Holiday traffic deaths nearly double

From 6 p.m. Friday through midnight Tuesday, 515 crashes led to 219 injuries and 15 fatalities.

Lisa Cox was on her way home early Saturday when tragedy struck.

Just two days before Christmas, a suspected drunken driver with prior DUI arrests hit Cox’s car in a head-on collision on Ga. 316 in Gwinnett County, police said. Cox, a mother, wife and seamstress, did not survive.

According to state figures released Wednesday, Cox was one of 15 people killed in accidents during the 102-hour holiday period that ended at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.

That is nearly double the total in 2016, when there were eight traffic-related deaths.

Why the increase? Because Christmas fell on a Monday this year, the 2017 travel period was 24 hours longer than the 2016 travel period, Department of Public Safety officials said.

DUI arrests, crashes and injuries also were up from 2016.

Statewide, troopers investigated 515 traffic crashes that resulted in 219 injuries, authorities said. And 192 people were arrested on driving under the influence charges.

In 2016, 190 DUI arrests were made, according to state figures. There were 392 crashes and 208 injuries.

Agencies in Albany as well Gwinnett, Richmond, Floyd and Cherokee counties handled five of the fatal crashes this year. Georgia troopers handled the other 10.

In the crash that killed Cox, Marvin Bonilla faces vehicular homicide and DUI charges, authorities said; he was being held in the Gwinnett County jail without bond. Jail records show Bonilla was arrested three times in 2011 on DUI charges.

Cox, who sewed costumes for the Medieval Times dinner theater, was on her way home at the time of the crash, according to Channel 2 Action News.

The upcoming New Year’s travel period begins Friday at 6 p.m. and closes Monday at 11:59 p.m. Last year, eight people were killed in crashes during that travel period.