SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio — The eight-mile stretch of I-77 between Route 18 and Route 21 in Summit County is becoming a new distracted driving corridor as the Ohio State Highway Patrol begins targeted enforcement in the area.
Drivers can expect to see increased patrols and enforcement along this portion of the interstate through 2023.
The Ohio Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that their crews are installing signs in the area to notify drivers of when they've entered and exited the corridor. Once those signs are in place, the targeted enforcement is expected to begin by the end of the week.
"These signs are being relocated from the previous distracted driving safety corridor on I-77 between Faircrest Street and Wise Road in Stark and Summit counties," ODOT officials said in a press release. "During the two years this corridor was being enforced, crashes were decreased by six percent, fatal and injury crashes were decreased by 13 percent and 165 distracted driving violations were issued."
ODOT officials say the portion of I-77 within the new safety corridor saw 755 crashes from 2019 through 2022, resulting in 198 injuries and four deaths.
"The goal of this corridor is to improve safety by reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities," according to a press release from ODOT officials.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol says there have been at least 73,945 distracted driving crashes throughout the state since 2017 -- including 2,186 fatal and serious injury incidents.
The designation of this new I-77 corridor comes just days after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a new law regarding distracted driving, which "designates the use of cell phones and other electronic communications devices while driving as a primary traffic offense for all drivers and allows law enforcement to immediately pull over a distracted driver upon witnessing a violation."
But there are some exceptions...
"Under the new law, a driver may still use their device in specific circumstances, such as when their vehicle is parked or stopped at a red light," according to a press release from Gov. DeWine's office. "Drivers are also permitted to swipe their phones to answer a call and to hold their phones to their ears during phone conversations. Emergency calls are also permitted in all circumstances."
The new distracted driving law will take effect in April.
"Law enforcement will issue warnings to drivers found violating the law for the first six months following the effective date," according to Gov. DeWine's office. "After this six-month grace period, law enforcement will have the authority to issue citations. Penalties include a fine of up to $150 for a driver's first offense and two points on their license unless a distracted driving safety course is completed. Increased penalties can occur if the driver is a repeat offender."
Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in a previous story on Jan. 6, 2023.
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Editor's note: Video in the player at the top of this story was originally published in a previous article on Jan. 2, 2023.