The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

I-75 fatalities force  speed limit to 55 mph

Signs erected Thursday  reducing speed limit in construction zone.

As part of the highway construction process, a dump truck pulls onto Interstate 75 just north of the Ohio 63 interchange as the widening project continues Thursday, Oct. 22.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman As part of the highway construction process, a dump truck pulls onto Interstate 75 just north of the Ohio 63 interchange as the widening project continues Thursday, Oct. 22.

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
12:49 a.m.
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
11:42 p.m.
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
11:37 p.m.
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
11:37 p.m.
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
11:32 p.m.
> More headlines

By Denise Wilson, Staff Writer Updated 2:45 AM Friday, October 23, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — Three fatalities over four days along southbound Interstate 75 has prompted the state to reduce the speed limit to 55 mph in the construction zone.

The latest fatality came Wednesday night, Oct. 21, when motorcyclist Ted Pollock, 58, of Cincinnati, was killed after colliding with a dump truck on southbound Interstate 75 near exit 32 at Ohio 122, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

A 1998 Ford dump truck operated by Alvin Jennings, 37, of Dayton, was struck from behind at 8 p.m. by Pollock’s 2008 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle, according to a preliminary investigation by the highway patrol.

Pollock was pronounced dead at the scene by the Warren County coroner. Jennings was not injured in the crash that remains under investigation, said Sgt. Clint Arnold of the highway patrol.

“There was a significant speed difference between the dump truck as he was slowing down to enter into the median (construction zone area) versus the speed of the motorcycle. Now how much of a difference and how great of a difference — like how fast that motorcycle was going and how fast that truck was going — is still under investigation,” Arnold said.

A Tennessee couple was killed Saturday along southbound I-75 just north of the Ohio 122 exit in an accident at 9:10 p.m. that also involved a dump truck.

Nicholas J. Poe, 30, and Amanda E. Poe, 24, of Cross Plains, Tenn., died after their 2009 Nissan Maxima rear-ended a 1980 Mack dump truck driven by Timothy Smith, 46, of Hillsboro, according to the highway patrol.

Signs marking the speed limit change from 65 mph to 55 mph were erected late Thursday afternoon by JR Jurgensen, the contractor for the construction project, for that stretch of I-75 south from the Montgomery County line to Ohio 63.

Fines will be doubled for motorists violating the speed limit, which will be in place until the widening project is completed in the summer of 2011, said Sharon Smigielski, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 8.

The highway patrol also is stepping up its presence in the project area beginning Thursday, Arnold said, adding that overtime could be funded through grants or through a contract with the construction company.

The highway patrol and ODOT are cautioning motorists, especially in construction zones, to slow down and allow more space between vehicles and to eliminate distractions such as cell phone use.

Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson@coxohio.com.

Share this article