Early figures by the Georgia State Patrol seem to indicate that there has been an increase in auto accidents in Georgia this Thanksgiving holiday. These are not the final figures, and hundreds of police and sheriff’s departments will soon send in their accident, injury and fatality data to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
According to the figures by the Georgia State Patrol however, there were 520 accidents over the holiday. These resulted in 231 injuries. In 2009, the State Patrol recorded 411 accidents that injured 246 people. According to the Georgia State Patrol, 11 people died in accidents in Georgia this holiday. That includes fatalities in Atlanta and Cherokee County. Last year however, there had been 13 fatalities.
We will continue to see increased traffic across Georgia over the next couple of weeks as Georgia and, especially, Atlanta residents drive to finish their holiday shopping and plan Christmas parties. This is always a more dangerous time of the year, because the high spirits and laid-back attitude create a sense of complacency that can prove deadly behind the wheel. It’s more important now than ever, to be aware that you will likely share the roads with more numbers of drivers than during other times of the year, and also that safety may not be the number one thing on drivers’ minds.
You cannot control other motorists’ behavior, but you can always increase your chances of surviving a crash.Always wear your seat belt while driving. Make sure that everyone else in your car is buckled up. Children must always be restrained in age-appropriate restraint systems.
The Atlanta car accident lawyers at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers represent injured victims of car accidents in and around Georgia.