Police arrested nearly 500 drunk drivers on Georgia roads during the Independence Day holiday weekend and 13 people died in traffic crashes.
🍺 What’s Happening: Georgia State Patrol and local officers made 490 DUI arrests during the 78-hour holiday period from Thursday evening through Sunday night. Officers conducted over 20,970 traffic stops across the state.
🚨 Why It Matters: That’s 18 more DUI arrests than last year’s July 4th holiday weekend, even though fewer people died on the roads. More drunk drivers are getting caught, but they’re still out there threatening your family’s safety.
🔍 Between the Lines: The numbers show a troubling trend. While deaths dropped from 18 last year to 13 this year, DUI arrests climbed from 472 to 490. That means more impaired drivers were on the road, but better enforcement likely saved lives.
📊 The Big Picture: Georgia consistently ranks among the nation’s worst states for drunk driving deaths. The holiday weekend arrests average out to more than six DUI arrests every hour statewide. Each arrest represents a potential tragedy prevented, but the volume shows how widespread the problem remains during holiday celebrations.
State troopers investigated eight fatal crashes while local agencies handled five more. The crashes spread across nine patrol areas from metro Atlanta to rural south Georgia.
Officers also wrote over 790 tickets for distracted driving and nearly 1,335 for seatbelt violations. More than 250 citations went to parents who failed to properly secure children in car seats during family trips.
The enforcement blitz resulted in over 275 total crashes that injured nearly 135 people. Officers issued more than 14,710 warnings and 11,665 citations during the holiday crackdown.
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B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
