Thanks to NorthFulton.com for a great article about the
most dangerous intersections in North Fulton County. The newspaper selected the losing intersections by looking at the number
of accidents that occurred in each during 2011. As a car wreck lawyer,
I really appreciated their public service information, because I know
that a very large number of serious accidents, even fatalities, occur
as a result of cars crashing at intersections.
Although the newspaper pointed out that most of the collisions were minor,
rear-end, car collisions, that point does not mean these intersections
are not dangerous for Alpharetta drivers. Most car crashes are, fortunately,
not serious. Only a small fraction of car crashes involve people being
killed or seriously injured. Even for most dangerous intersections, this
ratio holds true. Eventually, however, if enough collisions occur, a very
serious personal injury or a death will occur.
According to the paper, the intersection of Georgia 400 and Windward Parkway
had 147 car accidents. While neither the city nor the state planned to
make changes in the intersection, the newspaper was hopefully that the
fact that the Georgia Department of Transportation is widening Ga. 400
around McGinnis Ferry would help the traffic in the area to flow better.
The intersection of Ga. 400 and Mansell Road had the second most accidents:
114 in calendar year 2011. Again, the newspaper noted that the city and
state had no plans to change the intersection, although it was possible
that general improvements being made to Ga. 400 itself would begin
The newspaper also warned Alpharetta drivers to be wary when they approached
several other intersections in the city. The corner of Ga. 400 and Haynes
Bridge Road has seen 66 auto accidents. 49 car accidents occurred at the
intersection between Georgia 120 and North Point Parkway. Where Ga. 120
and Ga. 400 cross one another, 40 more car wrecks occurred. Ga. 9 and
Windward Parkway meet, and that intersection has seen 36 car collisions.
At the junction of Haynes Bridge Road and North Point Parkway, another
33 automobile accidents have happened. The intersections at Haynes Bridge
Road and North Point Drive also have seen a number of auto crashes: 29
in 2011. The paper also warned about the intersections of Ga. 120 and
Morris Road (which had 28 car wrecks in 2011), and Brookside Parkway and
Ga. 120 (in which 26 car crashes occurred).
Fulton County downplayed any problem, as you might expect. After all, the
county may be liable if it creates a hazardous situation by poor design
or maintenance of an intersection. John Maloney, who is the traffic engineer
for the city of Alpharetta, denied that the city had any dangerous intersections.
“We really don’t have any dangerous intersections,”
he told the paper. Maloney said that the large number of accidents was
simply due to the fact that so many vehicles travel through that intersection each day.
I urge the City to take a serious look at these intersections, and consider
whether anything about these intersections is increasing the number of
car wrecks that are occurring. If the City can figure out a way to make
these intersections safer for its drivers, then it should do so. Meanwhile,
Alpharetta drivers should be very careful as they head into these intersections.