Alabama State Troopers worked 18 traffic fatalities over the Fourth of July holiday period.
Trooper Cpl. Jimmy Harrell said the official period began Friday, June 29, and ended July 8, 2018. In addition to the 18 traffic deaths, the state's Marine Patrol Division also worked two deaths on Alabama's waterways.
The 18 traffic fatalities happened in Bullock, Cullman, Franklin, Geneva, Jefferson, Limestone, Lowndes, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, St. Clair, Talladega and Walker counties. These numbers do not include traffic deaths worked by other law enforcement agencies throughout the state.
The deadliest day was on Saturday, June 30, with five fatalities. Those deaths included four motorcyclists and one motorcycle passenger. The crashes happened in Cullman, Limestone, Marshall and Mobile counties.
Sunday, July 8, was the only day that troopers didn't work a fatal crash. Only one person was killed on July 4, a passenger in a vehicle who was not using a seat belt, Harrell said.
In all, those killed were: six drivers, three passengers, three pedestrians, five motorcyclists and one motorcycle passenger.
Of the victims, five were wearing seat belts and four were not wearing seat belts. The use of seat belts was not applicable in nine of the deaths, which were the motorcyclists and pedestrians.
The two boating fatalities happened July 4 in Hale county. Richard Glover, 46, of Akron, and Destiny Graben, 23, of Northport died after two boats collided about four miles south of the Moundville boat landing. Glover and Graben were passengers on separate boats when the accident occurred. Neither was wearing a life vest, according to authorities.
Eight people were on the two boats, which left two other people seriously injured. Three others suffered minor injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital, according to Sgt. Walter Lacey with Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's Marine Patrol Unit. The accident occurred Wednesday around 6 p.m. when two boats collided on the Black Warrior River in Hale County.
Harrell said although a few incidents still may be added to Marine Patrol's boat-accident reporting system, there were 8 zero-incident days during the holiday period.
He noted this year's holiday travel period designated by the troopers was longer than last year's travel period. This year, he said, they counted 10 days and only counted five days in 2017 because of where during the week the holiday fell.