Though fatalities were down over the holiday period statewide this year, Carroll County did not escape the grim news that one of its residents had died in a wreck just before the holidays began.

“We had 33 crashes, 20 injuries and one fatality [in Douglas and Carroll counties]. Last year there were 45 crashes, 24 injuries and one fatality,” State Patrol Cpl. Joey Boatright said.

He said the reported fatality this year involved a Douglas County man who was not pronounced dead until Monday morning.

Another fatality preceded the holiday, on Dec. 23, when a Bowdon woman allegedly swerved into the wrong lane on Stewart Street in Carrollton, causing a head-on collision with another vehicle. The woman, Ellen Brantley, 40, was pronounced dead nearly an hour after emergency personnel arrived on the scene.

“After the investigation, officers discovered the at-fault vehicle was traveling north on Stewart Street and crossed the yellow line into the south-bound lane and struck the other vehicle head on,” Carrollton police Cpl. Nathan Quattlebaum said.

Just before the head-on collision, another vehicle swerved to avoid Brantley’s car and ran into a curb. The vehicle’s driver was not injured.

The driver involved in the head-on collision, however, reportedly broke both legs.

“The driver sustained serious injuries, but is expected to eventually recover,” Quattlebaum said.

According to Quattlebaum, the toxicology report is still pending and the cause of Brantley’s failure to maintain her lane is still under investigation.

Despite the traffic fatality, Quattlebaum said he saw a decrease in traffic incidents in the city this past weekend.

“It seems to me there have been a lot less than normal,” Quattlebaum said. “The overall number of accidents is under previous years.”

The number of traffic accidents may have slowed during this year’s Christmas holiday compared with last year’s Christmas holiday, but Quattlebaum said the potential threat of additional incidents still exists.

“It’s important to remind everyone to drive safely and wear their seat belts,” he said. “The injured woman in the collision was wearing her seat belt but the woman who died was not.”