Fatal crashes statewide over the Fourth of July holiday dropped by about half this year in areas patrolled by Pennsylvania State Police, according to statistics released this week.

Troopers reported investigating four such crashes — none of which involved alcohol — that claimed as many lives between Friday and Monday compared to nine in the four-day 2021 Fourth of July period. There were no fatal crashes reported in the 13-county area covered by troopers out of Troops A, B and D, though Kiski police in Armstrong County investigated a fatal motorcycle crash Sunday.

Troopers at those three stations investigated 126 crashes, 10 of which were alcohol-related, and 149 people were hurt, according to statistics. Those figures were about the same as what was reported in 2021.

County officials, state police and traffic safety advocates and volunteers placed 59 flags in a flower bed at the rear of the Greensburg courthouse last week in an effort to encourage motorists to drive safely during the holiday weekend. That number reflects the fatalities resulting from impaired driving in the county from 2017 through 2021.

Statewide, there were 649 crashes investigated by state troopers during the holiday weekend, 52 of which were alcohol-related, with 170 injuries. Those figures all decreased from 2021 and 2019, when the period was five days. Such data was not collected in 2020.

Troopers in the region this year made 116 arrests for DUI, about 22.5% of the total drunken-driving arrests statewide, and issued 1,854 speeding tickets.

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