Wrecks on Georgia roads killed 24 people during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the Georgia Department of Public Safety said Monday.
The death toll doubled from 2019, when 12 were killed during the same period, which runs from Wednesday evening through Sunday night.
By Sunday at 6 p.m., 22 deaths had been reported, DPS posted online.
“This is 22 lives too many,” the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety posted on social media. “Thank you to all the GA law enforcement who worked these tragic, fatal crashes over the Thanksgiving travel period. To GA motorists...please #buckleup, #slowdown, #drivesober and put down your phone.”
Monday afternoon, the death total was at 24, according to the DPS. State troopers investigated 17 of the deaths and police agencies throughout the state responded to seven additional deadly crashes.
The most recent crashes were still under investigation Monday afternoon. But both alcohol and speed were believed to be contributing factors in many of the wrecks, according to Lt. Matt Riley with the Georgia State Patrol. Weekend rain also may have been a factor, he said.
Speed was a likely factor in a Wednesday evening wreck that killed a 19-year-old woman from Sugar Hill, according to investigators.
Sophia Garcia was driving a Volkswagen Jetta south on McEver Road in Hall County when she was hit by a driver who was “exceeding the speed limit and was unable to negotiate a right-hand turn,” according to a GSP report obtained by AJC.com. The impact sent Garcia, who was only wearing a lap belt, into a guardrail. She died from her injuries.
According to investigators, the speedometer of the Toyota Corolla that struck Garcia’s Jetta was stuck at approximately 65 mph in a 45-mph zone. The crash remains under investigation. The driver of the Corolla and a passenger were also injured, according to the GSP.
On Thanksgiving morning, a toddler in Middle Georgia was killed when he was run over by his mother, according to Macon news reports. Steven Buffington, 16 months old, died after being hit at his Peach County home, WMAZ Channel 13 reported.
On Friday evening, a 46-year-old Dacula man was killed when he was thrown from his motorcycle, according to Gwinnett County police. Investigators believe John Mathews was traveling south on Braselton Highway in Dacula shortly after 6:30 p.m. when he locked his brakes to avoid hitting a vehicle in front of him, according to spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn. Mathews died at the scene.
Around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, a 43-year-old man was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Paulding County, according to investigators. Gordon Harris was driving a Nissan Altima westbound on Hiram Sudie Road when he left the road, hit a culvert and spun into a tree, a State Patrol report states. Harris, who lived in Powder Springs, died at the scene of the crash after his vehicle landed on its roof.
In metro Atlanta, fatal crashes were also reported in DeKalb, Fulton and Clayton counties, according to the DPS. Troopers and local investigators also investigated deadly crashes in Americus, Thomasville, Peach County, Milledgeville, Richmond County, Madison, Dublin, Tifton, Gainesville, Washington and Waycross.
Statewide, troopers also investigated 604 traffic crashes resulting in 317 injuries, according to the DPS. Troopers and motor carrier officers also wrote 11,172 citations, 13,184 warnings, and arrested 281 impaired drivers. A total of 6,509 citations were given for speeding.
From 2014 to 2019, 92 people died in crashes on Georgia roads during the Thanksgiving holiday. The recent deaths bring the total to 116.
The coronavirus pandemic led to fewer travelers for many of the holiday weekends in 2020. But the two recent holidays led to an increase in deadly crashes.
During this year’s Memorial Day weekend, crashes killed 15 people on Georgia roads, down slightly from 2019. Crashes killed 13 people over the three-day Fourth of July weekend this year, a 50% drop from 26 killed during that holiday stretch in 2019, when Independence Day fell on a Thursday and people had a longer break, according to the State Patrol.
But over this year’s three-day Labor Day weekend, car crashes killed 19 people, more than doubling the number of deaths during the 2019 holiday.
According to the auto service organization AAA, the number of people traveling by automobile during Thanksgiving was expected to drop 4.3% this year. In Georgia, 1.6 million travelers were expected, with the majority of those planning car trips.
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