More accidents, tickets reported over holiday

State Police handed out more tickets and investigated more accidents this Thanksgiving weekend than last year.

The final statistics from the long weekend enforcement included 1,010 speeding tickets —114 more than last year.

Another 2,599 tickets were given for other hazardous violations, including unsafe lane changes, following too closely, using a cellphone and failing to signal.

The weekend also saw an increase in the number of accidents and one more fatality than the 2016 Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

In all, 524 accidents were investigated, including 70 with injuries. That’s 132 more accidents than the previous holiday weekend.

There were two deaths on state highways, including one on Interstate 91 in Cromwell that killed a 50year-old man, and another in Killingly that took the life of a 26-year-old Rhode Island woman.

While investigating the fatal I-91 crash, state police said a driver failed to obey a trooper’s signal and lane closures and struck a cruiser. The trooper was not hurt.

The driver of that vehicle, Martin Jackson, 29, of Hartford, was charged with operating under the influence of drugs and alcohol, operation of an unregistered vehicle and failure to drive in the proper lane.

Troopers also gave out 363 tickets for seat-belt violations and made 51 arrests on DUI charges.