The weekend started on Friday, July 1, 2011 at 6:00 PM and ended at midnight on Monday, July 4, 2011. There were about 360 Georgia State Patrol troopers on patrol throughout Georgia during this 78-hour period. They responded to the 313 traffic accidents in Georgia, 230 injuries, and 19 fatalities.
Police were already geared up to target drunk drivers and speeders, as the Fourth of July in Georgia always seems to be a deadly weekend. In 2010, there were 834 injuries from 1,829 crashes and 11 deaths. Due to the high numbers of the past, the goal of the police officers patrolling during this holiday weekend was to reduce the number of drunk drivers on the roads and to keep the traffic count as low as possible.
Although there were more fatalities this year compared to last year, there was a reduction in total accidents and injuries across the state.
Police stated that seven of the fatalities that occurred this year were in the Cumming and Gainesville area. Gwinnett also had a very busy holiday weekend with 108 accidents and 25 DUI arrests.
The lowest fatality rate was in 1984 when two people died in traffic accidents, and the highest was in 1972 when 34 people were killed over the Fourth of July holiday weekend in Georgia.
We are saddened to hear of these losses, and we send our condolences to all the family and friends who lost someone during this Fourth of July holiday weekend.