CLEVELAND — The Ohio State Highway Patrol and Ohio Turnpike Infrastructure Commission have announced their 2023 safety initiatives in order to reduce fatal crashes and unsafe driving on the Ohio Turnpike.
The announcement came at the 2023 Cleveland Auto Show at the I-X Center on Friday morning.
The new safety initiatives are aimed to improve safety along the 241-mile Ohio Turnpike that stretches across 13 counties in Ohio.
The initiatives, which are supposed to continue to educate drivers on the importance of following traffic laws, include the following:
- Increased aerial speed enforcement
- Distracted driving enforcement zones
- Increased patrols of work zones and educational programs
“Critical injuries and deaths continue to occur when drivers are speeding and/or distracted,” said Staff Lieutenant Richard Reeder, OSHP Turnpike Liaison. “Through this collaboration, we can collectively focus on our shared mission of reducing traffic fatalities and improving the overall safety of the Ohio Turnpike.”
Ohio State Highway Patrol officials say that between 2018-2022 there were 11,038 crashes on the Ohio Turnpike, including 2,152 where there were injuries and 48 fatal crashes.
Nearly 4,000 of the crashes came as a result of speeding and 349 came due to distracted driving.
“Despite all the recent advances in vehicle technology designed to improve motorist and roadway safety, dangerous driving behaviors alone cause about 94% of fatal crashes each year nationwide,” said Chris Matta, OTIC chief engineer, in remarks today at the Cleveland Auto Show. “The top-five deadly driving risky behaviors include speeding/aggressive driving, distracted driving, impaired driving, not wearing seatbelts, and drowsy driving.”
Law enforcement officials are also reminding motorists of Ohio's Move Over Law when traveling.
“The law requires drivers to ‘move over and slow down’ for all stationary vehicles with flashing lights on the side of all roadways and highways in the state and elsewhere,” Matta added. “These stationary vehicles include roadway construction and maintenance vehicles, law enforcement vehicles and tow trucks.”
Anyone who witnesses unsafe driving on Ohio roads is asked to call #667.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above previously aired on 3News on Aug. 24, 2022.