ATLANTA — They’ve caused chaos, blocked traffic, and taken a toll on families. Fatal crashes hit a record high nationwide.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a 12.4 percent increase in fatal crashes in Georgia in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.
Traffic Enforcement with the Marietta Police Department said Mike Shields of Triple Team Traffic How they piece together the crash scene after the crash.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
sergeant. Brian Honea says speed is always one of his top priorities.
“Drivers need to slow down,” he said. “I don’t think there was as much traffic when they first came back. Now, there’s more traffic and people are driving faster.”
Police also noticed more distracted driving. Cell phones are a major contributing factor, but it’s not the only problem.
“Whether it’s you driving down the road with your pug on your lap — or people driving down the road putting on makeup — or playing the radio,” Honea said.
Top Stories:
Honea told Shields that anything that takes a driver’s attention off the road becomes a dangerous problem.
Technology helps officials investigate and clean up the accident scene. Constable Nicholas St. Onge explained that drones are a huge benefit, allowing them to get what they need faster on the scene and in traffic.
“We can close a road for 15 minutes, have it reopen, and have a full collision map,” St. Onge said.
Investigators also used 3D scanners to reconstruct the vehicle and see what might have happened.
Often, collision investigations lead to traffic backups. St. Onge is asking Metro Atlanta drivers to be patient.
“We’ve got to get a full picture of that scenario, and it’s probably our only chance.”
This information plays a key role not only in the findings, but also for those whose lives have been changed forever.
Honea said he and other officials are not taking it lightly.
“If we go knocking on the door at two in the morning and basically break the hearts of some family members and tell them their loved ones are not coming home. I don’t want to leave them like that. I want to be able to answer as many of them as possible Questions about what happened to their loved ones.”
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
other news
© 2022 Cox Media Group