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Despite Arizona officials warning people about safety around water, fireworks and driving ahead of the Fourth of July, the state saw a number of accidents and tragedies over the long weekend.
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the pandemic curtailed holiday traffic during the July 4th weekend in 2020.
This year, however, "it's highly probable the collisions coincided with increased traffic levels caused by more people driving," department spokesperson Bart Graves said in a statement.
Traffic stops on highways up from last year
Statewide, there were a total of 8,270 traffic stops made from July 2 to July 4, according to the Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety. This is up from last year's total of 5,240 traffic stops from July 3 to July 5, but not at the 2019 level of 15,174.