STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Georgia: higher-rate fatality band

Georgia is in the higher per-capita third: 1,615 traffic deaths in 2023 at 14.6 per 100,000 (#17 of 51).

1,615
Deaths (2023)
14.6
Per 100k residents
Above average
1.3
Per 100M VMT
-181
2022–2023 deaths

Lower alcohol-impaired share

Georgia ranks #51 of 51 by alcohol-impaired share (17.3%) - bottom-third alcohol involvement.

Georgia in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Georgia sits in the higher-rate third at 14.6 per 100k (#17 of 51), 20% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#17 of 51
higher-rate third
14.6/100k
2023 fatality rate
#4/51
by total FARS fatalities
Nighttime
leading contributing factor

FARS milepost strip

Milepost GA · Georgia #17 of 51 · 14.6/100k

Georgia · 14.6/100k · 1,615 in 2023 · #17 of 51

  • VS-US 14.6/100k
  • PHOTO #17 of 51
  • YOY 1.3/100M
  • FARS 14,403 book
  • NHTSA near West Virginia
  • MILE 18.3% spd
  • BAND 16.8% ped
  • POST +19.6% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

D
Road Safety Index
41/100
Georgia

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate F
14.6/100k
Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)
Exposure-Adjusted Rate D
1.28/100M VMT
Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)
Pedestrian Safety F
16.8%
Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)
Impaired-Driving Control A+
17.3%
Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)
Safety Trend F
+12.8%
Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Georgia

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Georgia's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 18.3%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

  • Motor Vehicle In-Transport 42.2% · 680
  • Pedestrian 18.3% · 295
  • Tree (Standing Only) 10.1% · 162
  • Rollover/Overturn 5.6% · 90
  • Ditch 2.9% · 46

Light condition

  • Daylight 43.7% · 704
  • Dark - Not Lighted 40.0% · 644
  • Dark - Lighted 13.7% · 220
  • Dusk 1.4% · 23
  • Dawn 1.1% · 18

Roadway class

  • State Highway 31.7% · 510
  • County 23.8% · 383
  • U.S. Highway 17.9% · 288
  • Interstate 15.7% · 252
  • Municipal 4.0% · 65

Weather at crash

  • Clear 73.3% · 1,180
  • Cloudy 16.6% · 267
  • Rain 8.5% · 137
  • Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.3% · 21
  • Severe Crosswinds 0.1% · 1

Georgia rate neighbourhood

Deaths per 100,000 residents vs nearest-rate peer states (NHTSA FARS).

per 100k

What this shows Georgia sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Source NHTSA FARS As of 2023

Leading Causes of Fatalities

Contributing factors in Georgia road deaths (2015-2023). Categories overlap.

% of fatalities

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Georgia, involved in 49.1% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Source NHTSA FARS As of 2023

Georgia vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

15 Around the middle a lower per-capita rate than 31% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Georgia plotted against a representative sample of 26 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 26 entities by Deaths per 100,000 residents (X) and Deaths per 100M vehicle miles (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. High both waysRiskier per mile drivenRiskier per residentSafer, both measures 051015202530 00.511.52 Deaths per 100,000 residents Deaths per 100M vehicle miles Georgia: per capita vs. per mile driven
Georgia plotted against a representative sample of 26 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Georgia can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Georgia's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Georgia moved from 1,432 deaths in 2015 to 1,615 in 2023 (+12.8%).

Year Fatalities Rate Alcohol Speeding Pedestrian
2015 1,432 13.0 322 261 194
2016 1,556 14.1 348 255 232
2017 1,540 14.0 319 232 253
2018 1,505 13.6 297 250 262
2019 1,492 13.5 239 243 236
2020 1,658 15.0 395 352 279
2021 1,809 16.4 108 350 307
2022 1,796 16.3 242 386 345
2023 1,615 14.6 221 312 310

Per-capita county spikes in Georgia: Mcintosh and Bleckley

Fatalities are spread across 159 Georgia counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are Mcintosh (78.3/100k) and Bleckley (48.1/100k), while volume still ranks Fulton first.

#CountyTotal FatalitiesTrend
1FULTON (121)1,090↑ increasing
2DEKALB (89)875↑ increasing
3COBB (67)508↑ increasing
4GWINNETT (135)491↑ increasing
5CLAYTON (63)386↑ increasing
6BIBB (21)300↑ increasing
7CHATHAM (51)293↑ increasing
8RICHMOND (245)259↑ increasing
9HENRY (151)232↑ increasing
10HALL (139)213↑ increasing
11BARTOW (15)203↑ increasing
12MUSCOGEE (215)193↑ increasing
13CARROLL (45)188↑ increasing
14COWETA (77)173↑ increasing
15NEWTON (217)160↑ increasing
16DOUGLAS (97)155↑ increasing
17CHEROKEE (57)154↑ increasing
18FLOYD (115)149↑ increasing
19LOWNDES (185)148↑ increasing
20PAULDING (223)147↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 159 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, West Virginia (14.7/100k) and North Carolina (14.4/100k) sit closest to Georgia's 14.6 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Georgia's fatality rate.

West Virginia

14.7 per 100K

260 fatalities (2023)

North Carolina

14.4 per 100K

1,561 fatalities (2023)

Florida

15.0 per 100K

3,396 fatalities (2023)

Texas

14.1 per 100K

4,291 fatalities (2023)

Idaho

14.0 per 100K

275 fatalities (2023)

South Dakota

15.2 per 100K

140 fatalities (2023)

Mcintosh-rate peers and Georgia road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Georgia (#17 of 51; volume #4/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →