While the number of car crashes has steadily risen in the five core metro Atlanta counties, car crash fatalities have generally decreased.
The latest research data from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, which covers the years 2010-2014, is a mixed bag: Traffic-related deaths in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties were all down, with only Gwinnett showing an increase in fatalities from 2013-14. But the number of crashes, fatal and non-fatal combined, increased in all five counties from 2011-14. So while you're less likely to die in a car accident, you still have a high chance of being in one.
Fulton led the group with 55,833 crashes in 2014. DeKalb was second with 38,627 wrecks. Gwinnett logged 36,094 crashes, followed by Cobb (26,921) and Clayton (12,397).
A total of 1,537 people died on Georgia's roads in 2016, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. That's a three-year high since 2014, when 1,170 fatalities were reported.
In 2017, Georgia has already recorded 19 deaths on the roadways.
