The fatal crash on I-75 near Red Top Mountain Road in Bartow County that killed five and injured four others is jumpstarting conversation about road safety around North Georgia. The number of fatal car crashes in Georgia rose 18 percent from 2018 to 2022 when the latest statistics are available. Crashes in Georgia totaled 1,678 in 2022 compared to 1,408, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) vehicle crash data.
NHTSA statistics don’t show how many people died but figures promoted by attorneys state that 1,844 people died in vehicle accidents in 2022. News agencies report 1,797 traffic deaths in Georgia for that year and 1,638 deaths in 2023. Georgia is fourth on the list for its number of fatal vehicle deaths, topped only by Florida, California, and Texas.
Law enforcement and traffic officials have long said the summer is a dangerous time to be on the roads with many traveling to visit family and for vacations. However, overall driving and subsequently the number of fatal accidents worsened during and after the pandemic.
That surprised many experts because the expectation was there would be fewer crashes and fatalities in 2020 with the lockdown. Fatal vehicle crashes in Georgia rose from 1,378 in 2019 to 1,517 in 2020.
Experts state the increase both before and after the pandemic is because drivers started taking more risks while driving. A 2021 NHTSA report stated more were speeding, failing to wear seat belts, and driving drunk or high on drugs. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS) said the same thing after surveying in the fall of 2020.
Here is a look at the 17-county North Georgia area using NHTSA statistics of where fatal crashes occurred for the past five years. One of the shifts in the numbers over those five years is that previous fatal crashes more often occurred on rural backroads while recent crashes are happening more frequently on interstate and state highways.
While no reasoning is given on the statistical site, some factors in the shift could be speed and the amount of traffic on larger roads compared to smaller ones.
Some obvious takeaways are that more urban counties, like Cobb County, have many more fatal accidents than a rural county like Polk County. However, spots where clusters of fatal vehicle crashes happen over the years may surprise some.
Bartow
The road with the most fatal vehicle crashes over the five years, 27 total, is I-75, which is also the longest stretch of road through the county. Highway 411 from the Floyd County line to the City of Cartersville is the second most dangerous road with 11 fatal crashes.
Bartow County has two cluster areas where seven fatal accidents happened on the I-75 intersection with GA 61 at the cloverleaf near Aubry Lake. Of those, three occurred on US/411/Highway 61, and four happened on I-75.
Three fatalities happened in 2018 in the area of Justice Robert Benham Drive and Postelle Street but a trend is emerging for new fatal accidents to happen on North Morningside Drive. The specific areas start at RR tracks at Rowland Springs Road and run to the intersection of North Morningside Drive and Mockingbird Drive. Four fatal accidents happened in that area with two happening in 2022, one in 2021, and one in 2019.
Catoosa
One road that seems to be bulleted with fatalities is Battlefield Parkway, which runs through Walker County into Catoosa. Two fatal accidents were reported there just across the Catoosa County line.
It is I-75 that once again is the most dangerous road in the county. There are two emerging hotspots using data from 2020 through 2022. One is the area where I-75 crosses Three Notch Road. Three fatal crashes were reported there in 2022 and one was reported in 2020.
A second hot spot is Chattanooga Road where it crosses I-75. Two were reported in 2022 and one occurred in 2021.
Additional bad spots where two fatal vehicle crashes occurred at the same spot are Ball Ground Highway and 575 as both ome into Canton and at the intersection of GA 108/Fincher Road. A third dangerous spot is Knox Bridge Highway/GA 20 at Sutalle.
Chattooga
Generally, Chattooga ranks better than some of the North Georgia counties in the number of fatal car crashes. The worst road is US 27 outside of Summerville in Pennville and further down toward Rome as it becomes Martha Berry Highway.
The Pennville area had seven fatal crashes over the five years with six on the highway and one on Penn Bridge Road. Two were only a couple of blocks away from each other as U.S. 27 intersects with Grady Place and West Oak Street. Two others were near the US 27 intersection with Greeson Street.
Cherokee
Historically over the past five years, I-575/Ga5 has been the worst road for fatalities with 11 fatal vehicle accidents. However, the most fatal wrecks occurring in 2022 are on Highway 20. That road had a total of 10 fatal crashes with five occurring in 2022, compared to only two happening in 2022 on I-575.
Cobb
Cobb has far more fatal wrecks than other area counties with many occurring along the I-75 corridor. There are pockets where multiple fatal crashes happen. For instance, the Atlanta bypass cloverleaf with I-285 had 10 fatal wrecks over the past five years. The interesting, and heartbreaking, fact is that many of those are occurring more recently in 2022.
A second hotspot is where I-75 crosses Delk Road, where nine fatal wrecks have been reported. Austell Road Southwest, specifically from Pat Mell Road Southwest to where it joins GA5/280 has been the area of eight fatal accidents.
Other hotspots are the intersection of Favor Road Southwest and Highway 41, which runs into Bartow County. The section of GA 92 that splits into directions to Acworth and Paulding County has been the area of eight fatal wrecks in Cobb and two just across the Paulding County Line. Four fatal crashes occurred on GA 92 near Acworth with two 2022 accidents happening as drivers cross the lake.
Dade
The worst section for Dade County is I-24 near the Tennessee line at the junction where I-59 turns into I-24. Another bad area is headed east to the GA 299 junction just below the border. Three fatal wrecks were reported in both spots over the past five years. h
Fannin
Fannin County has one of the lowest numbers of traffic fatality crashes in the area, and likely the state, with only 18 reported over the past years. While some were reported in rural areas, the majority happened either on GA 5 or US 76/GA 2/GA 515.
The difference is in fatal crashes reported, the ones from 2022 were on or near GA 5 rather than the larger highway. Those three occurred northwest of Blue Ridge. Other fatal accidents in Fannin County occurred around Morganton.
Floyd
Fatal car accidents were scattered most in Floyd County, occurring both in rural and more urban areas like Rome. Some spots had clusters of three or more reported in the five years including the intersection where Dean Avenue intersects with GA 101 and further down on Dean Avenue where it intersects with Turner McCall Boulevard. Five fatal wrecks were reported in that area.
Other cluster areas where two or more fatal wrecks were reported are on GA 53 in Shannon and on Martha Berry Highway where it intersections with Turkey Mountain Road.
Gilmer
Ellijay itself doesn’t see a lot of fatal accidents with most happening on GA 53 on both sides of the town. Eight fatal wrecks were reported along the highway outside Ellijay. The worst spot in Gilmer County is in New Hope, near where GA 52 intersects with Craigtown Road. A fatal wreck occurred there in both 2019 and 2022.
Gordon
Gordon County is unique in that, while it has fatal wrecks, there is o area with clusters of fatal crashes occurring repeatedly. Two of the county’s more dangerous driving areas are GA 53 southwest of Calhoun where seven were reported and on I-75 where 12 were reported.
Areas that appear to have more fatal wrecks than others are the city’s west side on West Line Street and at the GA 53 spur. Each reported one fatal accident. The lower east part of the city saw some fatal collisions with one on I-75 and one on South Wall Street and Bentwood Road.
Two separate crashes, one in 2018 and one in 2021, occurred on Fairmount Highway SE/GA 53 in the Farmville community.
Haralson
While I-20 is the major road in Harralson County, the road seeing the most fatal accidents is US 78 with 12 crashes reported over five years. Many of those were from 2022, showing it is an emerging area for serious and fatal collisions.
In comparison, eight fatal accidents occurred on I-20 as the interstate winds through the lower end of the county and into Carroll County, where wrecks also occurred.
Clusters were on the outskirts of Tallapoosa where five fatal crashes were reported and two others reported around the GA 100 spur. Two were also reported at or near the Cook Street intersection.
Murray
Murray County doesn’t have big clusters of fatal collisions but the crucial area is south of Chatsworth. A spot where two fatal accidents occurred over the five years, in 2019 and 2021, is on Smyrna Ramhurst Road around the area of Will Evans and Thomas Roads.
Two other fatal accidents happened in 2019 and in 2021 on GA 225 either at or close to Grand Prix Boulevard.
Paulding
Most of Paulding County’s fatal crashes happen on Hwy 278, or Jimmy Campbell Parkway, going through Dallas. Thirteen fatal wrecks were reported on the road. The two cluster areas are west of Pumpkinviine Creek where it intersections where the highway intersects with Buchanan Highway and at the Charles Hardy Parkway intersection. Five were reported in the Pumpkinvine Creek area while two were reported at the Charles Hardy Parkway intersection.
Pickens
The most dangerous road in Pickens County is GA 5/53/515 where 11 fatal crashes were reported over the five years. The worst section of the highway for fatal accidents is the area starting at Antioch Church Road and running north to Talking Rock Creek.
Three wrecks, two from 2019 and one from 2022 reported on APD Highway/GA5/GA 515 between Bill Hasty Boulevard and Martin Road CR 349. Two fatal accidents occurred in 2020 on Perrow Highway and north on Elijay Road with another occuring in 2019 on the APD Highway in the same area.
Polk
Polk County has fewer fatal crashes than other area counties but it has its hotspots. One is at US 27 near Floyd County. Four were reported there on US 27, scattered on both sides of the Polk-Floyd County line.
Four fatal crashes happened on GA 101 in Polk County with another occurring just over the county line in Floyd County.
Another hotspot is south of Cedartown at or above the GA 100 intersection where three fatal crashes were reported in 2020.
Walker
Walker County had six fatal wrecks on US 27 making that the most dangerous road in the county. The specific parts of the highway that saw the most tragedy are north of Euclid Chemicals to Town Creek, where three fatal crashes occurred, and toward McFarland Avenue toward the county line, where five wrecks were reported.
Three of those were at the Battlefield Parkway junction in Chickamauga, making it an emerging dangerous spot as those fatal wrecks happened in 2022, 2021, and 2019.
Whitfield
Like so many North Georgia counties, the most fatal accidents in Whitfield County happen on I-75. There are two specific spots for fatal wrecks. One is at the junction of I-75 and West Walnut Avenue where a fatal crash has occurred there yearly except for 2021. An emerging danger spot is developing at the cloverleaf with Chattanooga Road in Dalton with five fatal wrecks reported there over the five years.