The Essential Georgia Car Insurance Guide [Quotes + Coverage]

Peanut farmers and Jimmy Carter. The busiest airport in the world and the Hollywood of the South. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Varied people, cultures, and backgrounds.

Welcome to the Peach State.

Georgia is the eighth-most populous state in the United States with just the 24th-largest landmass. It contains Atlanta, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the country with an airport that is seen as a worldwide hub.

And some of the best musicians to have ever lived like Ray Charles.

It’s all great and grand. Entwined in that is something not great and grand but incredibly useful. Like the airplanes that fly in and out of Atlanta, it is also fairly certain, like death and taxes.

It is car insurance.

If you’re on this page, you’re likely looking for car insurance for yourself, a family member, or a friend. We know car insurance is important to you. It offers financial protection in case of an accident. It provides the funds to repair your car, pay for hospital bills, and even replace your lost wages.

But you may have found in your research that car insurance can be confusing.

There are technical terms like “hard-braking incidents” and “telematics.” There are important differences between premiums and deductibles. There are acronyms like GAP and PIP.

We get it.

In this essential Georgia car insurance guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about car insurance in Georgia. This includes coverages, rates, companies, state laws, driving safely, and more.

By the end, you’ll be able to decide about which car insurance company to go for based on your financial situation and your needs.

Ready? Let’s head to stretch one.

Ready to compare rates? Try our FREE online tool!

Georgia Car Insurance Coverage & Rates

We understand how much coverages and rates are important. It’s hard to go with a company when they don’t have the coverages you’re looking for. And if rates are too high, you might go with another that has ones more affordable.

To that end, we’ve put together this section. It covers all the basic coverages, explains them, and covers lesser-known coverages like uninsured motorist and personal injury protection.

Rates in four different ways are covered, along with that hairy question of how much you’re paying for insurance as a percentage of your income.

It’s Georgia Car Insurance Coverage and Rates. Let’s start.

Georgia’s Car Culture

This information about the state of driving in Georgia comes from The Hartford.

Georgia is a study of contrasts when it comes to driving. There are the twists and bends of the Appalachian mountains to the north and the beautiful Atlantic coastline to the south. In between, you’ll find all the splendor of the lower south, its beautiful rolling hills, firm oak trees, and garden cities that are a living botany display.

When it comes to car insurance, things might be somewhat different.

Georgians drive almost 19,000 miles per year, which is almost 10,000 more than the average American. This distance can get reflected in rates, as a larger annual mileage generally means a higher premium.

Georgia urbanites tend to get into more crashes. But these crashes are much less severe than the ones that occur in rural areas, which in the past has resulted in more rural fatalities than urban.

Texting and driving, which has been illegal in Georgia since 2010, has caused problems.

In response, police have started sting operations. These operations involve a police officer pretending to be a construction worker. They see the distracted driving, radio up ahead, where another police officer pulls the person over.

That, and there’s a flat-tax on gas, increasing prices.

However, Georgia has some advantages when it comes to car insurance compared to some of its neighboring states. This includes rates and the main companies’ financial ratings.

Georgia Minimum Coverage

Georgia law requires drivers to have car insurance. The Georgia Department of Insurance writes, “Georgia consumers must have automobile liability insurance for at least the minimum limits required by law to drive on the Georgia public roads and highways.”

According to NOLO, a legal authority, the Georgia minimum car insurance requirements are 25/50/25.

• $25,000 for the injury or death of one person
• $50,000 for the injuries or deaths of more than one person
• $25,000 for property damage

These are referred to as liability insurances and they serve an important function.

If you’re in an accident that you caused, liability insurance kicks in. If your coverage limits are high enough, you won’t have to pay a dime for any injuries you caused to the other person(s) or their vehicle(s).

Sometimes minimum coverage isn’t enough to cover all the damages, which is why you would want to look at the coverage level. We’ll cover this later in the coverage level rates section.

Minimum insurance is there just to get you on the road and to make sure you don’t have problems if you’re pulled over by a police officer and are driving without insurance.

Forms of Financial Responsibility

If you have insurance in Georgia, the law requires you to have proof of it at all times behind the wheel. The acceptable proofs of insurance are listed on Georgia’s Department of Revenue page.

• Proof of insurance, filed by your insurance company, in the Department of Revenue’s database
• The rental agreement for a vehicle that is rented, not leased
• Fleet Insurance Policy Card
• Bill of Sale, dated within 30 days of the date the vehicle was purchased, and a valid insurance binder page
• A valid Self-Insured Insurance Card and a Certificate of Self-Insurance
• Valid Insurance policy information card for Georgia International Registration Plan

Your standard insurance card will also work. You can also use an electronic ID card as proof, according to Allstate.

Premiums as a Percentage of Income

Rates matter. But there’s a side of it that matters more. That is, how much you’re paying for your car insurance as a percentage of your income.

If you’re in Georgia, you’re statistically paying more for your premiums as a percentage of your income than the average person nationwide.

These numbers come from our partner Quadrant, which has the insider track on the insurance industry. All raw numbers about car insurance rates come from them, and the numbers are taken from legitimate, purchased policies.

Broken down, if the average person nationwide had a $50,000 and was paying 2.4 percent of that on car insurance, they would pay $1,200. A person in Georgia would pay $1,435. The difference is a minor car repair payment.

However, Georgia stacks up much better against its neighboring states.

In the same example, Florida prices are much higher than the rest of the states.

• Georgia: $1,435
• Alabama: $1,250
• Florida: $1,575
• South Carolina: $1,405

There’s a $325 split between Alabama and Florida. The premium as a percentage of income often reflects overall rates in a state, whether they are higher or lower than the rest of the country.

These rates can vary according to legal structure, the number of accidents, and insurance requirements.

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Average Monthly Car Insurance Rates in GA (Liability, Collision, Comprehensive)

The element H2 is an apt analogy for core coverage. You have your neutron, which is liability insurance. It’s the heaviest. Then you have two smaller parts (the protons). Those are collision and comprehensive.

Your average monthly car insurance rates may not increase as much as you might think by adding additional coverage like comprehensive. Review rates for auto insurance coverage below:

What are collision and comprehensive insurances?

• Collision insurance protects your car in any collision. This includes accidents and hitting debris on the road.
• Comprehensive insurance protects your car in an incident that’s not a collision. This includes weather damage and theft.

As already seen, Georgia’s premium as a percentage of income is higher than the nationwide average. So, what about the rates?

Just by $39. Some insurances are more expensive than others and represent how much the particular insurance is covering and the likelihood you’ll make a claim with that insurance.

For instance, liability covers bodily harm and property damage, while collision just covers property damage to your car. Comprehensive covers slightly less frequent situations, and for that reason might be priced cheaper.

Additional Liability

Three insurances are considered basic and frequently offered by auto insurance companies.

Those are personal injury protection (PIP), uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM), and medical payments (MedPay).

• Personal injury protection: reimburses you for medical bills and lost wages as a result of a covered incident
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist: protects you when you’re hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver
• Medical payments: reimburses you for medical bills as a result of a covered incident

You might ask, however, “How often do insurance companies pay out on these claims?” For an answer to that, we turn to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

The NAIC is composed of the insurance commissioners of each state. These commissioners regulate rates through several means. As an organization, the NAIC creates statistics and materials for the average consumer. One of those is the loss ratio.

The loss ratio is a statistic that shows how often a company is paying out on claims. It does this by weighing the number of approved claims against the number of premiums, showing if a company is losing money or not paying out.

Most companies are somewhere in between. For Georgia, we found loss ratio data for MedPay and UM/UIM. Anything above one and the company is losing money. Anything below 0.5 and the company might not be paying out on claims.

Anything between 0.6 and 0.8 is the sweet spot. In Georgia, the numbers are a little high.

All numbers are above the sweet spot. There’s a big jump at the end for UM/UIM at 0.94.

Add-ons, Endorsements, & Riders

If you’re looking for additional insurances, there are several that an insurance company can offer you. These include rare insurances like classic car insurance or mechanical breakdown insurance.

• Guaranteed Auto Protection (GAP)
• Personal Umbrella Policy (PUP)
• Rental Reimbursement
• Emergency Roadside Assistance
• Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
• Non-Owner Car Insurance
• Modified Car Insurance Coverage
• Classic Car Insurance
• Pay-As-You-Drive or Usage-Based Insurance (check for state-specific laws)

For a detailed explanation of each insurance, click on its link.

Average Monthly Car Insurance Rates by Age & Gender in GA

Car insurance factors vary for numerous reasons. One of those is gender.

Car insurance companies believe, perhaps erroneously, that being a certain gender makes you a better driver. Or, more accurately, makes you less likely to file claims.

In the past, females have received better rates than males. However, this has changed slightly over the past few years. Even further, some states are now doing away with using gender as a factor to determine rates.

Georgia, however, is not one of those states.

Car insurance factors can also vary according to age and marital status. Age, because young drivers are less experienced and more prone to risk-taking than older drivers. Marital status, because it is seen as a sign of stability, life and financial.

The spread is significant. The highest rates overall are for a 17-year-old male at $25,000 with Safeco. The lowest rates overall are for a 60-year-old female at $1,640 with USAA.

Overall, the rates drop with each age group. The only company that doesn’t vary rates according to gender is Allstate within the 35- and 60-year-old age groups.

Cheapest Rates by Zip Code

Car insurance rates can vary according to zip code as well, even if those zip codes boundaries divide a neighborhood. Why?

Car insurance companies look at numerous factors when setting rates. The main overarching principle is how likely a person is to file a claim. Certain zip codes, according to car insurance companies, are associated with more claims than others.

This can be from vehicle thefts, more accidents, or telematic issues like more hard-braking incidents.

Like with gender, some states are doing away with using zip codes to set rates. Like with gender, some may see this factor in setting rates as arbitrary with little basis on how someone drives. Georgia, however, is not one of those states. Search for your zip code in the box.

Average Rates for Top 10 Cities

Urban cities often have higher rates than rural areas. This is because urban driving poses a higher degree of challenges compared to rural driving. This includes more traffic and more driving decisions to make. The top 10 most populous cities in a state often have the highest rates. Is this the case in Georgia?

It is not the case. Some cities like Atlanta and its surrounding cities in Sandy Springs and Johns Creek have some of the highest rates. But large cities like August and Athens have some of the lowest.

Cheapest Rates by City

From the cheapest city to the most expensive, there is Moody Air Force Base at $4,000 compared to Clarkson at $6,900. Search for your city in the box below.

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Best Georgia Car Insurance Companies

Coverages are important. However, the companies that offer them are important, too. How important?

Imagine you come across a company and you love their coverages. The rates are good, the coverage limits are nice, and you’re getting a really good deal. But what you don’t know may surprise you. That company is swimming in debt, has a poor financial rating, and might go bankrupt in the next three months.

There’s that, and much more.

Finding the right company is important to you, that much we know. Whether it’s the customer service or the ease of managing your account or the discounts they offer, the right one can make all the difference.

We understand because we’ve gone through it ourselves.

Here, we’ve got the top companies in Georgia, their financial ratings, their customer service satisfaction ratings, and the number of complaints filed against them. And, of course, their rates.

Let’s head into stretch two.

The Largest Companies’ Financial Rating

Each company we’ll look at in this section has a financial rating. These financial ratings are similar to your credit score. They look at how much debt each company has versus how much revenue it is bringing in.

As such, it’s at risk at defaulting on its debt or not honoring its insurance obligations. These insurance obligations can range from providing customer service to fulfilling claims.

These financial ratings are from A.M. Best, an international credit rating agency.

Any company with an A is considered to have an “excellent ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations” according to the A.M. Best financial strength rating guide. Safeco is that company.

Any companies with a + notch next to the A is considered to have a “superior ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations.” These are the rest of the companies.

Geico, State Farm, and USAA have the highest possible rating with an A++.

Companies with Best Ratings

J.D. Power does a study each year analyzing the customer satisfaction of the top companies across the United States. They do this in terms of individual companies and within regions.

For this, we looked at the southeast region, which included Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

From its study, we took the top companies in Georgia. The higher the number and the number of power circles, the better.

Most of the companies are clustered in the middle, with two standouts at the top and one far behind.

• Two standouts: USAA and State Farm
• Clustered in the middle: Geico, Safeco, Nationwide, and Progressive
• Far behind: Allstate

The three highest are USAA, State Farm, and Geico, which also have the highest financial ratings.

Companies with Most Complaints in Georgia

To look at the complaints per company in Georgia, we turn to the National Alliance of Insurance Commissioners again. Along with the loss ratio from earlier, it has a statistic called the complaint index.

This is a ratio between the number of premiums written and the number of complaints. The higher the index, the more complaints a company has compared to its market share.

Like with customer service rankings, the complaint index rankings can be split into a high group, a mid group, and a low group.

• High group: Safeco, Allstate, USAA
• Mid group: Geico, Progressive
• Low group: State Farm, Nationwide

Nationwide’s and State Farm’s indexes are much lower than the rest, both with the number of complaints much smaller than its overall market share. Safeco has the third-lowest number of complaints, but its market share is so small that its complaint index is the highest.

Cheapest Companies in Georgia

When it comes to companies, we know rates matter. They can be a make or break when considering which insurance company to go for. So, which companies are the cheapest in Georgia?

There are two above average and five below average.

• Above average: Safeco and Nationwide
• Below average: Geico, USAA, State Farm, Allstate, Progressive

The most expensive is Safeco at $10,050. It is around $7,000 more expensive than Geico, which is at $3,000.

The cheapest three are Geico, USAA, and State Farm. Each is at or over 46 percent cheaper than the state average.

Commute Rates by Companies

Car insurance rates can also vary by commute distance or annual mileage. The idea is that the longer you are behind the wheel, the more likely you are to get a ticket, accident, or file a claim. But not all companies vary their rates by commute distance or average mileage. In Georgia, there is a mix.

The companies that change their rates are Allstate, USAA, and Geico. The largest difference in rates is USAA, with a $300 difference between a 10-mile commute and a 25-mile commute.

Liberty Mutual (owner of Safeco), Nationwide, Progressive, and State Farm don’t change their rates.

Coverage Level Rates by Companies

Rates can vary by coverage levels as well. A coverage level is the amount of coverage or protection you have with your insurance plan. It varies according to two parts.

• Amount of coverage: If you have collision insurance on top of liability insurance, you’ll have more coverage
• Coverage limits: If your liability policy is $50,000 versus $25,000, you’ll have more coverage

Some companies vary their rates between a high coverage level and a low coverage level by just a couple hundred dollars. For other companies, it’s much more.

The two most expensive companies have the largest and smallest differences between high-level and low-level coverages.

• Liberty Mutual, the most expensive company, has a $900 difference.
• Nationwide, the second-most-expensive company, has a $250 difference.

The rest are between $300 – $800 in their price differences.

Credit History Rates by Companies

Car insurance rates can vary according to credit history, as well. Insurance companies believe your credit history influences how likely you are to file a claim. They don’t use your credit score, however, according to Consumer Reports.

In Georgia, rates for poor credit history can be thousands of dollars higher than rates for good credit history.

The company with the largest difference between good credit history and poor credit history is Liberty Mutual at $7,500. The company with the smallest difference is Progressive at $1,000.

In Georgia, rates for poor credit history are about $2,600 more than rates for good credit history.

• Fair (580 – 669): $4,535.83
• Good (670 – 739): $3,886.98
• Poor (300 – 579): $6,477.68

The numbers used are FICO scores. Keep in mind insurance companies don’t use the score itself. They hand-pick items from that score. The more positive items you have, the likelier you are to get a lower rate.

Driving Record Rates by Companies

Car insurance rates can vary according to your driving record, as well. If you’re a good driver and use a telematics system offered by your company, you can get discounts on your rates. If you’ve had an accident or two, a DUI, or a speeding ticket, your rates can go up by the hundreds, if not the thousands, of dollars.

Certain companies are friendlier than others when it comes to certain infractions.

• The best company for one accident: Geico at +$500 in rates
• The best company for one DUI: State Farm at +$300 in rates
• The best company for one speeding ticket: Allstate at +$200 in rates

Averaged out, the rates for each infraction show which has the most financial penalty.

• Clean record: $3,872.55
• With One Accident: $5,300.62
• With OneDUI: $6,081.03
• With One Speeding Ticket: $4,613.12

DUIs have the largest penalty, about $2,200 above a clean record. One accident is a distant second, about $800 less than a DUI. One speeding ticket is an even more distant third, $1,450 less than a DUI and $700 less than an accident.

Largest Car Insurance Companies in Georgia

The largest companies in Georgia are the largest companies overall in the United States. Only the percentages are changed, and just really with one.

The biggest change comes from State Farm, which has 22 percent of the market share in Georgia, but around 17 percent nationwide. Progressive, Allstate, and USAA all have market shares slightly about their nationwide numbers.

Geico has a little less.

Number of Insurers by Georgia

What is the difference between a domestic insurer and a foreign insurer?

A domestic insurer is a company founded in the state that solely does business in that state. Think of your mom and pop insurance company. There are 23 in Georgia.

A foreign insurer is a company not founded in the state but does business in the state. Think of your State Farms and Geicos. There are 988 in Georgia.

There is no difference legally between the two. The difference, mainly, is that if you were to move, you’d have trouble taking a plan with a domestic insurer. You’d be more likely able to with a foreign insurer.

Georgia Laws

You may have found yourself pulled over for breaking a law you didn’t know existed. You may have wondered about the consequences of smoking marijuana and driving. You might ask yourself, “Where are the state laws?”

State laws are difficult to understand and difficult to find. You might find yourself poring over legislative documents like Gandalf searching for the account of Isildur in Gondor.

It may give you a headache to search for them. That’s why we’ve put together this section. It covers four aspects of state laws that live in the legalese. They are car insurance laws, vehicle licensing laws, rules of the road, and safety laws.

Knowing them is the difference between a safe ride home and a ticket. Let’s get started. We’re heading into stretch three.

Car Insurance Laws

Car insurance laws can be frustrating. There are laws for everything from windshield repair to how long you can sue someone, and it’s tough to find all of those in one place.

Here, we’ve got everything from windshield repair laws to the statute of limitations, from how state laws are determined to high-risk insurance. And a couple more car insurance law topics thrown in.

Let’s start down stretch three.

How State Laws for Insurance are Determined

Car insurance is required by almost every state. So, it would seem that companies would be able to charge what they want and get away with it. After all, you can’t exactly opt out of car insurance.

Fortunately, there are regulations in place to stop that from happening.

They come from the insurance departments (or similar departments) in every state. Each state has its own laws regulating insurance rates.

According to the NAIC, states use one of seven options for regulating rates. Those are determined by the commissioner, prior approval, modified prior approval, flex rating, file and use, use and file, and no file. It writes for Georgia, “Regarding rate filings, prior approval for statutory coverages only; all other coverages will be file and use.”

File and use is a method by which insurance companies submit their rates to the state department before putting them into use. While specific approval is not required, their rates are known.

Windshield Coverage

Windshields are indispensable parts of cars. Without them, we wouldn’t be protected from flying rocks, other debris, or having the wind in our faces.

YourMechanic has a list of requirements for windshields, according to Georgia law.

• Any car that is driven on the roadways must have a windshield
• All vehicles are required to have wipers that are controlled by the driver to remove rain, sleet, snow, and other moisture
• Windshields must be made of safety glass

When it comes to windshield repair, CarWindshields.info states that an insurer may use after-market products to repair your vehicle. You can choose whether to use OEM products but must pay the difference.

When it comes to the repair shop, you can choose your own. However, if the cost of the repairs exceeds that of the insurer’s repair shop, you’ll need to pay the difference again.

High-Risk Insurance

If you’re convicted of driving without insurance, of driving under the influence, or of having too many serious traffic violations, you might be labeled a high-risk driver. That means you might be required to get an SR-22.

An SR-22 is a certificate of insurance, similar to a financial form of responsibility. It is issued by an insurance company and states that you have insurance. It may cost a little extra to get it and can hike your rates.

If you’re labeled a high-risk driver, you might have trouble finding insurance on the voluntary market. Often, in these cases, states have special last-ditch markets set-up where high-risk drivers can find insurance.

In Georgia, that is the Georgia Automobile Insurance Plan.

Low-Cost Insurance

Georgia does not have a low-cost insurance program. Only Hawaii, New Jersey, and California do.

Automobile Insurance Fraud in Georgia

According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), 10 percent of the annual losses of insurance companies come from fraud. From 2013 – 2017, this was estimated at $30 billion per year. This type of fraud, resulting from both consumers and possibly independent agents, as well, happens in numerous ways.

The III writes, “Common frauds include ‘padding,’ or inflating actual claims; misrepresenting facts on an insurance application; submitting claims for injuries or damage that never occurred, services never rendered or equipment never delivered; and ‘staging’ accidents.”

The reverse can also happen, of course, when insurance companies or agents defraud consumers. While these situations are a little less well-known, it can happen when agents lie to prospective customers, for one example.

Georgia has set up a Criminal Investigations Division to handle fraud cases. If you suspect fraud and want to report it, there are two options.

You can call the Fraud Unit of the Office of Commissioner of Insurance at 1-404-232-1212. You can use its online fraud reporting system with the NAIC.

Statute of Limitations

If you’re in an accident, one of the options you have to recoup damages is to sue in court. In Georgia, there are specific time limits you have to file a case. These are part of the statute of limitations.

According to NOLO, the time limit a person has to file a personal injury case is two years. For property damage, it’s four years.

The time starts ticking the moment the accident happens.

State-Specific Laws

Georgia has a rather unique way of someone proving they have insurance. This is through a self-insurance certificate, which states that a person has enough funds to cover the basic coverage limits of an insurance policy.

The numbers behind this for private passenger auto drivers are a little fuzzy. However, people operating commercial businesses like taxi cabs must put down a cash deposit of at least $100,000 to the commissioner.

An additional $300,000 must be invested in various assets.

Vehicle Licensing Laws

Vehicle licensing laws may be the blandest of state laws, similar to adding almond milk to russet mashed potatoes. But they’re important. Without them, a driving system wouldn’t function. And if you don’t know the laws, you risk fines. And in the case of the last section, possible time in jail.

We have put together this easy section with explanations about everything from licensing requirements to new resident procedures.

Ready? Let’s give it some gas.

REAL ID

The REAL ID Act was enacted in 2005, a response to the September 11th attacks where hijackers boarded planes using fake IDs. The Act stipulated that states needed to upgrade their licensing systems, providing security-enhanced IDs.

The Act was not followed for several years before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took over enforcement. It set deadlines for compliance with the Act starting in 2009, with most states asking for extensions.

What are the consequences of not following the act?

For the citizens of a state, they won’t have access to security-enhanced IDs, which will keep them from gaining entry into federal facilities like nuclear power plants. Then there is the issue of flying domestically.

As the DHS notes in its press release about Real ID–compliance, starting on October 1, 2020, all travelers will be required to show a REAL ID–compliant driver’s license or other acceptable documentation to fly domestically.

For the citizens without REAL ID, they would need to use another form of identification other than their driver’s license or state ID to fly domestically. So, the question becomes, “Is Georgia complaint?”

The answer, from the DHS, is yes.

In Georgia, the terminology is a “secured ID” rather than a REAL ID. If you’re unsure of which one you have, look at the start at the star at the top right corner. If it’s black, you have a regular ID. If it’s gold, you have a secured ID.

If you want to get a secured ID, you need to complete an application and go to a Georgia Department of Driver Services Customer Service Center. You’ll need the following additional documents.

• Proof of identity
• Proof of social security number
• Two documents showing Georgia residency
• Any documents needed to show name change or gender change

Patch Media notes that Georgia authorities have reminded citizens to get their secured IDs before the national deadline. Other states are doing the same, saying the lines might be long at that time.

Penalties for Driving Without Insurance

Penalties for driving without insurance can be stiff in some states, with possible fines, jail time, and license suspensions. Georgia is a little lighter on the penalties.

There are some small fines, mostly to get the registration active again so you can get on the road. As of our research, however, there is no jail time or license suspension.

Teen Driver Laws

If you’re a teenager, getting your license might feel like a great day. You now have the freedom to go wherever you want to in the city, provided you have a car. For a parent, you might be slightly nervous.

After all, teenagers don’t have the greatest track records when driving. However, fortunately, there are driving licensing laws that restrict what age someone can get a license and what kind of practice they need before applying.

The minimum age to get a learner’s permit is 15. The minimum amount of supervised driving before someone can get a license is 40 hours, six of which must be at night.

There are numerous passenger restrictions when someone has a restricted driver’s license. There are also hours restrictions between midnight and 5 a.m., which is when a large number of fatal accidents happen.

Older Driver License Renewal Procedures

Older drivers face unique challenges on the road according to the National Institute on Aging. It lists five that older drivers should watch out for when driving.

• Stiff joints and muscles
• Trouble seeing
• Trouble hearing
• Slower reaction time and reflexes
• Medications

Many states have separate licensing procedures for older drivers. Is this the case in Georiga?

Mail or online renewal is not permitted for drivers aged 64 and older. We’ll see about the rest when we get to the license renewal procedures for the general driving population.

New Residents

You’re moving to the Peach State. Congratulations! Before you check out all those rolling hills or drive along the Atlantic coast, you’ll need to do a few things. Most notably, get a new DL and register your car.

In Georgia, you are required to get a new driver’s license in 30 days according to Georgia.gov. To do this, you want to go to a Department of Driver Services Customer Service Center and present four documents or items.

• Your current, out-of-state driver’s license
• Proof of social security number
• Two proofs of Georgia residency
• Proof of identity

Georgia.gov writes, “You’ll be required to hand over your former license, pay the license fee, and receive a temporary license…Just a few weeks later, your permanent license will arrive by mail.”

From there, you’ll go to a County Tax Commissioner’s Office to register your vehicle. The process takes three steps.

• Fill out an application for a title and license plate
• Present proof of insurance
• Pay for your registration, title, and one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax

Then you’re good to go.

License Renewal Procedures

License renewal procedures for the general population are similar to that of the older population.

The difference is that the general population has the option of renewing their license online every other renewal.

Reckless Driving

Reckless driving is defined in Georgia Statute 40-6-390 as “Any person who drives any vehicle in reckless disregard for the safety of persons or property….”

The Dixon Law Firm, based in Atlanta, lists numerous behaviors that might be considered reckless.

• Speeding
• Weaving through traffic
• Using the shoulder or emergency lane to pass
• Failure to obey traffic signals
• Failure to yield to signs, signals, or crosswalks
• Aggressively tailgating (following too closely)
• Driving too fast for weather or road conditions
• Texting, eating, reading, or being otherwise distracted

It is considered a misdemeanor with punishments of up to 12 months in prison and a fine not exceeding $1,000. In addition, four points can be added to your driving record and you can face a jump in insurance premiums.

Rules of the Road

We know that the rules of the road are important. Whether you’re in an at-fault state or a no-fault state, how fast you can legally go on the roads, what the ridesharing services are, all affect your time on the road.

Believe us, we understand. Let’s get started.

Fault vs. No-Fault

Georgia is considered an at-fault state.

In an at-fault state, the person who is determined at-fault or who caused the accident is responsible for all the damages, both to property and the medical bills of the other driver or their passengers.

Usually, this means the person’s insurance company will handle the damages. However, if that person doesn’t have insurance, then they will be personally responsible.

Sounds simple, right? But here’s where it gets more complicated. Georgia is considered a modified comparative fault state, according to Spaulding Injury Law. This means that a certain percentage of blame is assigned to each driver.

Take, for instance, a situation where someone was hit while trying to merge into a lane. They weren’t using their blinker, but the person who hit them was speeding. Each driver would be assigned a percentage of the blame.

The person who was speeding might be assigned a 90 percent blame. And the person who was not using their blinker assigned 10 percent.

While the person who was not using their blinker might not be found at-fault, their overall claim reward might be reduced by 10 percent, or the amount they were found at-fault.

This matters for insurance companies who are looking to award claims. As Spaulding Injury Law writes, “The other driver’s insurance company might claim that you were partly at-fault in an accident, but if no settlement of the case can be reached, the final decisions are made only by a jury.”

Georgia is one of 33 states that employ some kind of modified comparative rule.

Seat Belt & Car Seat Laws

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seat belts saved an estimated 15,000 lives in 2017. There are seat belt laws in Georgia to that effect.

All minors are required to wear seat belts. Those 18 and over are only required to wear them in the front seats. There are also regulations where toddlers and infants can sit in cars.

There are some for both size and age.

Keep Right & Move Over Laws

Georgia rules of the road are spelled out in State Statute 40-6-40. It reads that all vehicles should be driven on the right-hand side of the road with a few exceptions.

• When overtaking a vehicle
• When there is an obstruction in the road
• When there are three lanes of traffic
• When the road is a one-way road

It also reads that “upon all roadways, any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall be driven in the right-hand lane then available for traffic…”

In addition, “No two vehicles shall impede the normal flow of traffic by traveling side by side at the same time while in adjacent lanes….” And most drivers out there rejoice.

Speed Limits

According to the NHTSA, speeding contributed to 9,700 deaths in 2017, accounting for over 25 percent of all traffic fatalities. There are speed limit laws in Georgia to prevent this.

70 mph on interstates, 65 mph on other roads.

Ridesharing

If you’re ridesharing, you may have had questions about your insurance. You may have heard that you’re covered under your regular insurance plan, but are unsure if this is true. After all, there are stories of some drivers’ claims being denied because they were ridesharing.

To combat this confusion, some of the larger insurance companies have started offering specific ridesharing insurance. Five companies do this in Georgia.

• Allstate
• Farmers
• Geico
• State Farm
• USAA

Each company’s insurance is different than the others’. For instance, some companies will offer full blanket coverage, while others offer usage-based insurance.

Some insurances will cover specific situations, like getting a passenger from Point A to Point B. There’s may offer more or less. Talk to your agent for more information.

Automation on the Road

Automation on the road is here in some respects, such as the electronic monitoring systems in your cars.

Fully autonomous vehicles might be a few years out, but states have already been preparing for them, especially by passing laws that restrict or regulate autonomous vehicles.

Georgia has, as well.

Deployment is permitted and liability insurance is required.

Safety Laws

States have enacted laws to deter people from committing crimes while driving behind the wheel. These include drinking and driving, smoking pot and driving, and texting and driving.

Bear with us, we know this is a lot of information. Last call for state laws.

DUI Laws

According to the NHTSA, every 48 minutes in 2017 someone died as the result of drinking and driving. Overall, alcohol-related deaths accounted for 10,000 fatalities every year from 2006 – 2016.

It is the leading cause of traffic fatalities in the United States. In Georgia, DUIs are governed by a network of laws and regulations that cover everything from threshold limits to jail times.

For a lower DUI, the threshold limit is .08 BAC. That is less than one beer in a person’s system. If you blow this in a breathalyzer or higher, you can be convicted of a DUI.

For a more serious DUI, the threshold limit is .15 BAC. That’s about a beer and a half in your system before you drive. These DUIs have higher penalties than regular DUIs, generally speaking.

The classifications of the DUI crimes range from misdemeanors to felonies.

• First two: misdemeanors
• Third: a high and aggravated misdemeanor
• Fourth and above: felonies

When it comes to removing a DUI from your record, the lookback or washout period in Georgia is 10 years. That means it takes 10 years for a DUI to be removed from your record. So, what are the penalties if a person is convicted?

Overall, very steep. Drinking and driving isn’t as much of a problem in Georgia as it is in other states, with the total arrests in 2016 around 19,000.

They are ranked in or near the bottom fifth when it comes to DUIs as a percentage of total arrests and percentage of the population arrested as well.

We’ll take a look at teenage drinking and driving in Georiga in the final section about driving safely in Georgia.

Marijuana-Impaired Driving Laws

You might think that marijuana-impaired driving is less severe than drinking and driving. In Georgia, however, there is no legal difference and driving under the influence goes for alcohol as well as other substances.

This goes for marijuana, as well. Georgia has a zero-tolerance policy for THC and metabolites, meaning that if you’re suspected of driving after smoking, you might be arrested.

First, they’ll ask you to submit to a field sobriety test, which is the same as if they suspect you of drinking. Then, if you blow a zero on the breathalyzer, you might be required to have your blood drawn.

In Georgia, this is legal if the police have a warrant. Beware if you’re driving.

Distracted Driving Laws

According to the NHTSA, distracted driving claimed over 3,000 lives in 2017. It’s not just cell phones.

The NHTSA writes, “Distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system—anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.”

But cell phones are often a focus. This information about cell phone laws in Georgia comes from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Driving Safely in Georgia

Now, we have some topics that impact just about everyone in Georgia who owns a car. There are three.

• Vehicle theft
• Road fatalities
• Traffic

You may have been concerned someone might steal your car or worry about the drunk driving fatalities in your county. Of course, sitting in traffic for an hour and a half before reaching your workplace is frustrating.

We get it. We have you covered.

Let’s head down stretch four, heading towards the finish line.

Vehicle Theft in Georgia

Getting your car stolen can be a stressful experience, even if you’re not in the car. You might be wondering if your car is one that might be targeted. Fortunately, we’ve got statistics. A look at the top 10 stolen cars in 2015 shows that Georgia thieves prefer a variety of vehicles from a variety of years.

There are three full-size trucks on the list, compared to five cars, one van, and a Jeep. Vehicle theft varies from city to city as well, with typically the most populated counties having higher vehicle theft statistics.

This data comes from the FBI for the year 2017.

Atlanta tops the list nearly 3,300 vehicle thefts, with Savannah, Columbus, and East Point following next. Generally, large cities have higher vehicle theft rates.

The exception is College Park, with a population of 15,000. It had 229 vehicle thefts in 2017, which dwarfs the vehicle theft numbers of similar or even much larger cities.

Road Fatalities in Georgia

You may have been concerned about the amount of drunk driving in your neighborhood, the speeding that results in crashes on the interstate, or even the number of one-car accidents where people go off the road.

Road fatalities can be unnerving and disturbing.

It’s helpful to have all the information about what fatalities are happening in your county, so you have more information to make better driving decisions. Let’s begin.

Most Fatal Highway in Georgia

Geotab, a data analysis company, put together an infographic of the most fatal highways for each state from 2007 – 2017. Many highways ran along the coast or were part of larger networks.

Georgia’s most dangerous highway goes to State Route 11, which cuts right through the middle of the state length-wise. From 2007 – 2017, it had 124 crashes for 141 fatalities and a fatal crash rate of 0.8.

This makes it the 20th-most-dangerous highway in the United States.

Fatal Crashes by Weather Condition & Light Condition

Whether it is the sleet, snow, rain, or the dusk as the sun is rising, weather and light conditions can affect our driving ability and lead to fatalities. This is especially true of reduced visibility conditions like darkness.

Of the 1,440 crashes, most occurred during normal weather conditions. However, there were just 40 more that occurred during the daylight compared to times with decreased visibility. This is, unfortunately, in line with general statistics.

According to Pines Salomon Injury Attorneys, even though there is 60 percent less traffic at night, more than 40 percent of fatal crashes occur then. There are a few factors that could influence this.

• Drowsiness
• Drunk driving
• Compromised night vision

Those are just three. As the National Safety Council notes, there are many ways to combat this, including steps to increase visibility by dimming dashboards and looking way from incoming lights.

Fatalities (All Crashes) by County

Ever wondered which counties had the most fatalities or how many yours had?

The following information comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Crash Report Data for Georgia. Search for your county or any county in the box below.

Rural vs. Urban Fatalities

The shift from rural fatalities to urban fatalities has occurred slowly over the past 20 years.

From 1997 – 2017, the ratio shifted from +7,300 rural fatalities to +1,800 urban fatalities, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

However, as the IIHS notes, rural areas are still more dangerous to drive in with “the rate of crash deaths per 100 million miles traveled was 2.2 times higher in rural areas than in urban areas….”

This may be due to unique driving issues in rural areas, including winding roads, poor visibility roads, missing signs, and weary interstate travelers who have roadway departures.

Georgia itself has seen the shift in statistics from a majority of rural crashes to a majority of urban.

Part of this may be due to shifting demographics, with the Atlanta metro home to most of Georgia’s population.

Fatalities by Person Type

Often, some states have certain trends in fatalities. For instance, are pedestrian deaths rising year to year? Or do motorcyclist deaths outweigh those in pick-up trucks? Georgia has some, as well.

A few of the trends from 2013 – 2017 involve individual categories. One involves the whole picture.

• Pedestrian fatalities rise by 77
• Passenger car deaths rise by 110
• Pickup truck deaths rise by 57
• Utility light truck deaths rise by 79
• And overall fatalities rise by 360

This is a sharp rise and it is unknown entirely why it happened. However, we have additional statistical analysis to give a little bit of a picture of the circumstances of these fatalities.

Fatalities by Crash Type

Looking at crash type can show what kinds of accidents are happening, and how they relate to certain areas, like rural or urban.

Accidents are on the rise for every category from 2013 – 2017. The largest rises come from two categories that generally affect vastly different areas. Those are roadway departures and involving an intersection.

As the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) writes about roadway departures, “Every year, nearly 12,000 people die in crashes when their car leaves its travel lane on a rural road.”

50 – 60 percent of roadway departures occur on state networks, with 40 percent occurring on local roads. This can be related to some of the rural driving challenges noted earlier, as well as drowsiness from driving long distances.

The FHWA writes in a separate document aimed at reducing roadway departure crashes, “A majority of these fatalities pertained to three general areas…: overturning, opposing direction, and trees or shrubs.”

Intersection-related fatalities are more associated with urban areas, as there are more intersections. Often a predominantly rural county will have very few intersection-related fatalities.

There are entire articles devoted to the most dangerous intersections in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. A study in 2015 by Channel 2 Action News showed that 615 intersections in Atlanta had at least two crashes in July.

Only one Atlanta intersection made the top 10 throughout the state

Five-Year Trend For the Top 10 Counties

Often the most populous counties have the highest number of fatalities. This is true for Georgia, as well.

The number of fatalities for the top 10 most populous counties follows the general trend of decreasing with the population size. However, there are two exceptions.

• Cherokee county at 79 fatalities is much lower compared to its ranking in the top 10 counties
• Chatham county at 197 fatalities is considerably higher compared to the other, similarly ranked counties

Overall, the top 10 counties account for roughly 33 percent of all fatalities in Georgia. The other 148 counties account for the other 66 percent.

Fatalities Involving Speeding by County

As seen before in the State Laws section, speeding causes thousands of deaths each year nationally. Search for your county in the box below.

Fatalities in Crashes Involving an Alcohol-Impaired Driver by County

Like speeding, alcohol-impaired driving causes thousands of deaths each year, even one every 48 minutes nationally. Search for your county in the box below.

Teen Drinking & Driving

Teen drinking and driving can be a serious problem, as the problems with alcohol are compounded by driving inexperience and a higher likelihood to take risks. Fortunately, this is not as much of a problem in Georgia compared to other states.

Overall, Georgia is ranked 41st in the United States. This means it has a lower rate of teenage drinking and driving arrests than 40 other states.

EMS Response Time

EMS times can often affect fatality rates and are one of the reasons why rural fatalities are often higher than urban fatalities, generally and per density. This can be the case even in Georgia.

While the notification time is the same between rural and urban areas, it takes someone in a rural crash about 16 minutes longer to get to a hospital than someone in an urban crash. This could lead to more rural fatalities.

Transportation in Georgia

Imagine this. You’re on your way to work, listening to some James Brown, when you see the brake lights of cars start to come on in front of you. It’s that morning commute and you thought this might be the day it didn’t happen.

Traffic can be frustrating. It can lead to missed meetings, missed appointments, and a loss of productivity. That’s why we’ve put together this section, to cover commute times and traffic in Georgia.

We’ll touch on car ownership and commuter method of transportation as well.

It’s the last section. Let’s wrap things up.

Car Ownership

For the next three sections, we’re using data from Data USA, a company of data scientists that puts together guides for cities, counties, and states in America.

Car ownership is often a reflection of the affluence or pocketbooks of a community. Data USA breaks down car ownership into buckets. An example is the percentage of people that own one car or two. Does Georgia compare well to the nationwide averages?

Georgia compares very closely, with most people owning two cars, with a near-split between one car and three cars.

Commute Time

We’ve talked about commute time a little bit. So what are the averages in Georgia compared to nationwide?

In Georgia, 41 percent of people have a commute time between 10 – 24 minutes, which is similar to people nationwide. Georgia roughly matches the nationwide averages, with small differences in specific categories.

Commuter Transportation

When it comes to commuters’ method of transportation, most people nationwide drive to work alone. Is this the same for Georgia?

Yes. 95 percent of people either drive to work alone, carpool, or work from home. Every other category is under 2 percent.

Traffic Congestion

When you think of traffic in Georgia, probably one city comes to mind: Atlanta. To look at traffic in Atlanta, we used two traffic monitoring companies in INRIX and TomTom.

INRIX has Atlanta as the 11th-most-congested city in the United States. In 2017, an average of 108 hours were lost during peak commute times. Traffic overall grew 10 percent worse from 2016 – 2017.

That amounted to $3.5 billion lost that year.

TomTom analyzes traffic through different metrics. It has Atlanta as the 164th-worst city in the world for traffic. It looked at over 6.4 billion kilometers worth of roads for its data.

• The best day for traffic: December 25th
• The worst day for traffic: November 3rd
• Non-highway congestion level: 28 percent
• Highway congestion level: 23 percent
• Morning peak congestion: 46 percent
• Evening peak congestion: 62 percent

The average number of minutes added to a 30-minute morning commute is 14 minutes. The average number for an evening commute is 19 minutes.

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Conclusion

Thank you for reading this guide. If you enjoyed it and found it informative, we invite you to read our other guides for car insurance companies and specific questions.

Did we miss anything? If so, let us know through the contact option.

If you’re ready to compare rates, make sure to try our FREE online tool. It’s an easy process that matches you with insurance companies in your area, including top companies like Progressive.

Clear eyes, full hearts. Happy driving.

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