Georgia recorded 12.5 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024, about 9% above the national rate of 11.5, according to a new analysis by Van Sant Law. The state lost 1,403 people in 1,312 fatal crashes that year, the fifth-highest total in the country behind Texas, California, Florida, and North Carolina. That raw total was also higher than New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, even though each of those states has a larger population. The analysis draws on 2024 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System and Crash Data Analysis Tool, along with Georgia and federal transportation data, to show where Georgia’s deaths happened and what sets its deadliest roads apart.
Once driving exposure is factored in, Georgia’s ranking looks different. The state recorded 1.15 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, slightly below the national rate of 1.19. Its population rate was also lower than every neighboring state analyzed: South Carolina recorded 18.9 deaths per 100,000 residents, Alabama 18.7, Tennessee 16.6, and North Carolina 14.7. Mississippi’s rate of 25.6 was more than double Georgia’s. So Georgia has one of the largest death counts in the country, but its per-mile fatality rate is close to the national norm. The volume of driving across the state, and especially through metro Atlanta, explains much of its high raw total.
I-75 was the deadliest road in Georgia in 2024, with 69 deaths from 59 fatal crashes. I-20 followed with 47 deaths in 41 crashes, then I-85 with 29 and I-285 with 19. The other six roads in the top 10 were all state highways: SR-1 with 18 deaths, SR-3 and SR-20 with 16 each, SR-520 with 15, SR-53 with 14, and SR-5 with 12. Across the Southeast, Georgia’s deadliest road was in line with its neighbors’ worst corridors. Tennessee’s I-40 recorded 73 deaths, North Carolina’s I-40 recorded 53, Alabama’s I-65 recorded 45, and South Carolina’s U.S. 17 recorded 44.
The analysis found that most of Georgia’s highway deaths happened off the interstate system. Interstates, U.S. highways, and state highways together accounted for 883 of the state’s 1,403 traffic deaths, or nearly 63%. State highways made up the largest share by far, with 607 deaths (43.3% of all traffic fatalities in Georgia). Interstates accounted for 198 deaths, or 14.1%. That means state routes claimed roughly three times as many lives as interstates. These roads run through suburbs, small towns, and rural areas, and many have two-way traffic, limited shoulders, few barriers between opposing lanes, and long stretches driven at higher speeds.
Traffic volume adds important context to the interstate numbers. I-75’s busiest Atlanta segment carries an estimated 419,000 vehicles per day, I-285 carries more than 250,000 on its busiest stretches, and I-85 merges with I-75 along the Downtown Connector. That puts two of Georgia’s three deadliest highways on the same heavily traveled route through central Atlanta. A high raw death count on a road this busy doesn’t necessarily mean any single trip is more dangerous, but the vehicle data shows volume is only part of the picture.
Georgia’s 1,312 fatal crashes involved 1,983 vehicles. Passenger cars were the single largest category at 645, but SUVs (493) and pickups (331) combined for 824 vehicles, well above the passenger car total. Large trucks accounted for 189 vehicles and motorcycles for 187. Those statewide numbers shift a lot from road to road. Large trucks were involved in 39% of fatal crashes on I-75, the highest share among the top 10 roads, consistent with its role as one of the Southeast’s main north-south freight routes. I-20 followed at 34.1%, and SR-5 reached 33.3% despite ranking tenth in total deaths. Motorcycles made up just 1.7% of fatal crashes on I-75 but 25% on both SR-3 and SR-5. Pickups were involved in 46.2% of fatal crashes on SR-520, and SUVs were involved in half of those on SR-53.
Speeding was linked to 339 deaths in Georgia, or 24.2% of the statewide total. Alcohol impairment at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 g/dL or higher was linked to an estimated 325 deaths (about 23%), and distracted driving to 71 deaths (5.1%). Georgia came in below the national figures on all three measures: 28.8% for speeding, about 30% for alcohol, and 8.2% for distraction. Even so, speeding and alcohol combined were associated with more than 600 deaths. Weather played a surprisingly small role. Of the deaths on Georgia’s interstates, U.S. highways, and state highways, 74.1% happened in clear weather and 17.2% under cloudy skies, so more than nine in 10 occurred with no adverse weather recorded. Rain was present in 7.5% of highway deaths, and fog, smoke, and smog in less than 1%.
The data also shows that working-age adults carried the heaviest toll. Men accounted for 1,021 deaths and women for 375, a 73% to 27% split that held in every month and closely matched the national figure of about 72%. Georgians ages 25 to 34 made up the largest age group with 252 deaths, or 18% of the total. Combined with the 221 deaths among those ages 35 to 44, adults 25 to 44 accounted for 473 deaths, more than one third of all traffic fatalities in the state. Another 212 deaths involved people ages 55 to 64, while 123 people age 75 and older and 164 people under 21 were killed, including 48 children under 16.
Taken together, the findings show that Georgia’s road safety problem can’t be pinned on a single highway, a single type of driver, or a single dangerous behavior. Each of the state’s deadliest roads has its own mix of traffic volume, vehicle types, and driving conditions, and most deaths happened during ordinary trips under clear skies.
