Louisiana’s official holiday traffic reports record 692 fatalities and 45,961 suspected injuries across eight holiday periods in report years 2016 through 2025. Together, those are 46,653 reported person outcomes. A single crash can injure several people, so these figures must not be described as 46,653 crashes.
This analysis uses a fresh download from the LSU Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS), checked October 4, 2026. It describes the counts in the selected holiday periods; it does not measure every Louisiana collision or prove that a holiday caused an injury.
If you were hurt in a holiday collision, the statistics are background, not a substitute for investigating your crash. Our Baton Rouge car accident lawyers explain how fault, insurance coverage, medical proof, and evidence preservation fit together.
What the Louisiana Holiday Data Shows
- The ten report years contain 692 fatalities and 45,961 suspected injuries across the eight selected holiday periods.
- 2017 had the highest combined count, 5,842. 2021 had the lowest combined count, 4,049, but the highest fatality count, 82. A lower combined count does not necessarily mean fewer deaths.
- The combined count fell from 4,819 in 2024 to 4,121 in 2025, a decline of 698, or 14.5%.
- Mardi Gras had the largest combined ten-year count, 8,200. Holiday periods differ in length and travel volume, so this is not a ranking of the danger of taking a trip.
Source, Dates and Method
We downloaded CARTS report E4B, Injuries During Holiday Periods, for the State of Louisiana, separately selecting each report year from 2016 through 2025. Each selection displayed a data update of September 28, 2026, at 6:27:48 AM. The report did not specify that timestamp’s time zone or whether these counts are final. This is a dated snapshot that may later change.
The eight source categories are Mardi Gras, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. For each holiday and year, we used the report’s total row and retained its displayed month/day rows in the saved research files. Annual totals add the eight holiday totals. Ten-year totals add all ten annual totals. Percentage changes compare a year’s combined count with the preceding year’s combined count; no change is shown for 2016 because 2015 is outside this extract.
The source separates fatalities from suspected injuries. Combined totals add these two categories. They count reported person outcomes, not crash events, distinct people over the decade, or serious injuries only. Source blank category cells contribute zero in our sums only where the reported subtotals and totals reconcile; raw blanks are retained in the source files.
Holiday observation periods vary. The New Year’s Eve category includes January and December dates within a selected report year, so it should not be assumed to describe one continuous New Year’s weekend. The saved research files preserve the exact displayed date rows. We do not publish per-day or per-hour comparisons because the inspected reports did not establish a consistent, reproducible rate denominator. We also do not adjust for trips, mileage or traffic volume.
Evidence and reconciliation: The saved research files contain the 80 holiday-by-year totals, source exports, definitions and reproduction script, including the fatality, suspected-injury and alcohol-category splits. All 80 totals reconcile with their component counts and 328 displayed daily rows.
Correction and version note: This dated reconstruction replaces the earlier table’s 46,743 combined total and its description of the figures as crashes. The current source totals 46,653 person outcomes, and 21 of the 80 holiday-by-year values differ from the previous chart. The original saved extraction and rate calculations were not available, so this is a new source snapshot, not a reproduction of the original study or an official CARTS publication. The earlier daily-rate ranking is not carried forward.
Holiday Traffic Deaths and Suspected Injuries by Year
The tables below use the same 2016–2025 source snapshot throughout. Counts represent fatalities and suspected injuries, not numbers of crashes.
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Use the arrow keys when the table is focused.
| Report year | Fatalities | Suspected injuries | Combined count | Combined change from prior year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 72 | 5,332 | 5,404 | — (first year shown) |
| 2017 | 74 | 5,768 | 5,842 | +438 (+8.1%) |
| 2018 | 63 | 4,583 | 4,646 | -1,196 (-20.5%) |
| 2019 | 43 | 4,193 | 4,236 | -410 (-8.8%) |
| 2020 | 58 | 4,399 | 4,457 | +221 (+5.2%) |
| 2021 | 82 | 3,967 | 4,049 | -408 (-9.2%) |
| 2022 | 80 | 4,235 | 4,315 | +266 (+6.6%) |
| 2023 | 71 | 4,693 | 4,764 | +449 (+10.4%) |
| 2024 | 78 | 4,741 | 4,819 | +55 (+1.2%) |
| 2025 | 71 | 4,050 | 4,121 | -698 (-14.5%) |
The average annual combined count was 4,665.3 across these selected holiday periods. The series does not show a steady rise or decline. Counts can change with the calendar windows, reporting and travel patterns; this analysis does not isolate those effects or explain any individual collision.
Counts by Holiday Period
Mardi Gras had the largest combined count across the ten report years, 8,200, followed by Thanksgiving at 7,095. Mardi Gras and Thanksgiving each recorded 111 fatalities. These are raw counts over different holiday observation periods, not comparisons of risk per trip, day or hour.
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Use the arrow keys when the table is focused.
| Holiday | Fatalities | Suspected injuries | Combined count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mardi Gras | 111 | 8,089 | 8,200 |
| Thanksgiving | 111 | 6,984 | 7,095 |
| Halloween | 84 | 6,513 | 6,597 |
| Memorial Day | 105 | 5,710 | 5,815 |
| Labor Day | 67 | 5,235 | 5,302 |
| Independence Day | 71 | 4,849 | 4,920 |
| New Year's Eve | 73 | 4,415 | 4,488 |
| Christmas | 70 | 4,166 | 4,236 |
All 80 Holiday-by-Year Totals
The table below gives the combined person count for every holiday and report year. For example, the 2025 Mardi Gras total is 738: 12 fatalities plus 726 suspected injuries. The 2025 Halloween total is 668: 16 fatalities plus 652 suspected injuries. These totals must not be relabeled as numbers of crashes.
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Use the arrow keys when the table is focused.
| Holiday | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mardi Gras | 947 | 1,127 | 765 | 894 | 864 | 347 | 919 | 800 | 799 | 738 |
| Thanksgiving | 730 | 922 | 736 | 669 | 778 | 813 | 654 | 574 | 654 | 565 |
| Halloween | 879 | 902 | 329 | 873 | 506 | 311 | 552 | 725 | 852 | 668 |
| Memorial Day | 642 | 529 | 606 | 560 | 513 | 605 | 564 | 670 | 666 | 460 |
| Labor Day | 709 | 523 | 532 | 501 | 565 | 558 | 494 | 595 | 467 | 358 |
| Independence Day | 608 | 775 | 225 | 245 | 393 | 460 | 534 | 611 | 648 | 421 |
| New Year's Eve | 644 | 540 | 675 | 316 | 336 | 494 | 265 | 265 | 569 | 384 |
| Christmas | 245 | 524 | 778 | 178 | 502 | 461 | 333 | 524 | 164 | 527 |
What the Alcohol Figures Do and Do Not Show
The dashboard uses the label Predicted Alcohol, with Alcohol and No Alcohol categories. In the ten-year totals, the Alcohol category contains 327 fatalities and 4,226 suspected injuries: 4,553 of the 46,653 combined person outcomes, or 9.8%. The table below divides each holiday’s Alcohol-category person count by that holiday’s combined person count. It is not a percentage of all crashes or all drivers.
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Use the arrow keys when the table is focused.
| Holiday | Alcohol-category persons | All person outcomes | Category share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mardi Gras | 868 | 8,200 | 10.6% |
| Thanksgiving | 620 | 7,095 | 8.7% |
| Halloween | 508 | 6,597 | 7.7% |
| Memorial Day | 566 | 5,815 | 9.7% |
| Labor Day | 521 | 5,302 | 9.8% |
| Independence Day | 481 | 4,920 | 9.8% |
| New Year's Eve | 516 | 4,488 | 11.5% |
| Christmas | 473 | 4,236 | 11.2% |
The CARTS glossary defines Predicted Alcohol using a driver or motorcyclist predicted to have a BAC of at least 0.02%. When BAC is pending or unknown, CARTS uses a Louisiana-specific regression estimate. Here, E4B counts person outcomes in that crash category; it does not establish that each affected person was drinking. The classification also does not establish impairment, alcohol causation or legal fault.
We verified the published definition, but have not reproduced the regression coefficients or confirmed the exact model build used for this export. CARTS documents changes to its alcohol model and historical data in its October 2022 conversion report. That is another reason to use one dated snapshot rather than combine releases. The previous article’s fatal-crash discussion mixed person and crash units and included unsupported percentages. Those claims are not retained.
Alcohol coding also does not decide legal fault by itself. The surrounding evidence still matters, including driving behavior, toxicology evidence when available, roadway conditions, witness accounts, and the actions of every person or business whose conduct may be relevant.
Practical Choices Before Holiday Travel
If a celebration will include alcohol, arrange the ride before the first drink. A designated driver, rideshare, taxi, or overnight stay removes the pressure to make a judgment call at the end of the night.
Check the route and weather before leaving, especially when parades, road closures, or heavy interstate traffic may change the trip. Build in enough time that a delay does not turn into speeding or aggressive driving. For longer trips, stop when fatigue affects attention instead of trying to push through it. Our guide to fatigue and collision evidence explains why a long trip alone does not prove drowsiness.
In neighborhoods, slow down and expect pedestrians to enter the road from between parked vehicles. At night, increase following distance and avoid driving beside another vehicle when you can leave yourself an escape route. Put the phone away before moving.
If a Baton Rouge collision involves suspected impairment, fatigue, speed or inattention, the relevant investigation may differ. Our drunk-driving accident lawyers, drowsy-driving accident lawyers, speeding accident lawyers and distracted-driving accident lawyers explain those case-specific questions. The holiday counts do not establish any of these causes.
Evidence to Protect After a Holiday Crash
Medical care comes first, before collecting evidence. Follow individualized clinical advice and describe symptoms accurately, including changes and improvement. Keep discharge papers, bills, work restrictions, photographs, and a simple record of symptoms and missed activities. Our guide to documenting a Louisiana crash claim explains why those records matter.
Holiday traffic can make the scene confusing. If it is safe, photograph vehicle positions, damage, debris, lane markings, traffic controls, lighting, weather, and any nearby business or residential cameras. Get names and contact information for witnesses who observed the collision instead of assuming the crash report will contain everyone.
Video may be overwritten quickly, and vehicle or phone data may not remain available indefinitely. A focused preservation request can identify the exact evidence and custodian without making assumptions about fault. See our discussion of evidence that can support a Louisiana car accident case.
The Louisiana car accident claim guide explains the claim process. Filing deadlines depend on the incident date, parties and facts. A deadline should be checked for the specific case rather than calculated from a general article.
Visitors and multiple insurers can create separate practical questions. The guides to crashes involving out-of-state drivers and responding to insurer requests explain notice, cooperation and communication issues without treating every policy alike.
Talk With Babcock Injury Lawyers
If you were hurt in a Louisiana holiday crash, call Babcock Injury Lawyers at (225) 500-5000 or use our confidential case review form. We offer a free consultation. If the firm accepts your injury case on a contingency fee, the attorney fee depends on a recovery; the written agreement also explains case costs. Representation begins only through that agreement.
Stephen Babcock is a Louisiana trial lawyer, Louisiana Bar No. 26792.
Sources and Methodology References
- LSU CARTS, Section E dashboard: E4B, Injuries During Holiday Periods; State of Louisiana; report years 2016–2025; downloaded October 4, 2026; displayed data update September 28, 2026, 6:27:48 AM.
- Saved research files: our 80-row source table, archived native exports, definitions, checksums and reproduction script.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, for the safety guidance.
- CARTS glossary, Predicted Alcohol definition; retrieved October 5, 2026.
- CARTS, Changes in Crash Data Due to Data Conversion & Updated Calculations, October 2022, pages 2 and 12–13; retrieved October 5, 2026. Historical methodology context, not proof of the original article’s extract.
Editorial & Legal Accuracy Notice (Louisiana)
This article provides general legal and safety information, not legal advice. The holiday figures depend on the selected date windows, crash classifications, and source extraction described above. Laws and deadlines can change, and outcomes depend on specific facts.
Previous production version review date: September 26, 2026.
Previous version author: Stephen Babcock, Louisiana attorney, Louisiana Bar No. 26792.