Georgia’s State Highways Claim Three Times More Lives Than Its Interstates

A new analysis from Van Sant Law finds that Georgia’s traffic deaths are concentrated on a handful of major routes, and that the state’s lesser known highways carry a far heavier share of the toll than its interstates. Using 2024 data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System and Crash Data Analysis Tool along with Georgia and federal transportation data, the study found Georgia recorded 12.5 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents, above the national rate of 11.5. Measured by driving exposure, the state recorded 1.15 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, slightly below the national rate of 1.19. In raw numbers, 1,403 people were killed in 1,312 fatal crashes, the fifth highest total in the country behind only Texas, California, Florida, and North Carolina, and higher than New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio despite each having a larger population.

Population puts Georgia’s ranking into perspective. Mississippi recorded far fewer deaths but a rate of 25.6 per 100,000, more than twice Georgia’s. Georgia’s rate was also below every neighbor in the analysis: Alabama (18.7), South Carolina (18.9), Tennessee (16.6), and North Carolina (14.7). The region’s deadliest individual roads, however, were closely grouped. I-75 recorded 69 deaths in Georgia, compared with 73 on Tennessee’s I-40, 53 on North Carolina’s I-40, 45 on Alabama’s I-65, and 44 on South Carolina’s U.S. 17.

Within Georgia, I-75 ranked as the deadliest road with 69 deaths from 59 fatal crashes. I-20 followed with 47 deaths from 41 crashes, then I-85 with 29 deaths and I-285 with 19. The remaining 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.

The bigger story sits outside the interstate system. Interstates, U.S. highways, and state highways together accounted for 883 of Georgia’s 1,403 traffic deaths, nearly 63%. State highways made up the largest piece by far, with 607 deaths, or 43.3% of all traffic deaths in Georgia. Interstates accounted for 198 deaths, or 14.1%, meaning state highways claimed roughly three times as many lives. Georgia’s state routes run through metro suburbs, small towns, and rural areas, and many sections feature two-way traffic, limited shoulders, fewer barriers between opposing vehicles, and long stretches traveled at higher speeds.

On the interstates, sheer traffic volume adds another layer. I-75’s busiest Atlanta area segment carries an estimated 419,000 vehicles per day, and I-285 carries more than 250,000 vehicles a day on its busiest stretches. I-85 merges with I-75 through the Downtown Connector, which concentrates two of the state’s three deadliest highways on the same heavily traveled route through central Atlanta. The study notes that heavy traffic creates more opportunities for crashes, so a high raw death count alone does not mean any single trip on that road is more dangerous.

Traffic volume is also only part of what sets these roads apart. Large trucks were involved in 39% of fatal crashes on I-75, the highest share among Georgia’s 10 deadliest roads, and those crashes were associated with 32 deaths. That fits I-75’s role as one of the Southeast’s major north to south freight routes, carrying tractor trailers alongside metro Atlanta commuters. I-20 showed a similar pattern, with large trucks involved in 34.1% of its fatal crashes. Heavy truck involvement wasn’t limited to the interstates either. SR-5 recorded a 33.3% large truck involvement rate despite ranking tenth in total deaths, while SR-3 had no fatal crashes involving a large truck at all.

The study concludes that Georgia’s highway safety problem cannot be reduced to one road, one type of driver, or one dangerous behavior. Each of the state’s deadliest corridors carries a different mix of traffic, and looking at those differences gives a clearer picture than statewide totals alone.