When Channel 2 Action News reporter Dave Huddleston started investigating metro Atlanta intersections with the most accidents, he expected most of the crash magnets would be inside the city of Atlanta.
But only one intersection patrolled by Atlanta police made the top 10 list.
Coming in at No. 10, the corner of Piedmont Avenue and Monroe Drive. There were 12 accidents in one month at the location.
The Channel 2 Action News data team analyzed accidents from the month of July in the largest cities and counties in metro Atlanta. It focused on surface streets and found 615 different intersections that average two accidents a week or more.
One other intersection inside the perimeter made the top 10 list.
At number No. 9, in DeKalb County, the intersection of Briarcliff Road and North Druid Hills Road racked up 13 accidents in one month.
Metro Atlanta's Dangerous Intersections
Blue Dot=Less than 10 crashes | Red Pin=More than 10 crashes (July 2015)
Two other intersections matched that number of crashes. Butner Road and Camp Creek Pkwy southeast of the perimeter in Fulton County also had 13 wrecks in one month, as well as Steve Reynolds Blvd. and Venture Drive in Duluth.
The corner of State Bridge Road and Medlock Bridge Road in Johns Creek saw 15 accidents in one month.
"We definitely have our fair share, just like everyone else in metro Atlanta,” said officer Chris Byers, with the Johns Creek Police Department.
Byers blamed distracted drivers for the high number of crashes.
“Until something happens to us, we think we’re safe from it. We think we’re immune from it, and then we have that wreck,” Byers said.
Top 5 crash-prone intersections:
- Memorial Drive and N Road, Stone Mountain: 22 accidents.
- East Park Place & Stone Mountain Hwy, Stone Mountain: 20 accidents
- Covington Highway and Lithonia Rd, Lithonia: 19 accidents
- Cobb Place Blvd. and Earnest Barrett Pkwy, Kennesaw: 18 accidents
- Jimmy Carter Blvd. and Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Norcross: 17 accidents
A spokesman for the Atlanta Regional Commission, which studies traffic, hypothesized that people driving in the suburbs are generally moving faster than in the congested streets of Atlanta.
He said small fender-benders may not be reported to police as often as accidents that cause damage or injuries.
Channel 2 Action News also took a hard look at the corner of State Road 316 and Harbins Rd in Dacula.
That was the site of a crash last month that claimed the lives of two brothers who attended Dacula High School.
Jared Brown and his brother, Jaison, were on their way to school when the crash happened. Channel 2 looked up the intersection and found it had seven accidents in the month of July.
That doesn’t surprise Mimi Martinez, whose front lawn is about 50 yards from that intersection. She told Huddleston she knew that intersection was going to be trouble form the first day she moved in.
“Actually that first morning when we moved in, there was an accident on this intersection,” Martinez said.
