At least 8 killed in Christmas holiday crashes

The preliminary state count doesn?t include those from Tennessee?s largest cities, which keep their own figures and have not yet reported to them to the department.

Besides the seven deaths reported during a 78-hour period from Friday night to Monday night, a woman died in a single-vehicle accident in Nashville on Christmas Day, a spokeswoman for the Metro Police Department said.

The Nashville death would bring the state?s total to eight, exceeding last year?s total of six deaths, department officials said in a news release.

Two of this year?s fatalities reported by the Safety Department occurred in an alcohol-related crash. Five of the seven people who died were not wearing seat belts.

The highest number of Christmas holiday deaths ever reported by the department occurred in 1969 when there were 22 people killed in crashes over a 30-hour period.