Memorial Day weekend traffic deaths more than double 2018 total

ajc.com

Seventeen people were killed on Georgia roads over the holiday weekend — a sharp increase from the eight killed the previous year, according to the Georgia Department of Public Safety.

Statewide, troopers investigated 396 traffic crashes that resulted in 203 injuries, along with 12 fatal crashes that killed 13 people, Georgia officials said. Atlanta, Cobb County and Milton police, along with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, also investigated fatal crashes.

In metro Atlanta, two of the fatal crashes involved pedestrians who were struck by drivers who left the scene, according to police.

RELATED: Two killed in separate hit-and-run crashes

ALSO: Kickoff to summer turns tragic in Georgia lakes, pools

In Cobb County, a pedestrian was struck and killed Saturday night on South Cobb Drive, just north of the Pat Mell Road intersection, according to police. Investigators were looking for a white pickup truck towing a white enclosed trailer believed to have struck the man, identified as Nicholas Tomayo Perez of Marietta. Perez was 46.

A man was also struck and killed in Forsyth County by a hit-and-run driver, police said. Shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday, Jose D. Ramirez Labra, 27, was struck and killed on Dahlonega Highway, the Forsyth Sheriff’s Office said. A damaged motorcycle was found nearby, by deputies were searching for the driver.

Fatal crashes were also reported Bartow, Catoosa, Greene, Cook, Laurens, Camden, Fannin, Hancock, Lowndes, Worth, Coweta, and Heard counties, according to the Department of Public Safety.

The 78-hour holiday period began at 6 p.m. Friday and ended at 11:59 p.m. Monday. During the same period in 2018, eight people were killed in Georgia crashes.