Deadly July 4th Weekend on Georgia Roads, Waterways

By SCOTT BERNARDE (Patch Staff)

More than a dozen people died on roadways and waterways in Georgia during the July 4th weekend, the Georgia State Patrol and Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Division reported.

Ten people died in auto accidents and five drowned during the three-day weekend, the agencies said.

Seven of the automobile deaths happened in metro Atlanta, including five in DeKalb County, state patrol data said. The incidents happened between 6 p.m. Thursday, July 2 to midnight, Sunday, July 5. Five people were killed in auto accidents for the same time period last year.

• 2015 July Fourth Holiday Traffic Count

There were 11 boating incidents with eight injuries, but no fatalities in Georgia from 12:01 a.m. Friday July 2 to 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 5, the DNR agency said on Facebook. But the five drowning deaths, including one on the Chattahoochee River, came after there were none in 2014 (although there was one boating fatality).

• RELATED: Police Identify Body Found in Chattahoochee River

DNR Rangers issued 32 BUIs, slightly down from last year’s 36.