Atlanta has earned an unwelcome distinction: sixth place among U.S. cities for weather conditions that make driving hazardous, according to a new global study. The city posted a driving weather risk score of 67.1 out of 100, landing it 10th globally and putting it in the company of Dallas, Houston, and New Orleans as some of the riskiest places in the country to be behind the wheel during a storm.
The ranking comes from MoneySuperMarket's car-insurance study, which analyzed three years of daily weather data, from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2025, across 138 cities worldwide. The study considered cold, heat, wet and windy conditions, and departures from historical weather patterns, according to FOX 5 Atlanta, which reported on the rankings.
Atlanta's highest category score came in wet and windy conditions, per the same study, with heat ranking as the city's second-highest risk factor and cold conditions its third-highest. Dallas topped the overall U.S. ranking, followed by Houston, Washington D.C., New Orleans, and Philadelphia, with Atlanta rounding out the top six ahead of Chicago, Orlando, New York, and Boston.
No Single Pattern Behind the Global Rankings
MoneySuperMarket car insurance expert Alicia Hempsted said there was no single recurring geographical pattern among the top-ranked global cities, according to Secret Atlanta, which placed Atlanta's sixth-place U.S. finish in context with its metro peers. She emphasized that severe weather driving hazards are a widespread global issue rather than one confined to specific climate zones. The study measured weather exposure itself rather than tracking actual weather-related crashes or injuries.
That distinction matters in Georgia, where wet weather has proven costly on the road. Kevin Patrick Law says nearly one in five crashes statewide involves wet roads or active rainfall.
The Downtown Connector Flooding Shows the Stakes
Those numbers aren't abstract for metro Atlanta drivers. Heavy rain brought rush-hour traffic to a standstill on the Downtown Connector earlier in 2026, according to the FOX 5 Atlanta report. On May 20, 2026, downpours following weeks of dry weather washed urban debris into storm drains near Baker Street, clogging the drainage system and trapping multiple vehicles in rising floodwaters during peak commute hours, as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta. Georgia Department of Transportation traffic cameras captured motorists standing on car roofs before state troopers closed the interstate.
Nationally, wet pavement is the single largest weather hazard drivers face. Federal Highway Administration data shows 75 percent of weather-related vehicle crashes happen on wet pavement, with 47 percent occurring during active rainfall, contributing to nearly 5,700 deaths and more than 544,000 injuries annually, according to the FHWA Road Weather Management program.
What Georgia Law Requires in the Rain
What Georgia Law Requires in the Rain Separately, Georgia Code § 40-6-180, known as the Basic Speed Rule, requires motorists to reduce speeds below the posted limit whenever weather or road conditions create special hazards, per Justia Law.
