7 Killed In Thanksgiving Weekend Crashes: PA State Police

PENNSYLVANIA — State police say they responded to more crashes, fatal wrecks and made more DUI arrests over this past Thanksgiving weekend compared to 2023.

From Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, troopers investigated 1,075 vehicle crashes statewide. Seven deaths occurred. Of those crashes, 64 were alcohol related including one fatal.

Myles Snyder, a state police spokesman in Harrisburg, said Tuesday that five of the seven fatal crashes occurred in Nov. 28 in North Towanda Township, Bradford County; Nov. 28 in Bear Creek Township, Luzerne County; Nov. 28 in Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County; Nov. 29 in Clinton Township, Lycoming County and Nov. 29 in Union Township, Luzerne County.

Reports on the other two fatal accidents had not yet been posted by the barracks where they occurred, Snyder said.

Police made 552 DUI arrests over the holiday weekend.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2023, state police reported investigating 979 crashes that resulted in four deaths. State police said 73 of those were alcohol related, an increase of 9 over this year.

Last year, 542 DUI arrests occurred over the holiday weekend.

Speeding, child seat and seat belt citations all were down this year:

• Speeding: 7,770 in 2024, 10,590 in 2023.

• Child seat: 124 in 2024, 133 in 2023.

• Seat belt: 1,020 in 2024, 1,187 in 2023.

There were 21,161 other citations issued this year, compared to 18,870 in 2023.

The statistics cover only the incidents investigated by state police and do not include incidents to which other law enforcement agencies responded.