At least 15 people died on Georgia’s roads over the long Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The Georgia Department of Public Safety reports fatal crashes in Gwinnett (2), Floyd, Cherokee, Wilcox, Colquitt, Richmond, Monroe, and Paulding counties. Fatal crashes also were reported in the cities of Dublin, Tifton, Hazelhurst, Newnan, Villa Rica, and Cartersville.
No fatalities were reported in Northeast Georgia as of midnight Monday, May 29.
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High visibility patrols
The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimated 42.3 million Americans would travel 50 miles or more from their homes over the weekend; that’s a 7% increase over 2022.
“This is expected to be the third busiest Memorial Day weekend since 2000 when AAA started tracking holiday travel,” says Paula Twidale, Senior Vice President of AAA Travel.
The vast majority of those travelers traveled by vehicle. Law enforcement officers were on high-visibility patrols throughout the weekend, keeping an eye out for impaired drivers and other traffic violations that could cause a crash.
“We want to ensure motorists make this Memorial Day weekend travel period as safe as possible,” Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety Colonel Chris Wright said heading into the 78-hour-long holiday travel period.
Last year’s stats
During the 2022 Memorial Day holiday, Georgia state troopers issued more than 10,200 citations, made more than 330 DUI arrests, and investigated nearly 400 crashes that resulted in over 240 injuries and 10 fatalities. Five other deaths were reported in crashes investigated by local law enforcement agencies.
The highest number of traffic deaths during a Memorial Day holiday weekend occurred in 1969 when 27 people died in traffic crashes. 1969 was also the first year the Department of Public Safety (DPS) began keeping statistics on the Memorial Day holiday period.
This year’s Memorial Day holiday travel period began at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 26, and ended Monday, May 29, at 11:59 p.m.
