The Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has issued a county-by-county summary of the car accidents that occur in the State of Georgia. Like many of the other counties around metro Atlanta, Clayton County saw a decrease in both car and truck wrecks, and injuries from those car and truck accidents.
For purposes of the report on Clayton County, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety aggregated all the cities in Clayton County, including Jonesboro, Forest Park, Lake City, Morrow, Riverdale, Irondale, Conley, Bonanza, Lovejoy, Red Oak, Elennwood, Rex, and Lake Spivey Estates. The areas around Stockbridge that fall in Clayton County also were included.
In 2005, drivers in Clayton County were in 11,712 car wrecks. The number of car accidents dropped every year thereafter. In 2006, Clayton County saw 11,441 accidents, and then the number fell to 10,395 in 2007. In 2008, 9378 car or truck accidents occurred on roads in Clayton County, and the number of car crashes fell to 8793 in 2009.
Overall the number of injuries in automobile crashes fell at approximately the same rate. In 2005, 4446 people were injured in car accidents in Clayton County. The number ticked upward slightly in 2006, to 4550 people injured in car and truck wrecks, and then fell again for each of the next three years. In 2007, the county saw 3915 people injured in automobile accidents. In 2008, the number decreased to 3543, and then fell to the lowest level yet in 2009, moving down to 3284 people injured in car collisions on Clayton County’s roads.
The number of deaths in these car accidents, however, did not follow the same downward trend as accidents and injuries did. In 2005, a tragic 30 people were killed in car accidents occurring in Clayton County. The number increased in 2006, to 32 deaths in car or truck wrecks, and then increased still more in 2007, to 35 deaths on Clayton County roads. In 2008, the number of deaths in auto accidents fell back to the 2006 level of 32, before plummeting by 50% in 2009, dropping to 16 deaths in car crashes in Clayton County.
Not surprisingly, a huge number of the fatalities in car collisions grouped along I-75 as it crosses through Clayton County, with a staggering number of fatalities occurring in the area where I-75 and 285 intersect near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and as I-75 crosses into Clayton County. These deathly wrecks occur in Forest Park, and near Conley, Lake City and Morrow.
A number of deaths in car accidents occurred along Highway 139, Riverdale Road, and then Walker Road, with an unacceptable number in Riverdale, clustered near the intersections of Walker Rd and Bethsaida Rd.
Another large number of deaths occur in car wrecks along State Road 85, especially near where State Road 85 crosses into Fayette County, near the intersections with Flint River Rd and Thomas Rd. and Helmer Rd., and Webb Rd.
The corridor of I-675, or GA 413, Terrell Starr Pkwy also had a disproportionately large share of the deaths that occurred in car accidents in Clayton County and near Conley, Ellenwood and Rex, and the Stockbridge area.
Deaths also occur in car wrecks in the area running through Jonesboro, along N McDonough St, Jonesboro Rd., and Tara Blvd. Tara Blvd. continues to be an extremely dangerous place for car wrecks as it runs through Clayton County, around Irondale, Bonanza and Lovejoy.
About the author: Lee Wallace, at The Wallace Law Firm, L.L.C., is a car crash attorney who represents people injured or killed in car crashes in Clayton County and the rest of Georgia.