Eight people were killed on Ohio roadways last weekend, a significant drop in previous years, and Ohio State Highway Patrol and the two local posts are crediting an increase in OVI arrests.
During this past holiday reporting period — midnight, Dec. 23 through Dec. 26 — eight people were killed, with one death attributed to impaired driving. This represents a 43-percent decline in fatalities from last year when 14 people were killed and the lowest amount during the holiday season in the last four years.
Troopers in Butler and Warren counties have made 1,220 OVI arrests through Dec. 27, compared to 1,053 during all of 2010.
Over the New Year’s holiday last year, 10 people were killed on Ohio roadways, seven of the deaths involving an impaired driver.
Ohio is on pace to see a decline in the deaths this year, after seeing a spike of 1,080 last year. Ohio experienced a record low in 2009 with 1,022 fatalities, and so far this year — with the dangerous New Year holiday approaching — there have been 963 fatalities.
Col. John Born, patrol superintendent, said he sees “a direct correlation” in the number of OVI arrests and decrease in fatal accidents.
Locally, the Ohio State Patrol posts in Lebanon and Hamilton — those responsible for patrolling Interstate 75 in Butler and Warren counties — are reporting similar numbers.
Sgt. Tracy Callahan of the Lebanon Post said OVI arrests this year in his jurisdiction have increased from 500 to 606, or 21 percent, compared to 2010. The number of commercial enforcement citations jumped from 204 to 589, or 93 percent, from last year to this year, Callahan said.
These statistics, he said, had a “major impact” in the reduction of fatalities.
So far this year, there has been one fatality on I-75 through Warren County when a pedestrian was struck and killed on Nov. 22 near Middletown, he said. There were no fatalities last year, two in 2009, he said.
Callahan said the patrol increased its presence through the construction zone on I-75 with federal grants that allowed the patrol to be visible “around the clock.”
He urged motorists, especially as inclement weather arrives, to reduce their speed, keep a safe distance, wear their seat belts and “don’t be in a hurry.”
Lt. Ed Mejia, commander of the Hamilton post, said OVI arrests are up from 553 to 614, or 11 percent in his jurisdiction, compared to last year, while commercial violations are down from 710 to 442, or 38 percent.
The number of crashes also has fallen from 587 in 2010 to 505 this year, or 14 percent.
He said the last fatal accident on I-75 through Butler County occurred in November 2010.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.