By noon Friday, 10 people had been killed on Georgia roads since Thanksgiving morning, with plenty of travel still expected throughout the weekend.
With a record number of travelers expecting to hit the road for the holiday, the state Department of Public Safety was out in force. But by 5 a.m. Thursday, three had been killed in crashes, according to investigators.
Several deadly crashes were reported in metro Atlanta, including in Fulton, DeKalb, Henry and Cherokee counties, according to investigators. A wreck in Cherokee County killed a father and his 18-year-old daughter, the sheriff’s office said.
A 5-year-old Atlanta girl was among three people killed in an early-morning, wrong-way crash on Thanksgiving Day in Macon, investigators said.
The driver of an SUV going the wrong way on I-75 struck an oncoming car in northern Bibb County, The Telegraph newspaper in Macon reported. Bibb Coroner Leon Jones said the driver of a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe was going north in the interstate’s southbound lanes when he crashed into a 2018 Toyota Camry carrying a family bound for Florida.
The driver of the Tahoe, 27-year-old Martinez Salvad Alvaro, died from his injuries, according to the report. Two people in the Camry, including the driver, Nomari Waite, 27, of Jacksonville, Florida, and a 5-year-old girl, Carmyn Anderson of Atlanta, were killed. The child’s father was critically injured, investigators said.
On Thursday night, a pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run crash in northwest Atlanta, according to police.
Around 9:45 p.m., Atlanta officers were called to 2517 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway on a report that someone had been hit by a white sedan. The pedestrian, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries, Atlanta police said Friday. He was not in a crosswalk.
The search for the driver continued late Friday.
More than 1.6 million Georgians are expected to travel more than 50 miles during the week of Thanksgiving, up 14,000 from last year, according to the AAA auto club. That’s more travelers than in nearly two decades, even with higher gas prices, AAA said.
For law enforcement, more drivers mean an increased risk of crashes. During the 2021 Thanksgiving holiday weekend, state troopers investigated 589 crashes, resulting in 267 injuries and 20 deaths.
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