Here is the short answer. Louisiana roads got safer in one important way last year, and more dangerous in another. In 2025, crash injuries across our state dropped to the lowest number ever recorded, and seat belt use climbed to a record high right along with it. At the same time, deaths tied to drunk driving went up. Both things are true, and both matter if a crash ever lands you or someone you love in the hospital.
The Good News: Fewer Louisianans Were Hurt in Car Crashes Last Year
The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission’s 2025 traffic safety data shows 54,684 total crash injuries statewide, the lowest number on record. Only 25 percent of all crashes in 2025 caused an injury. The other 75 percent were property damage only. Seat belt use has stayed above 88 percent for two years running, a record high for our state.
There is a simple reason seat belts matter this much. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a seat belt cuts the risk of dying in a crash by 45 percent for a front seat passenger car occupant, and cuts the risk of a moderate to severe injury by half. LHSC Executive Director Lisa Freeman put it plainly: wearing a seat belt is the difference maker that lets someone walk away unhurt, and the statistics back her up. If a question comes up while you are reading this, you do not have to look far. Open Chat Corzo, the chat bubble on this page, and someone from our team will answer, day or night.
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The Hard Truth: DWI Deaths in Louisiana Are Still Climbing
The same 2025 report carries harder news. Total traffic deaths rose from 753 in 2024 to 766 in 2025, and deaths tied to drunk driving rose 11.8 percent year over year. Impaired driving is not a small slice of the problem, either. Nearly half of Louisiana’s traffic deaths during Labor Day periods from 2020 to 2024 involved an impaired driver, accounting for 18 deaths and 271 injuries in those windows alone. Impairment is not only about alcohol. Certain prescribed medications that affect coordination, vision, reaction time, or judgment can also count as impaired driving, and Louisiana’s legal alcohol limit remains .08 BAC.
There is a more hopeful note buried in this same data. State officials now report Louisiana is below the national average for the share of fatal crashes involving an impaired driver. “Louisiana is winning the battle against impaired driving,” Freeman said, and Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas Morse added that impaired driving “isn’t an accident waiting to happen. It is a choice.” Progress and a rising death count can both be real at once, and that is exactly what this year’s numbers show. If a story like this ever hits closer to home than you would like, Call Corzo, (225) 535-4831, reaches a real person at our office any time you need to talk it through.
What the Numbers Mean If You Are Hurt in a Crash
Louisiana now follows a 51 percent fault rule, effective since January 1, 2026. If you are found 51 percent or more at fault for a crash, you cannot recover money. If you are 50 percent or less at fault, you can still recover, just reduced by your share of the blame. That is a real shift from the old rule, and it changes how insurance companies argue about fault, including whether a victim was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. You can read more about how this rule works on our page about Louisiana’s 51 percent fault rule.
A drunk driver’s own conduct usually works the other way, in the victim’s favor. A driver who was impaired behind the wheel carries a heavy share of fault almost by definition, and that evidence, the police report, field sobriety results, a BAC reading, can be some of the strongest proof in a case. We handle these cases often on our drunk driving accident page, and the fault picture is rarely as simple as either side wants you to believe on day one.
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If a Drunk Driver Hurt You or Someone You Love
I have sat with plenty of families in my Baton Rouge office who never expected a night out, a drive home from work, or a trip to church to end with someone else’s choice to drive drunk. It is disorienting. You are hurting, you have questions, and an insurance adjuster is often calling before you have even seen a doctor twice.
Here is what I tell people. Get medical care first, even if you feel fine at the scene. Get a copy of the police report as soon as it is available. And be careful about giving a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company before you have talked to someone who can tell you what that statement might be used for later. Before you say much of anything to an insurance company, plenty of people find it helpful to run through our free Case Evaluation Tool first, just to get a clearer sense of where things stand.
If you want to go deeper on the numbers behind Louisiana seat belt safety, we wrote about that in Buckle Up, Louisiana. And if you want the fuller five year picture on drunk driving crashes across the state, our Louisiana Drunk Driving Accident Statistics piece covers 2020 through 2024 in detail.
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Common Questions About Louisiana’s 2025 Crash and DWI Data
Are Louisiana roads getting safer?
- In some real ways, yes. Crash injuries fell to a record low in 2025 and seat belt use reached a record high. But total traffic deaths still rose, driven mostly by a rise in drunk driving deaths.
Does not wearing a seat belt affect a car accident claim in Louisiana?
- It can. Under Louisiana’s 51 percent fault rule, anything that added to your own injuries, including not wearing a seat belt, can become part of how fault and recovery are calculated.
What should I do if a drunk driver hit me in Louisiana?
- Get medical care first. Get a copy of the police report. Then talk with a lawyer before you give a recorded statement or sign anything from an insurance company.
I am a National Top 100 Trial Lawyer and an LSU Law graduate, and I spent thirteen years at GMIA before opening Chris Corzo Injury Attorneys. Every family who walks through our doors in Baton Rouge or Gonzales, whether you are from East Baton Rouge Parish, St. George, or Ascension Parish, deserves to be treated with dignity. That is our battlecry here. Numbers like these matter to us because a statistic is really just a lot of families, and we want fewer of them ever needing to call a lawyer at all.
Want to Share What Happened? If you would like to tell us more about your situation, our team is ready to listen. Contact Chris and someone will follow up with you.