Watch Out Georgia Drivers! Deadly Crashes Happen Over Labor Day.

As a Georgia car wreck lawyer, I represent families that have been torn apart when a loved one is killed in a car wreck. I am hoping that if I blog about the fact that so many people are killed in Georgia in car accidents that happen over the Labor Day weekend, Georgians will realize how incredibly careful they need to be as they drive this weekend. In 2009, 14 people were killed on Georgia’s highways and streets over Labor Day. Hopefully we can make that number smaller this year.

A few months back, I started researching how many accidents occur in Georgia over the holiday weekends. I had been prepared for a large number of car crashes occurring over New Year’s Eve, and even Christmas. But I was stunned by how many people were being killed on relatively quieter holidays, like Columbus Day. I started blogging any time we have a holiday about why people need to be careful that weekend.

To get my data, I used the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which is maintained by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA collects data on fatal car accidents from all 50 states as well as from the territories of the United States. FARS only includes data about car accidents in which at least one person dies; it does not include information about car accidents in which someone is seriously injured, has a head injury, or even is paralyzed unless someone also died in the same accident. The latest data available on the public, online database is from 2009, which is why I am using that year as my benchmark.

In 2009, NHTSA started the data for the holiday on September 4, 2009 -which was a Friday – and ended it on Monday, September 7, 2009. Over those four days, 14 people died.

The first death occurred on Friday, September 4th. One person died in a car collision in the city of Augusta in Richmond County.

Four more people were killed on Saturday, September 5th. One person died in a car crash in Hall County, here in Georgia. Two people were killed in a horrible collision in Pickens County, Georgia. A third person died in an auto wreck that happened that Saturday in Washington County.

The single deadliest day of the weekend was Sunday, September 6th. Six people were killed in six separate automobile accidents that happened around the State of Georgia. One person was killed in an automobile crash in Cobb County. Two people were killed in separate car accidents in Fulton County. One of the two people was killed in Atlanta, and the other in College Park, both of which are in Fulton County. Hall County saw one person killed in a car wreck that happened on September 6th over the Labor Day holiday. McDuffie County and Gilmer County each also saw one person die in an auto collision on Sunday.

One person died in a Fulton County car wreck in the city of College Park. A second person died in Gilmer County, in the city of Ellijay.

Four more people died in Georgia auto accidents on September 9, 2007. On that day, one person died in Walton County, a second in Madison County, a third in the city of Douglas in Coffee County, and a fourth in Blackshear in Pierce County, Georgia.

These accidents are ample evidence that Labor Day can make for dangerous driving for Georgians. So be careful out there this weekend!