pursue a claim for compensation.
