Crashes killed at least 12 people on Georgia roads over the long Thanksgiving weekend, according to the Department of Public Safety.
That’s a decline from 2024, when 17 died in crashes during the same 102-hour period. In 2023, 23 died in crashes, according to DPS and local law enforcement agencies.
The number of vehicle fatalities during this year’s holiday stretch is only preliminary and could increase if others involved in collisions do not survive their injuries. On Monday, state officials said 11 had died, but an additional crash worked by a local agency was later reported.
Many families are grieving those killed, including a pregnant woman in Newton County.
Jaylah Donald was a passenger in a Hyundai that was hit by an alleged drunken driver Friday, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Donald and her unborn baby died at the scene. The driver of the Hyundai allegedly backed out of a private driveway improperly, investigators said.
“Jaylah was just beginning her journey into adulthood,” a GoFundMe fundraising page stated. “At 19, she was full of life, hope, dreams and excitement about welcoming her first child. She carried her baby with pride and joy, always smiling and glowing with love. To lose them both so suddenly is a heartbreak that no family should ever have to endure.”
Charges are pending against both drivers, according to the state patrol.
State troopers investigated 498 crashes that injured 236 people from Wednesday at 6 p.m. until Sunday at midnight, DPS reported. They issued distracted driving citations for 680 people, and 422 others were charged with driving under the influence, the agency said.
A suspected DUI driver caused a deadly head-on crash on I-85 North at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Gwinnett County police said. Investigators believe a driver was traveling the wrong way and hit another vehicle, killing that driver. The alleged drunken driver was arrested at the scene and charged with DUI, homicide by vehicle and other traffic offenses. The names of those involved in the crash were not released.
On Thanksgiving night, a motorcyclist was killed when he collided with a Ford Fusion on Metropolitan Parkway, Atlanta police said.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that the Ford Fusion was traveling northbound on Metropolitan Parkway when, as it stopped to make a left turn into a driveway, the motorcycle which was traveling southbound on Metropolitan Parkway collided with the Ford Fusion,” police said.
A 35-year-old man, Michael C. Miller, died at the scene of the crash, which remains under investigation.
Also Thursday at 10:45 p.m., a man was killed in a crash on I-285 South before the Lawrenceville Highway exit, according to DeKalb County police.
“Preliminary investigation suggests he was involved in a collision prior to this crash and was in the left lane when a pickup rear-ended him,” police said in a statement.
The name of the man killed was not released. The pickup driver reported a minor injury.
Outside of metro Atlanta, fatal crashes were reported in Dougherty, Lumpkin, Glynn, McIntosh, Stephens and Bibb counties, the state patrol said.
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