The recent Independence Day holiday was one of the deadliest on Georgia’s roads in recent years. Twenty-one people died over the 78-hour holiday travel period, state public safety officials say.
The Georgia Department of Public Safety released preliminary data on July 8 showing state troopers investigated eleven fatal crashes while local law enforcement agencies investigated ten. A Northeast Georgia man was among those killed. 60-year-old Michael Jones of Danielsville died in a single-vehicle crash on July 2 in Madison County. The state patrol says he lost control of the Mazda Tribute he was driving on wet pavement and ran off the road. The SUV struck a concrete culvert and overturned.
Jones died at the scene.
The Georgia Department of Public Safety reported fatal accidents in Bartow County, Bibb County SO (2), Cartersville, Cherokee County, Cobb County, Columbus, Douglas, Effingham County, Fitzgerald, Forest Park, Madison County, Perry, Sandy Springs, Statesboro, Thomasville (2), Tifton, Villa Rica, Washington, Whitfield County.
In addition to those fatal crashes, troopers investigated more than 390 wrecks statewide resulting in over 200 injuries. Troopers and Motor Carrier Compliance Division officers arrested more than 370 individuals for driving under the influence and issued over 9,000 citations and 8,400 warnings.
“Impaired driving is one of the leading contributing factors in the majority of fatal crashes troopers investigate during holiday travel periods,” says public safety commissioner Colonel Chris Wright.
Troopers arrested around the same number of people last year for DUI (321) and issued approximately the same number of citations. In 2021, wrecks killed nine people on Georgia’s roads over the July Fourth holiday: In 2020, seventeen people died.
