State police issue report for holiday

State police have released their annual Independence Day weekend enforcement detail, which showed more crashes, fatalities and injuries than in 2023.

The goal of the holiday detail is to strengthen roadway safety across the state.

This year, state police investigated 774 crashes that resulted in 11 fatalities and 244 injuries from July 3-7. Intoxicated or impaired driving was a factor in 64 crashes, including four of the fatal accidents.

Last year, there were 668 crashes that resulted in three fatalities and 194 injuries. DUIs were not involved of any of the fatal crashes in 2023.

This year, during the five-day period, troopers arrested 556 people for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and issued 28,429 citations, including 7,975 for speeding, 876 for failing to wear a seat belt and 225 for not securing children in safety seats.

Those numbers are also up from 2023 when 505 DUI arrests were made. That year there were 7,929 speeding citations issued, 210 child seat violations and 845 seat belt citations.

Troop B, which covers Allegheny, Washington, Green and Fayette counties, handled 59 crashes this year, with no accidents being fatal. All four DUI-related crashes were handled by Troop B. There were 17 injuries as a result of accidents over the holiday weekend.

Troop A, which covers Westmoreland, Indiana, Somerset and Cambria counties, handled 34 crashes that resulted in one fatality and seven injuries. Five of those incidents were DUI related.

In total, Troop A handled 27 DUI cases, 469 speeding violations, two child seat violations, 49 seatbelt violations. It issued 203 seatbelt warnings and 1,082 other citations and had 40 arrests.

Troop B this year handled 32 DUIs, 556 speeding tickets, eight child seat violations, 141 seatbelt violations, 51 seatbelt warnings and 2,089 other miscellaneous stops that resulted in 53 arrests.