Jordan Hanham, a freshman at Mercer University, was involved in a fatal car accident near Atlanta in Feb. 2023. Because of the accident, Hanham says she’s very aware of the vehicles around her.
Hanham now believes construction traffic, combined with distracted drivers adds increased danger to Macon roadways.
“Almost like three times a week, I’m constantly having to avoid getting hit,” Hanham said. “I’ll have to move into the shoulder to avoid a car behind me that isn’t paying attention to what’s happening.”
Macon-Bibb County is home to roughly 156,000 people, and roads running through the county see accidents commonly. Accidents range from minor scratches to fatal crashes.
Though Hanham is concerned with the safety of construction zones, only 22 out of the 254 fatal accidents in Macon from 2016 to 2022 occurred in those zones.
There are more than a dozen road projects currently active in Macon-Bibb and the number of fatal accidents has only increased since 2018.
So, who is getting into fatal accidents in Macon-Bibb County, and why?
Gina Snider, Georgia Department of Transportation’s district communication officer for Macon-Bibb County, points to distracted driving as one of the biggest dangers on Georgia roadways.
“Please don’t text and drive,” Snider said. “Make sure that you’re not, you know, talking on the phone and then using one hand drive. And always try to be alert.”
From 2016 to 2022 there were 254 fatal crashes in Macon, 89 were on county roads and 163 were on state roads.
Additionally, the majority of fatal accidents from 2016 to 2022 occurred in dry road conditions. Out of the total fatal accidents over a six-year-period, 62.2% were not a collision with another vehicle.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, 2021 saw a jump in fatal crashes from 36 to 46 in Macon while the total number of crashes decreased from 2020 to 2021, according to the GDOT Crash Data Dashboard.
“After the pandemic, we have seen an increase in people just not driving responsibly in general,” Snider said.
She says the issue is not confined to any particular type of driver or age group. “People, they don’t wear their seat belts. A lot of times, whether you’re young or old. And even in the back seat, people are not wearing their seatbelts,” Snider said.
According to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, distracted driving due to phone usage and social media has increased through many age ranges.
“Distracted Driving is a big issue,” said Sergeant Christopher Williams in an email. “Although this tends to be more prevalent with teenagers and young adults, now with the growing popularity of social media, the age range increases.”
According to data from GDOT, between the ages of 15-98, only 15.7% of drivers involved in fatal accidents were between the ages of 15-24. Drivers between the ages of 55-64 share a similar 15.4% involvement in crashes with fatalities.
As for accidents in construction zones, Snider says the biggest safety concern and best ways to stay safe are “just people being alert, and not staying off their mobile devices. Making sure they’re slowing down, making sure they are aware that there are actual people working in those zones.”
