As an Atlanta auto accident attorney, I see far too many people killed or seriously injured in car wrecks on Atlanta’s highways and streets. I am starting a series on what we can learn from the data about Atlanta’s car accidents. I will be covering several years’ worth of data, and then talking about what the data teaches us about the most dangerous roads and times to drive around Atlanta.
I am going to start with a three-part series talking about the most recent FARS (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) data that is available for Atlanta, which is from 2009. The data is catalogues on the City-Data.com website page for Atlanta. This data does not address all of the car accidents in the city, or even all of the car wrecks that caused serious injuries. The data only reports the deadly crashes in which a driver, passenger or pedestrian was killed.
In 2009, 47 people were killed in 45 different car wrecks in Atlanta. Thirteen pedestrians were killed. Twelve of the accidents were caused by drivers who were under the influence (DUI).
The year opened with a January 4, 2009, fatal crash on I-85 in Atlanta. The driver died in the single-vehicle accident.
On January 11, 2009, a drunken driver caused a three-car collision at the corner of Pryor Circle and Claire Dr. in Atlanta. One person died in the wreck.
January 22, 2009, another fatal car crash occurred, this time on Moreland Avenue (State Road 42) within the Atlanta city limits. Two vehicles collided and one of the drivers was killed.
On January 24, 2009, a person died in a two-car accident at the corner of Monroe Drive and Ponce De Leon Ave. in the city of Atlanta. The wreck happened at 1:30 a.m. in the morning.
An Atlanta pedestrian was killed at the intersection of Piedmont Rd. (SR-237) and Lenox Rd. on January 30, 2009.
A sixth person died as the month wound to a close, on January 31, 2009, in an Atlanta car accident at the juncture of Glenwood Ave. (SR-260) and Parker Avenue. The crash involved three different vehicles.
Surprisingly and fortunately, February saw only one fatal auto accident in Atlanta. Unfortunately, that one February 27, 2009, accident involved two deaths. Two people were killed in a three-car accident at the corner of ______ (SR-154) and Boulevard Granada.
Five more deadly car crashes occurred in Atlanta in March 2009. On March 4th, a pedestrian was killed crossing at the intersection of Moreland Avenue and Sanders Avenue. The next day, a driver died in a one-car wreck at the corner of ______ (SR-9) and Andrews Dr. in Atlanta. On March 8th, a drunk driver wrecked while driving on Atlanta’s _____ (State Road 10), killing himself.
Tomorrow I will cover Atlanta’s fatal car crashes for March, April and May of 2009. March was a particularly tragic month, because more people died in car crashes on Atlanta roads in March than in any other month of 2009.