Louisiana's highway fatality rate in 2019 dropped to its lowest rate since 2013, reversing a five-year trend.
Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Executive Director Lisa Freeman says the number of vehicle crashes remains virtually the same, but the number of fatalities decreased by 16-percent in 2019 from the previous year.
“The data is showing that we are getting out of a trend, five years where we were headed in the wrong direction, so this is really incredible news,” says Freeman.
Data show that 727 people died on Louisiana Highways in 2019, a decrease of 46 from 2018.
Freeman credits safer cars being on the road and an increase in car restraint usage.
“I think what plays a significant role is a ten percent statewide increase in seatbelt usage, and that’s huge,” says Freeman.
In 2019 Eighty-eight percent of Louisianans used their seatbelts.
Another factor Freeman points out is that Louisianans are getting the message not to drink and drive.
“Thirty-nine-point six percent of all fatal crashes in Louisiana was estimated to be alcohol-related, that happens to be a decrease of almost 7.5% of the previous years,” says Freeman.
However, Freeman does point out that the number of distracted driving fatalities increased in 2019 by 158.
