This report, distributed by Ashby Thelen Lowry, examines newly released federal data showing that Georgia traffic fatalities declined in 2025, continuing a multi-year downward trend across the state.
Georgia recorded 1,307 traffic deaths in 2025, down from 1,403 in 2024, a 6.8 percent decline, according to preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The statewide fatality rate fell to 1.02 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled last year.
Georgia's decline outpaced the national trend. NHTSA's early estimate for 2025 projected 36,640 traffic deaths nationwide, a 6.7 percent decrease from 39,254 fatalities in 2024. The national fatality rate fell to 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, the second-lowest rate in the agency's recorded history, behind only the 1.08 rate recorded in 2014. NHTSA estimates that fatalities decreased in 39 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in 2025.
The national decline continued into 2026. NHTSA's first-quarter estimate for 2026 recorded a 4.3 percent nationwide decrease in traffic deaths compared with the same period in 2025, with 30 states and Puerto Rico posting declines during that quarter and Americans driving an estimated 11 billion more miles nationwide than during the same period the previous year.
As recently as 2023, Georgia ranked as the fourth-highest state in the nation by total number of traffic fatalities, though 24th by fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety. Between 2022 and 2023, Georgia recorded a 10 percent decrease in traffic fatalities, outpacing the 4 percent national decline over the same period.
Fatal crashes have also continued during major holiday travel periods tracked by the Georgia Department of Public Safety in 2025. State troopers and local agencies reported 14 traffic deaths statewide during the Memorial Day holiday period, 13 during the Independence Day holiday period, and 15 during the Labor Day holiday period, according to the department's preliminary post-holiday reports. During those same three holiday periods, Georgia State Patrol troopers and other agencies responded to nearly 950 crashes combined, resulting in several hundred injuries and hundreds of DUI arrests.
Georgia follows a modified comparative negligence rule for personal injury claims arising from vehicle collisions. Under this system, an injured party found to be 50 percent or more at fault for a crash generally cannot recover damages, and any recovery is otherwise reduced in proportion to that party's assigned share of fault. Claims arising from a fatal crash may also give rise to a separate wrongful death action under Georgia law, brought on behalf of the deceased person's surviving family members.
The federal and state crash data referenced in this release was compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety, and the Georgia Department of Public Safety. The figures are presented for general public awareness and are subject to revision as final crash data is processed.
Ashby Thelen Lowry is an Atlanta-based personal injury law firm that represents car accident victims in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. The firm's attorneys have obtained verdicts including a $200 million award in a rural North Georgia county and a $13.3 million verdict in a rural South Georgia county, and their work has been covered by outlets including CNN, the Associated Press, and Law360.
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