The Dangers of Driving in Atlanta When Daylight Savings Time Ends

The Dangers of Driving in Atlanta When Daylight Savings Time Ends

A bit off topic from the Georgia Dog Bite Lawyer, but as equally important as other safety blog posts on this website, are the safety concerns to be considered while driving in the week or two after Daylight Savings Time ends this coming weekend.  As you all know, on Sunday, November 2, 2025, Atlantans will set clocks back one hour, ending Daylight Saving Time (DST) and ushering in Standard Time. The extra hour of sleep sounds welcome, but for the metro area’s 6.3 million residents and 11.5 million daily vehicle trips, the transition is a documented killer. The week following the fall-back produces a 9 to 14 percent surge in crashes across the twenty-county Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) footprint, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Crash Data Dashboard. Between 2019 and 2023, the first Monday through Friday of Standard Time averaged 1,942 injury collisions—312 more than the preceding week—with 68 percent clustered between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. when darkness now engulfs I-285, I-75, and the Downtown Connector. Atlanta’s unique blend of topography, traffic density, and demographics turns a national hazard into a regional catastrophe.

Sunset in Atlanta drops from approximately 6:00 p.m. this Friday to approximately 5:00  p.m. the following Monday.  Commuters who exited Georgia 400 in fading light now merge into the Perimeter at full night. GDOT’s 2023 probe data show average speeds on I-285 fall from 42 mph to 29 mph between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. post-switch as drivers squint through unlit construction zones. Headlight use should be universal, yet the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety cites 31 percent of vehicles on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard at dusk with at least one burned-out lamp. Pedestrian risk skyrockets: the ARC reports a 41 percent jump in walker fatalities the first week of November, with 74 percent occurring on arterials lacking sidewalks—think Buford Highway, where 2,800 refugees per mile cross six lanes in twilight.

Dark adaptation lags biology. Emory University’s Sleep Center fitted 180 Atlanta drivers with pupilometers and found rod-cell sensitivity drops 22 percent in the first 25 minutes after leaving fluorescent-lit offices. At 55 mph on the Connector, that translates to an extra 38 feet of stopping distance. Glare from LED billboards along I-20 worsens the effect; a 2022 Georgia Tech study measured 1,800 nits of luminance—four times the recommended maximum—blinding southbound drivers entering the Grady Curve. Rear-end collisions on the Top End Perimeter spike 19 percent, per State Farm telematics pulled from 41,000 local policies.

Sleep debt is insidious. Although clocks gift an hour, a Grady Hospital survey of 1,100 shift workers found only 39 percent banked it; most stayed up past midnight Saturday watching football or tv, knowing they had an “extra” hour Sunday morning. Actigraph data from the same cohort showed 17-minute increases in microsleep (>2 seconds) on Monday morning commutes. Traveling at 65 mph on the Connector, two seconds covers 190 feet—enough to plow into stalled traffic near the 17th Street bridge. The Fulton County Medical Examiner logged 11 fatigue-related fatalities in the 2023 post-DST week, triple the October average.

In addition, deer collisions explode. Metro Atlanta sits in the whitetail urban interface; GDOT recorded 4,112 deer strikes in 2023, with 1,014—25 percent—occurring November 3–9. Sunset at 4:51 p.m. aligns with peak rut activity along GA-400 in Forsyth County and out I-20 in Douglas County.  Dashcam aggregates from State Farm show 68 percent of impacts between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., often triggering chain reactions in 70 mph traffic.

Infrastructure amplifies danger. Only 34 percent of ARC arterial miles have continuous street lighting; the unlit stretch of Moreland Avenue from I-20 to East Atlanta sees 2.3 pedestrian strikes per mile annually. MARTA buses run headsigns until 1 a.m., but 61 percent of stations lack crosswalks with countdown timers.  Construction barrels on the I-285/Ga-400 rebuild—scheduled through 2026—narrow lanes to 11 feet at dusk, forcing trucks into the same space as distracted drivers looking at their phones.  Smartphone addiction peaks. Cambridge Mobile Telematics analyzed 1.8 million Atlanta trips and found phone handling jumps 26 percent between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. post-switch, with the highest instances occurring on the Connector where drivers average 14 mph yet still scroll Instagram at red lights. GDOT’s wrong-way detection cameras on I-75/85 logged 42 incursions the first week of November 2023—double the norm—many linked to GPS rerouting in darkness.

Weather compounds everything. November ushers Atlanta’s rainiest stretch; the National Weather Service records 4.1 inches on average, with 68 percent of post-DST crashes involving wet pavement. Bald tires fail; Goodyear’s local service logs show 44 percent of vehicles on I-20 have tread below 4/32″ by November. Hydroplaning thresholds drop to 35 mph on some of Georgia’s most high speed roads.

Mitigation exists but lags adoption. GDOT’s “Dusk is Dangerous” PSAs air on the radio, yet only 29 percent of drivers recall them, per a 2024 ARC survey. Reflective vests distributed at Piedmont Park cost $1.50 and cut pedestrian risk 39 percent when worn by runners on the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail. Employers like Delta Air Lines implemented 4:30 p.m. Friday releases the first week of Standard Time, reducing employee crashes 31 percent. Cobb County installed solar crosswalk beacons on Powder Springs Road that boost visibility by 450 percent.

Policy gridlock stalls progress. Georgia’s legislature killed permanent DST in 2023 despite 67 percent public support in an AJC poll. A 30-minute “Georgia Time” compromise also failed to pass. Until change comes, drivers must self-correct.

Practical steps to lower your changes of incidents:

• Activate headlights at 4 p.m.—GDOT data show a 15 percent crash reduction.
• Clean windshields inside and out; pollen film cuts visibility 40 percent.
• Add 25 minutes to commutes Monday–Wednesday; each avoided dusk minute lowers severe-injury odds 4 percent.
• Use GA-511 for real-time deer alerts—new in 2025.
• Equip kids with $3 LED slap bracelets; Safe Routes to School cut potential injuries to children by up to 50 percent.

On November 3, 2025, the Connector will again crawl at 19 mph in darkness that arrived an hour early. By November 9, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Cobb coroners will likely record 18–22 additional traffic deaths, 1,100 injuries, and $180 million in economic loss. The hour Atlanta “gains” is a mirage; the dangers on Atlanta’s roads is real. Drive as if every shadow hides a pedestrian, every headlight could swerve, and every rain-slick curve is the last one you’ll ever take.