OHIO, USA — The Fourth of July holiday can be a dangerous time on the roads and this year proved to be no exception.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol announced on Thursday that it is reporting 11 traffic-related fatalities throughout the state over the course of the holiday period, which it defines as from July 3-4. The 11 deaths stemmed from nine separate incidents, with impairment being a determining factor in two of the crashes, while a safety belt was not utilized in three of the crashes.
For comparison, last year's Fourth of July period, which spanned from July 1-4, saw 16 fatal crashes that killed 16 people. Eleven of the crashes and 11 of the fatalities involved drugs and/or alcohol, while in seven of the crashes in which safety belts were available, five were unbelted, with seven motorcyclists and two pedestrians killed in the same span.
Meanwhile, this year, troopers made 133 arrests for impaired driving and 96 for drug-related charges during the Fourth of July period. OSHP responded to 249 crashes and rendered assistance to 1,067 motorists, with troopers making 13,634 contacts with the motoring public.
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