Metro Atlanta truck crash statistics: I-85 inside the 29-county Atlanta MSA (2020-2024)

Deaths and fatal crashes by year

The annual records show 11 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in 2020, followed by 7 deaths in 7 fatal crashes in 2021. In 2022, 7 deaths occurred in 5 fatal crashes; 2023 recorded 2 deaths in 2 fatal crashes; and 2024 recorded 7 deaths in 7 fatal crashes. Among these supplied annual rows, 2020 has the largest death count and fatal-crash count. Deaths and crashes are separate measures, so matching death totals need not mean matching crash totals. These figures describe selected I-85 crashes within the metro boundary, with the 2024 figures provisional.^{[6][1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9]}

Person categories

People in other vehicles account for 22 deaths, the largest death count among the supplied person categories. Nonoccupants account for 6 deaths, and people in the large truck account for 6 deaths. Each category concerns people killed in the selected metro I-85 large-truck crashes during 2020-2024. Nonoccupants follows the FARS A_PTYPE 3,4,5 grouping, which includes occupants of vehicles not in transport. It therefore should not be read as a count of pedestrians alone. The person categories describe who died; they do not count vehicles or establish which participant caused a crash.^{[6][1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9]}

Manner of collision

Rear-end events account for 18 deaths, the largest death count among the supplied manner-of-collision rows. Events classified as not a collision with a motor vehicle in transport account for 12 deaths. Head-on events account for 2 deaths, while angle and sideswipe events each account for 1 death. These are deaths associated with the recorded manner of the first harmful event, not counts of crashes or every event in a crash sequence. A motor vehicle stopped in traffic can still be in transport. The classifications do not identify fault or explain why the selected crashes happened.^{[6][1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9]}

Recorded counties

Gwinnett County records 16 deaths in the selected crashes, the largest death count among the supplied county rows. Fulton County records 6 deaths, Coweta County and DeKalb County each record 5 deaths, and Meriwether County records 2 deaths. These county assignments follow where the crashes occurred, not where the people who died lived. The figures cover the selected I-85 large-truck fatal crashes during 2020-2024, rather than all truck crashes on every road in those counties. No county population, mileage or traffic exposure denominator is supplied, so the counts do not establish comparative county risk.^{[6][1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9]}

Recorded interstate routes

The interstate row assigns 34 deaths to I-85 within the metro selection for 2020-2024. Records qualify through ROUTE = 1 together with an I-85 designation parsed from TWAY_ID, and the crash must fall inside the 29-county Atlanta MSA. This operational selection defines the route coverage of the statistics. It does not extend the figures to the entire I-85 route outside metro Atlanta or to every road within the metropolitan area. Because the supplied interstate table contains only I-85, it offers no comparison of death counts across different interstate routes and no interstate risk ranking.^{[6][1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9]}

Trucks in the selected crashes

The selected fatal crashes contain 34 large-truck vehicles, including 25 truck-tractor vehicles. These are vehicle counts within the distinct crashes containing the selected deaths. The 34 large-truck vehicles are a different measure from the 34 people killed, despite the matching figures. For this dataset, a large truck is a medium or heavy truck with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds; buses and motor homes are excluded. Truck-tractors are counted among those large trucks, not as an additional death or crash category. Large-truck involvement by itself does not establish fault.^{[6][1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9]}

Sources and limits

NHTSA FARS includes fatal traffic crashes involving a motor vehicle on a trafficway customarily open to the public when an occupant or nonoccupant dies within 30 days. Nonfatal-only crashes are excluded. This selection applies A_LT = 1, ROUTE = 1 and parsed TWAY_ID I-85 within the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA MSA. Its 29-county boundary follows OMB Bulletin 23-01, July 2023. Records for 2020 through 2023 use FARS Final Files; 2024 uses the provisional Annual Report File. Counts reflect crash location. No population rate or mileage or traffic exposure denominator is supplied, preventing an exposure-based risk comparison.^{[6][1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9]}

See also

• Georgia's two-year limit for truck accident injury claims

On related publications

• Georgia truck accident statistics (2020-2024) (truckaccidentlawyers.wiki)
• Large truck (crash data definition) (truckaccidentlawyer.wiki)