Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. John Harmon said he’s disappointed a motorist died in the Chattanooga district over the Thanksgiving holiday.
“We had one fatality, and one is too many, way too many,” said Harmon, who is based out of the Chattanooga district. “But overall, we were pleased [with the low number of traffic incidents in the district].”
The state is divided into eight sections by the highway patrol, and the Chattanooga district – 12 counties in Southeast Tennessee including Hamilton – responded to the lowest number of crashes, with 17, records show.
Across the state, the highway patrol responded to 435 crashes during the Thanksgiving holiday, 15 of which were alcohol related, records show.
Thanksgiving holiday crashes for each Tennessee Highway Patrol district:* Nashville: 139* Jackson: 69* Fall Branch: 53* Lawrenceburg: 53* Knoxville: 52* Cookeville: 27* Memphis: 25* Chattanooga: 17Note: Crash totals are only from the THP and not from other agenciesSource: THP
Statewide, there were 12 traffic deaths during the holiday, which runs from 6 p.m. the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to midnight the Sunday after. This year’s number is a slight increase from 2009, which had 10 traffic fatalities.
“The goal is to never have any fatalities on the road,” said highway patrol spokeswoman Dalya Qualls. “So while this is a small increase, we just never want to see anyone killed on the highways or interstates.”
Seven of the people killed were not wearing seat belts, according to the highway patrol.
“Just by the numbers alone, you can tell that, if those victims had been wearing their seat belts, the outcome may have been different,” Qualls said. “It’s the simplest thing you can do to protect yourself from a fatal crash.”
Chattanooga’s fatality happened at the 1000 block of Old Dallas Road on Thanksgiving.
Don Lindsay, a 61-year-old Chattanooga resident, veered off the road and struck a power pole head-on, said Chattanooga police spokeswoman Rebecca Royval.
Why Lindsay’s vehicle left the road isn’t known, and police are awaiting the medical examiner’s report, she said.
Royval said the traffic report did not indicate whether Lindsay was wearing his seat belt.
In Georgia over the holiday, the State Patrol reported 11 traffic fatalities resulting from nine crashes.
In Alabama, six traffic fatalities were reported over the holiday weekend.