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2024 deadliest in years for crashes in Jefferson County

COMMANDER — Lt. Robert Bodo, commander of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Steubenville Post, stands next to one of his post’s cruisers. -- Christopher Dacanay

STEUBENVILLE — Last year marked the deadliest year for vehicle crashes in Jefferson County in the last five years, according to statistics from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

That fact comes from the OSHP’s OSTATS Crash Dashboard, which provides insight into crashes reported by law enforcement across Ohio since Jan. 1, 2019. The online dashboard sources its data from the Ohio Department of Public Safety Electronic Crash System.

Between Jan. 1, 2024, and Monday — the dashboard’s most recent update — there were 242,848 crashes in the state of Ohio. Broken down by severity, that includes 180,0329 crashes where there was property damage only, 23,688 where there was a possible injury, 31,814 where a minor injury was suspected, 5,965 where a serious injury was suspected and 1,052 where there was a fatality.

There were 940 crashes in Jefferson County from Jan. 1 to Dec. 30, as well as 1,615 in Columbiana County, 1,232 in Belmont County, 376 in Carroll County and 249 in Harrison County.

Out of Jefferson County’s 940 total crashes, 40 and 140 involved serious and minor suspected injuries, respectively. Seventy-three crashes had a possible injury, while 680 were limited to property damage.

CRUISERS — Ohio State Highway Patrol cruisers were parked by the OSHP Steubenville Patrol Post. -- Christopher Dacanay

Seven of those 2024 crashes involved a fatality. One of those crashes resulted in two different fatalities, bringing the total number of individuals killed to eight.

Lt. Robert Bodo, commander of the OSHP Steubenville Patrol Post, said Tuesday that Jefferson County experienced a big jump in crash fatalities from 2023 to 2024.

To put that in perspective, 2023 saw 927 crashes and one fatality in Jefferson County — statistics from previous years included: 2022, 1,022 crashes and three fatalities; 2021, 976 crashes and four fatalities; 2020, 963 crashes and four fatalities, and 2021, 1,154 crashes and five fatalities.

“Seven (fatal crashes) with eight killed is a big increase,” Bodo said. “Obviously, that’s a focus coming around to 2025, is trying to bring that number back down.”

The OSHP is responsible for enforcing traffic laws and has jurisdiction over all public roadways, including county roads and township roads. Based at 1377 Cadiz Road, Wintersville, the Steubenville Patrol Post provides traffic services for Jefferson and Harrison counties.

HEADQUARTERS — The American and Ohio flags flew during a snowy day at the Ohio State Highway Patrol Steubenville Patrol Post. -- Christopher Dacanay

According to the dashboard, six of those seven fatal crashes occurred respectively on U.S. Route 22, state Route 152, state Route 150, county Road 34, county Road 26, county road 77 and county Road 23, which had two fatalities.

Bodo said he uses the dashboard to “pinpoint any problem areas” that require extra attention.

“Roadway-wise, there’s … (not) a certain area we’re having issues with because (the 2024 fatalities) were kind of spread across the county,” Bodo said.

The dashboard provides 19 variables that could apply to a given crash. Overall variables for the seven fatal crashes were alcohol (2), commercial vehicle (2), drugs (2) adult driver (4), motorcycle (2), impaired driving, (3), speeding (3), teenage driver (1), young adult driver (2) and unbelted (5).

Bodo noted the five crashes that involved a person not wearing a seatbelt. In comparison, the fatal crash in 2023 did not involve an unbelted individual. One fatal crash in 2022 involved an unbelted individual, while two fatal crashes shared that characteristic in 2020 and 2019.

LAST CHANCE — A sign by the Ohio State Highway Patrol Steubenville Patrol Post warned drivers to wear a seatbelt. -- Christopher Dacanay

In 2024, 134, or roughly 14 percent of all crashes in Jefferson County involved an unbelted individual. With the exception of last year, the number of unbelted individuals involved in crashes has been declining during the past five years in Jefferson County — contrasted with 124 (2023), 158 (2022), 174 (2021), 183 (2020) and 184 (2019.)

Bodo attributes that decline in unbelted scenarios with ongoing education and enforcement from the OSHP.

“We want to educate people beforehand. We want to let people know the consequences of not wearing a safety belt, of course. Traffic enforcement does come in as a factor there, as well, when we’re out focusing on a certain area if we’re having issues (there) …”

“Always put that seatbelt on,” Bodo said later. “A majority of the time, (a seatbelt) is going to help you. Some of these crashes we see are pretty significant, where they’re rollovers or whatnot. A majority of the time, people who are belted, we see them walk away from crashes rather than suffering some serious type of injury because they weren’t belted in those crashes.”

Bodo also pointed to the fatal crashes involving “operating a vehicle impaired” or speeding. OVI and speed enforcement will be another focus of the OSHP this year, he said. With the patrol’s staffing finally starting to increase after the last couple of years, Bodo hopes to have more troopers visible on the roadways to slow drivers down.

REVIEWING — Lt. Robert Bodo, commander of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Steubenville Patrol Post, reviewed a file detailing all fatal vehicle crashes that occurred in Jefferson County throughout 2024. -- Christopher Dacanay

“People just need to slow down sometimes, give themselves time to get somewhere, plan out their trips so they’re not in a rush and have to speed to get somewhere on time. That’s a big issue. People need to be cautious of their situations as well — wet roadways, icy roadways and so forth — beware of those as well. … People have to be smart when it comes to drinking and driving, and make sure they designate a sober driver to get them home if they’re out celebrating or having a few drinks.”

Troopers are taking a more direct approach to preventing distracted driving, Bodo said. Since October 2023, troopers have been able to issue a citation if they witnessed a driver using or holding a cellphone. Previously, they had to observe a moving violation connected with the cellphone usage to initiate a traffic stop and issue a citation.

“We had to see weaving or something like that, then we could address the distracted driving law, but now it’s a mandatory offense, so we can address it if we see it. I think that has brought some of the crashes down because people know that, if we notice them on their phone, we can immediately get them stopped and issue a citation for that. … Our distracted driving violations have increased because of the way the law was changed. It makes it easier for officers to enforce.”

Insight into Ohio distracted driving statistics can be found in the OSHP’s Distracted Driving Dashboard. According to the dashboard, Jefferson County had 41 total distracted driving violations between Jan. 1 and Dec. 29.

Jefferson County had no distracted driving fatalities but did see 34 total distracted driving crashes, including 16 with property damage only, 13 with a suspected minor injury, three with a suspected serious injury and two with a possible injury. Six crashes occurred on state Route 7, six occurred on state Route 43 and one each occurred on county Roads 23 and 34.

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