Distracted Driving & Disregard of Seat Belt Laws Led to Increase of 2016 GA Death Toll
Georgia continues to be plagued by distracted and irresponsible drivers who put themselves and others at increased risk. Georgia increased again in 2016, just as they had the year before, after consistently falling each year between 2006 and 2014. Fatalities on Georgia roadways topped 1,450 in 2016, surpassing the 1,432 deaths that occurred in 2015. Georgia's Department of Transportation and Georgia's state police indicated that the primary reasons for this increase were distracted driving and the lack of seatbelts, notwithstanding that Georgia has enacted laws intended to minimize both.