More than 300 people in Georgia were arrested on drunk driving charges over the busy Thanksgiving weekend, and 15 people died in crashes statewide, the Georgia State Patrol said Wednesday.

During the 102 hours spanning from Wednesday evening to Sunday night, the GSP investigated 610 crashes resulting in 242 injuries and 10 fatalities, the department said in a statement. The other five deaths were reported by local agencies: three in DeKalb County, one in Gwinnett County and one in Cobb County.

The GSP said 339 people now face DUI charges from the five-night period. That number does not count those arrested by local agencies.

The GSP also doled out 11,523 citations and 17,046 warnings, the agency said.

Authorities say the period surrounding Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year.

The 2018 figures are a slight increase from last year. According to a GSP statement from 2017, 12 people died in crashes over the same period, and 299 were arrested by the GSP for DUI. In metro Atlanta, Gwinnett County was the only local agency to report a traffic fatality.

In other news:

A total of 116 cases have been confirmed across the country, including 3 in Georgia.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Cox Enterprises CEO Alex Taylor and AJC Publisher Andrew Morse were joined by AJC editors and Atlanta business react during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Midtown on Friday, January 24, 2025.
(Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Featured

Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo