Car and Pedestrian Accidents Near the UGA Campus

UGA CAMPUS · BAXTER & LUMPKIN

Hurt in a crash near the UGA campus?

Crashes near the University of Georgia campus are worked by one of two agencies. University of Georgia Police patrol the campus and can enforce state law within 500 yards of it. Athens-Clarke County Police cover the rest of the county, including most of Baxter Street and the streets around downtown. The officer’s card tells you which one has your report.

Maybe you were in the scramble crossing at Baxter and Lumpkin when a car turned without looking. Maybe you were riding down the Lumpkin hill toward the Tate Center, or sitting at the light on Baxter with a bus behind you. Now you’re icing a knee in a dorm room or an apartment off Milledge, your parents are three hours away, and an adjuster has already called asking for a recorded statement.

You don’t have to give one. Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C. has represented injured Georgians since 1980, and our Athens office on South Milledge Avenue is a short walk from campus. This page covers who has your report, why this corner of Athens sees so many crashes, what changes when the university or a campus bus is involved, and which court would hear your case. The first conversation is free, and there’s zero fee unless we win.

Don’t sign anything an insurance company sends you, and don’t give a recorded statement, before you’ve talked with an attorney.

Who has your crash report near campus?

Near campus, your crash report is kept by the agency whose officer came to the scene. University of Georgia Police keep reports for crashes on campus property and the streets they patrol. Athens-Clarke County Police keep reports for the rest of Athens. On a serious wreck both may respond, and whichever wrote the report is the one to ask.

Where it happened	Who usually responds	Where to ask for the report
On campus, including Sanford Drive, Baldwin Street, the Tate Center area and campus parking lots	University of Georgia Police	UGA Police headquarters, 286 Oconee Street. State accident reports are $5, usually ready within three business days, and also posted to the online crash report service the department uses.
Baxter Street, South Lumpkin Street and the blocks around campus	Athens-Clarke County Police, sometimes with UGA Police on scene	Through the online report vendors the county police use, or at the East Precinct, 3035 Lexington Road
A parking lot or other private property off campus	Athens-Clarke County Police	In person at the East Precinct. The county charges $24 for a private property accident report.
Inside Winterville	Winterville Police	The city police, with your report number
Not sure where you were?	Look at the card or slip the officer gave you	The agency printed on it is the one that has your report

Campus and city run into each other here. A crash on Lumpkin Street at the Tate Center is on UGA Police ground. The same kind of wreck a few blocks north on Baxter at Church Street may be a county police case. Local news coverage of a crosswalk crash at South Lumpkin and Baxter described county police reporting it while UGA officers arrived at the scene, so don’t be surprised if two agencies show up.

Georgia law limits who can get a crash report. The drivers, passengers and others named in it generally qualify, along with their lawyers and insurers. UGA Police ask anyone else for a written statement of need first. If you’re still recovering, a family member or your lawyer can usually ask for you.

Why do so many people get hit around Baxter and Lumpkin?

The streets around the UGA campus mix thousands of students on foot and on bikes with commuters, delivery trucks and two bus systems. A university traffic study ranked South Lumpkin Street first in Athens for bicycle crashes and second for pedestrian crashes, with Baxter and Broad Streets in the top five. Most pedestrian crashes happen from 3 to 9 p.m.

Street	What the UGA traffic study found	What it means for you
South Lumpkin Street, Pinecrest Drive to Baxter Street	Ranked first in Athens for bicycle crashes. The downhill stretch from Cedar Street to Baxter Street had 14 crashes in a decade, half the corridor total. Second in the county for pedestrian crashes, with 26.	Speed on the hill is a common factor. A driver or rider coming down toward Baxter has less time to stop than it looks.
Baxter Street	In the top five countywide for both cyclist and pedestrian crashes	Mid-block crossings and turning traffic near the dorms and the Tate Center
Broad Street, Lumpkin Street to Jackson Street	45 pedestrian crashes in a decade, the most of any Athens street. 25 of them were in the blocks near the Arch.	Downtown crossings at night, often with a bar crowd and a bus lane in the mix
Milledge Avenue	Third worst street, with 24 crashes and 18 injuries	Fraternity and sorority traffic, plus commuters cutting through

The same study found that 38 percent of pedestrian crashes in Athens happen in September through November, when campus is full and the sun sets earlier, and 43 percent happen between 3 and 9 p.m. That matches what we see in the files. The hard cases come at dusk, on a weeknight, with a tired driver and a student who stepped into a crosswalk with the light.

The county and the university have both put money into this corner. The Baxter and Lumpkin intersection has a scramble crossing, where traffic stops in every direction and people can cross diagonally, and Baldwin Street at Lumpkin has one too. In 2026 the university announced a multi-year pedestrian safety program that adds exclusive crossings on Baldwin Street, metal bollards at busy corners and changes at River Road and College Station Road. Those changes help, but as one campus guide put it, crosswalks are not force fields. People still get hit in them.

UGA Police daily logs show how routine it is. On a single day in late January 2025, the department logged five crashes, including one at Church Street and Baxter Street, one on Lumpkin Street at the Tate Center and a bicyclist struck by a vehicle on Lumpkin Street at the Legion Pool lot.

Does it matter that UGA is a state school?

Yes. The University of Georgia is part of the State of Georgia, so a crash with a campus bus, a university truck or a UGA employee on duty is usually a claim against the state, with a twelve-month notice deadline. A crash with another student or a private driver near campus is an ordinary claim, with Georgia’s two-year filing deadline.

Who caused the harm	Deadline	Georgia law
Another driver, a student, a rideshare driver or a business	2 years to file a lawsuit	O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33
The University of Georgia: a campus bus, a university vehicle or a UGA employee on duty	12 months to send written notice	O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26
Athens-Clarke County Unified Government: a county bus, a county vehicle, a city street or sidewalk	Treat as 6 months to send written notice	O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5 or § 36-11-1
The City of Winterville	6 months to send written notice	O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5

Two things about that table are easy to get wrong. First, Athens and Clarke County merged into one government in 1991, and Georgia law gives cities six months for notice and counties twelve. Which one applies to the unified government is genuinely unsettled, so our advice is to assume six months. If the shorter clock applies and you waited, the claim is gone. If the longer one applies and you sent notice early, you’ve lost nothing.

Second, the two bus systems answer to different governments. Campus Transit buses belong to the university, which makes a crash with one a claim against the state. Athens Transit buses belong to the unified government. They can share the same stop on Baxter Street, and the notice rules are different for each. Tell us which bus it was, and we’ll sort out the rest.

Hit near campus and not sure who was behind the wheel? Call us today at 706-807-1711. We’ll find out which rules apply and how much time you have.

Which court hears a campus-area injury case?

An injury lawsuit from a crash near the UGA campus is usually filed in the State Court of Clarke County or in Superior Court, part of the Western Judicial Circuit. Both sit at the Clarke County Courthouse on East Washington Street in downtown Athens. Smaller civil claims, up to $15,000, can go to Magistrate Court.

Most claims settle with an insurance company before anyone files. Filing matters when talks stall or a deadline is close. If you were hurt, talk with a lawyer before you file anything in Magistrate Court on your own. The $15,000 ceiling can be well below what a claim with real medical bills is worth, and a claim against the state follows its own path.

What this means for your claim

A student hit in a crosswalk often has the strongest kind of claim, and the weakest position to press it. You may be far from home, uninsured except through a parent’s policy, and talking to an adjuster who sounds helpful. The crash report, the crosswalk signal timing and any camera on a nearby building can decide how the insurance company values what happened before you ever speak to them.

If you were on foot or on a bike, our page on people hit while walking near the UGA campus explains how fault and insurance work when there was no second car. For a wreck between vehicles, see car crash claims in Athens. If the driver had been drinking, Georgia lets a jury punish that, and our page on crashes caused by drunk drivers near campus covers it. A hit to the head that seemed minor at the scene deserves a look at brain injuries after a campus crash, because a clean scan does not always mean no injury.

What should you do this week?

1. Get checked out, even if you walked away. The UGA Health Center, Piedmont Athens Regional and St. Mary’s all see crash patients, and the records matter later.
2. Find the officer’s card or report number, and note whether it was UGA Police or county police.
3. Write down the exact crossing, which direction you were headed, the time of day and whether the walk signal was on.
4. Ask nearby businesses and anyone who stopped about video. Cameras near campus often overwrite within days.
5. Call 706-807-1711 and talk with the Athens attorneys who handle campus-area crashes. Don’t give a recorded statement or sign anything first.

Our Athens office is at 394 South Milledge Avenue, about a mile from the Arch. The consultation is free, you pay nothing up front, and there’s zero fee unless we win.

What do these terms mean?

• Crash report custodian. The agency that keeps the official report, and the one you ask for a copy.
• Scramble crossing. A signal cycle that stops all traffic so people can cross in any direction, including diagonally. Baxter at Lumpkin has one.
• Ante litem notice. A written notice you must send to a city, a county or the state before you can sue it. The Latin means “before the lawsuit.”
• Unified government. A city and a county merged into one. Athens-Clarke County has been one since 1991.
• State entity. A government body that is part of the State of Georgia, such as the University of Georgia. Claims against it follow the state’s rules.
• Statement of need. A written explanation UGA Police ask for before giving a crash report to someone not named in it.