No slowdown in traffic deaths in Los Angeles in 2024

City is on track to again surpass 300 fatalities
Crime
Traffic
By

Illustration of a red and a blue car that have smashed, with an orange background

 

After the deadliest year on the roads of Los Angeles in more than a decade, the number of traffic fatalities is down only slightly in the first half of 2024. There were 170 vehicle-related deaths in the city from Jan. 1–July 13, four fewer than during the same period last year, according to Los Angeles Police Department Traffic Division Compstat data.

 

The figure represents a sort of grim plateau of vehicular deaths in the last three years, and continues the sharp divide from the period before the pandemic. From Jan. 1–July 13, 2019, there were 126 automobile-related deaths in the city, according to publicly available LAPD Traffic Division collision data.

 

Bar chart of traffic deaths in the city of Los Angeles from Jan. 1-July 13 in years 2017-2024

 

Los Angeles recorded 344 traffic fatalities during the entirety of 2023. It marked the second consecutive year above 300. In the entire 2010s there were never more than 261 traffic deaths in a single year. 

 

Last year also gave Los Angeles the dubious distinction of experiencing more traffic deaths than murder victims.

 

While the number of deaths in the first half of the year puts the city on pace to again exceed 300 victims, there may be indications of improving conditions. In the eight-month stretch from September 2023 through April 2024, there were six months with more than 30 fatalities.

 

But that total fell in both May and June, when there were 19 traffic deaths each month. 

 

Line chart of monthly traffic fatalities in the city of Los Angeles, Jan 2020-June 2024

 

National problem

Los Angeles is not alone in seeing its roads become more dangerous. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration calculated a total of 19,515 traffic deaths in the country in the first half of 2023 (the 2024 total is not yet available). In the same period in 2019, the count was 17,025.

 

The situation on the streets of Los Angeles has generated significant consternation, but few if any sustained solutions. The trend has been blamed on multiple factors, including excessive speeding, larger and heavier vehicles that do more damage in a collision, and poor street architecture that puts pedestrians at risk.

 

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Police and safety experts have also pointed to distracted drivers who text or do something else while behind the wheel. An April report by the NHTSA found that in the United States in 2022 (the latest year available), 3,308 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers. Another 289,000 were injured. 

 

Additional blame is placed on pedestrians who look down at their phone when crossing a street, instead of watching the road.

 

Danger for pedestrians

The increase in traffic deaths is marked by a rise in people struck by vehicles. According to police data, 90 pedestrians died from Jan. 1–July 13. Once again, this is in line with the last two years, but is up significantly from the 62 people killed in that time frame in 2018.

 

Horizontal bar chart of the number of pedestrian vs. vehicle collision deaths in the period from Jan. 1–July, in the years of 2017-2024

 

Another troubling area is hit-and-runs. According to police data, there were 62 deaths resulting from felony hit-and-run incidents from Jan. 1–July 13 (the most recent date when data is available.). The count was 58 in the same period last year.

 

But current levels are more than double what they were a few years ago. In the same time frame in 2018, there were 28 felony hit-and-run deaths.

 

Bar chart of people killed in felony hit-and-run incidents in the city of Los Angeles from Jan. 1–July 13, in years 2017-2024

 

Although drivers are required by law to stop and render aid if they strike someone, many speed away. The incidents include one on July 23, when a 40-year-old woman, identified by KTLA as Yvonne Parks, was hit and killed while she and her boyfriend tried to cross the intersection at La Cienega and Obama boulevards in Baldwin Hills. The driver of a dark-colored Toyota Camry fled.

 

The LAPD this month highlighted a hit-and-run death that occurred back in January. In that instance, a 72-year-old woman was in a crosswalk at 8th Avenue and 60th Street in Hyde Park when she was struck by a burgundy SUV. An LAPD release includes video of the incident, and states that rewards of up to $25,000 are available for anyone who provides information that leads to an offender’s identification and conviction.

 

Deadly traffic collisions occur in nearly all corners of Los Angeles. In the period from Jan. 1–July 13, there were eight deaths in Downtown, and seven in Van Nuys. Boyle Heights, Westlake and Historic South-Central each recorded six fatalities.

 

How we did it: We examined publicly available collision data from the Los Angeles Police Department Traffic Division from January 1, 2010–July 13, 2024, as well as Traffic Division Compstat data.

 

LAPD data only reflects collisions that are reported to the department, not how many collisions actually occurred. In making our calculations, we rely on the data the LAPD makes publicly available. LAPD may update past collision reports with new information, or recategorize past reports. Those revised reports do not always automatically become part of the public database.

 

Have questions about our data or want to know more? Write to us at askus@xtown.la.