Georgia Injury Law Blog
The Georgia State Patrol has been steadily losing staff numbers, and there are fears that an understaffed agency could mean a higher risk of auto accidents on our already dangerous highways. When there are less police officers on the road to deter speeding and reckless driving, this conduct will only increase leading to more car accidents and pedestrian accidents.
According to reports, the Georgia State Patrol has been steadily and consistently losing staff members over recent years. In April 2022, the Georgia State Patrol had a total of 828 troopers. However, just a few months later in January 2023, that number had dropped to just 783.
This decline in staffing numbers at the Georgia State Patrol has been evident for a while now. Even as the number of vehicles on Georgia highways has increased exponentially, the number of troopers responsible for keeping these highways safe and responding to car accidents has not kept pace. For example, in 1977, 524 Georgia State Patrol troopers were assigned to keep motorists safe on the highways and respond to accident crises. In 2023, at one point, there were just 497 Georgia State Patrol troopers assigned to the highways, lower than they were at least 45 years ago. These 497 troopers were in charge of maintaining safety on highways that have a far denser population of motor vehicles than they had in 1977.