Staff Writer
Cordele Dispatch
ATLANTA —
The Georgia State Patrol investigated 360 traffic crashes over the 78-hour Labor Day holiday travel period. The crashes resulted in 211 injuries and 10 fatalities. Statewide there were 13 traffic deaths reported from crashes investigated by law enforcement agencies.
At least four of the traffic deaths may involve an alcohol or drug impaired driver.
The Georgia State Patrol reports two people were killed while riding bicycles, two were operating a motorcycle, one was a passenger on an all-terrain vehicle, and one was a pedestrian. The 78-hour Labor Day holiday travel period began Friday, September 3 at 6 p.m. and ended at midnight Labor Day.
Last year, there were 1,917 traffic crashes reported that resulted in 867 injuries and 15 traffic deaths in Georgia, according to holiday statistics compiled by the Crash Reporting Unit at the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The highest number of traffic deaths recorded over a Labor Day holiday period was in 1968 when 35 traffic deaths were reported, and the lowest occurred in 1939 and 1995 with seven fatalities. Over the last seven years, the Georgia Department of Transportation reports 13,897 total crashes during the Labor Day holiday period with a total of 6,700 injuries and 120 traffic deaths.
The holiday period was also an Operation C.A.R.E. weekend. C.A.R.E., or Combined Accident Reduction Effort, is a traffic safety initiative of state highway patrols and state police agencies across the United States and Canada. Sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Operation C.A.R.E. unites state law enforcement in a campaign to keep the number of holiday period traffic deaths as low as possible through high visibility enforcement and education.
