HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania State Police investigated a total of 741 crashes, which resulted in 259 injuries and 13 fatalities, over the four-day Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to data released by the police Wednesday.
Alcohol was a factor in 75 of those crashes and the deaths of four people, police said. Of the 13 fatal crashes, only one person involved was wearing a seat belt, according to police.
This year’s numbers are a marked increase from the 2016 Fourth of July holiday, which saw a total of 423 crashes, 165 injuries, three fatalities and 52 crashes involving alcohol, police say. Last year’s holiday weekend lasted three days.
Police say they arrested 474 motorists for driving under the influence, and issued 11,481 speeding citations during the holiday weekend. State police also cited 764 people for not wearing seat belts and cited 216 drivers for failing to secure children in safety seats.
More information on 2017 Independence Day enforcement, broken down by troop, is available here. These statistics cover only those incidents investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and do not include incidents to which other law enforcement agencies responded.
