A crash on Old Covington Road in Rockdale killed a 47-year-old man on Christmas evening, Monday.

Virgil Thomas of Stone Mountain was reportedly leaving a family gathering that evening and was unfamiliar with the area, according to a Rockdale County Sheriff's Office spokesperson.

The single vehicle accident occured shortly before 8:50 p.m. in foggy and rainy conditions.

Thomas's vehicle left the road and struck at least three mailboxes. He was ejected from the vehicle and died at the accident scene.

Thomas's death was one of at least 17 traffic deaths reported throughout the state of Georgia over the Christmas holiday.

According to the Georgia State Patrol, there were at least 17 deaths in 14 fatal crashes reported from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Tuesday.

That was significantly higher than the three traffic fatalities reported state-wide in Christmas 2011.

Troopers handled the investigations for 11 of the fatalities and six were handled by local agencies.

There were 685 crashes reported to the Georgia State Patrol, with 300 of those involving injuries.