Barrow County, Georgia, is located northwest of Atlanta. Like the rest
of Georgia, Barrow County is plagued with car accidents.
The
Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has released a report on the car accidents in Barrow County (as well as
the rest of Georgia). As a
car accident attorney here in Georgia, I read these releases with great concern.
Barrow County has several cities, including Auburn, Bethlehem, Carl, Statham,
and Winder, and the report includes statistics for each of those cities
as well as the more rural parts of the county.
Barrow County’s population is much smaller than some of the densely
populated counties surrounding Atlanta, Georgia, and so the sheer number
of car wrecks and truck wrecks is fewer. In 2005, Barrow County had 1782
car crashes. In 2006, the number of automobile accidents rose to 1865,
but by 2007 it had dropped back to 1785. The news got better in 2008,
when the number dropped to 1530 car wrecks in 2008, and stayed at nearly
that level in 2009, when Barrow County had 1562 car accidents.
In terms of injuries, 673 people were injured in car accidents in Barrow
County in 2005. The number of people injured in car wrecks jumped a surprising
amount in 2006, going to 818. The number leveled back off in 2007, which
saw 683 car accidents. 2008, which won the prize for fewest injuries,
saw 635 people injured in car wrecks in Barrow County. In 2009, the number
jumped to 682 people injured in automobile accidents in Barrow County.
Barrow County had 11 fatalities in car wrecks in 2005, and unfortunately
the number went up each of the next three years. In 2006, 14 people lost
their lives in car crashes on Barrow County roads. In 2007, the number
of car accident fatalities rose to 15. Surprisingly, although 2008 had
the fewest personal injuries in car accidents and the fewest total car
accidents, it had the highest number of deaths. Nineteen people died in
car wrecks on Barrow County roads in 2008. The number mercifully dropped
in 2009, when 12 people died on Barrow County roads.
The majority of car accidents in Barrow County cluster along two major
thoroughfares.
A large number of deaths in car accidents occurred along Georgia State
Road 211, which runs northwest out of Winder, before Highway 211 hits
Broadway Avenue/Georgia State Road 124. The other major area for fatal
car crashes occurred along Interstate 29, running near Bethlehem. A number
of the fatal car wrecks happen in the area where Interstate Highway 29
intersects with State Road 81. State Road 324, which runs through Auburn,
Carl, Russell, and Statham, and just south of Winder, had a significant
number of fatal car accidents as well. One fatal car crash occurred on
Dee Kennedy Rd. in 2008. Surprisingly, no car accidents occurred along
the small section of I-85 that runs through the northwest section of Barrow County.
I already knew as a
Georgia car accident lawyer that accidents can happen anywhere, but I was still sad to note that a
fatal car accident had occurred along virtually every major road in Barrow
County. State Road 53 and Highway 11 coming north out of Winder had fatal
car accidents. State Road 82 heading east out of Winder had several fatal
car accidents.