Columbus Personal Injury Law Blog

Traffic fatality statistics from the recent New Year's holiday have been released by the Ohio State Patrol (OSP). From midnight on Friday, Dec. 28, 2018, to 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 1, 2019, 11 individuals died on Ohio roads.

Although the data released is considered still to be a provisional assessment, it appears as though four of the deaths were linked to impaired drivers and six were related to failure to use seat belts. Perhaps because the number this year reflected a five-day total, there were nearly twice as many deaths than the six fatalities from the corresponding four-day holiday one year ago.

Police in Ohio say that the 31-year-old man who caused a fatal accident in Franklin County during the early morning hours of Dec. 2 may be charged with vehicular homicide. Officers from the Columbus Division of Police who responded to the scene say that he smelled of alcohol when paramedics pulled him from his badly damaged Pontiac sedan. Media outlets have reported that the man has never held an Ohio driver's license and was convicted of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in both 2013 and 2015.

The accident took place on the northbound lanes of Interstate 71 near East 11th Avenue at approximately 1:30 a.m. According to a CDP report, the sequence of events unfolded after the man lost control of his vehicle and struck a concrete median. The resulting chain-reaction crash involved four vehicles. The two occupants of the second vehicle and the driver of the fourth vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene by first responders.

According to surveys from the U.S. Department of Transportation and other agencies, one in three adult drivers in Ohio and the rest of the nation sleep less than the minimum seven hours that are recommended each night. This poses a problem since drowsy driving accounts for an estimated 7 percent of all motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. and 16 percent of all fatal crashes.

A study recently published in the SLEEP journal has measured the risk that drivers run based on how little sleep they get. Researchers analyzed a previous study from the U.S. DoT that looked at 5,470 crashes and provided in-depth investigations for many of them. One advantage of this study is that it also takes into account interviews with the drivers themselves.

In Ohio, as elsewhere, Halloween is a day that gives rise to drunk and reckless driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the hours between 6 p.m. on October 31 and 6 a.m. on November 1 are the most dangerous for drunk driving crashes. Nearly half of the fatal drunk driving accidents that took place during that 12-hour period from 2012 to 2016 were attributed to 21- to 34-year-old drivers.

Referring to this data, the Northeast chapter of AAA has seen fit to provide some safety tips to both parents of trick-or-treaters and those who intend to party on Halloween. The latter group should, first of all, plan ahead by designating a sober driver to take them home or making use of public transportation or a ride-hailing service. Partygoers should also ensure that their friends do not drive drunk either. While behind the wheel, people must slow down.