Louisiana among deadliest states for highway fatalities, data shows
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Louisiana has one of the country's highest annual rates of highway fatalities, according to federal data.
Why it matters: April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, where advocacy groups hope to bring attention to a leading cause of crashes — cellphone use.
The big picture: Louisiana averaged about 20 highway fatalities per 100,000 residents in 2022, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
- That's much higher than the national average of 13.
- Other Southern states — Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee — also ranked among the deadliest.
By the numbers: In 2023, 811 people were killed in crashes, and 22% of those crashes involved inattention or a distraction, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission says.
- New Orleans keeps a dashboard of local crash data.
Zoom in: Louisiana has laws banning texting for all drivers and requiring hands-free cellphone usage in school zones, the commission says.
- Another law bans cellphone usage (unless hands-free) for drivers holding a learner's or intermediate license.
- Gov. Jeff Landry and insurance commissioner Tim Temple are backing another bill this legislative session that would increase cellphone restrictions while driving, WRKF reports.
Zoom out: Around 3,300 people died nationwide in crashes attributed to distracted driving in 2022, while another 289,000 were injured, according to the latest available National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
- More than 62,000 crashes involved distracted cellphone usage in 2022 alone, the NHTSA says.
- These stats likely underestimate the problem because crash data often relies on drivers self-reporting their distractions to law enforcement, National Safety Council executive VP of safety leadership and advocacy Mark Chung tells Axios.
The big picture: U.S. traffic deaths per 100,000 people peaked in the 1930s and total deaths peaked in 1972, then gradually declined thanks to vehicle improvements, better infrastructure and public safety campaigns.
- But the rate of crash deaths started rising again about a decade ago, spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2022 was still in the late pandemic era, and it's unclear whether things have changed since then.
Flashback: "How much longer will a civilized nation endure such mass mayhem?" the NSC asked in 1955 after 602 Americans died on roadways over a single Christmas weekend.
- It took 13 more years for seatbelts to be required in all new vehicles — and the NSC now wants similar action to curb distracted driving.
- Nearly all U.S. states ban texting while driving, per the Governors Highway Safety Association, though their enforcement rules differ.
The last word: "A lot of us feel like we can multitask, but we know from studies that there's no such thing as multitasking," Chung says. "The human brain does not allow for it."
- "The cognitive challenges that one faces while distracted when driving, it's almost like being drunk."