As you all know, on Sunday, November 2, 2025, Atlantans and most cities in the United States 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, has documented increases in car and truck accidents with many fatalities.
According to data from the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Crash Data Dashboard, the week after the daylight-saving time “fall back” sees a 9–14% rise in traffic crashes across the twenty counties within the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) area. From 2019 to 2023, the first full workweek under Standard Time averaged 1,942 injury-related accidents, which is 312 more than the week before the time change. Nearly 68% of those crashes occurred between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., as early nightfall blankets major routes such as I-285, I-75, and the Downtown Connector. The combination of Atlanta’s steep terrain, congested traffic, and diverse commuting patterns intensifies what is typically a national concern into a significant local problem.
In Atlanta and surrounding areas, sunset shifts dramatically—from about 6:00 p.m. this evening to around 5:00 p.m. by the following Monday. That one-hour change means many commuters who once left Georgia 400 in the fading daylight now find themselves merging onto the Perimeter in complete darkness. Although headlights should be standard at that hour, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety reports that nearly one-third of vehicles on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard at dusk have at least one headlight out. The risk to pedestrians also climbs sharply—the Atlanta Regional Commission notes a 41% increase in pedestrian fatalities during the first week of November, with 74% occurring on major roads without sidewalks, such as Buford Highway, where an estimated 2,800 residents per mile cross multiple lanes during twilight.
Here are some practical steps to lower your chances of incidents:
- Turn on headlights by 4 p.m. — Data from GDOT indicates that doing so can reduce crash rates by about 15%.
- Keep your windshield spotless, inside and out.
- Plan for extra travel time early in the week. Extending your commute by 25 minutes Monday through Wednesday can help you avoid the most dangerous dusk hours.
- Check GA-511 for real-time deer crossing alerts, a new feature launching in 2025.
- Give kids inexpensive LED slap bracelets—about $3 each. Programs like Safe Routes to School have shown these visibility tools can cut potential injuries among children by as much as 50%.
If you or a loved one is involved in a car accident, call Southside Injury Attorneys for a free consultation (866-982-5295) and visit our car accident lawyers page for more information.
Also, for a more in-depth look at the risks and statistics surrounding the end of daylight-saving time in Atlanta, check out this blog.
