OSHP: holiday weekend crashes down

VW independent staff

COLUMBUS — According to provisional statistics, traffic fatalities were down throughout Ohio during the combined Christmas and New Year’s holiday travel periods.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is reporting six fatal crashes resulting in seven fatalities on Ohio’s roadways during the 2023-2024 New Year’s holiday. The four-day reporting period began at midnight on Friday, December 29, 2023, and ran through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, January 1, 2024. This is a decrease from last year where 13 fatalities were reported.

Seat belts were not in use in five of the seven fatalities.

According to provisional statistics, troopers made 3,259 traffic enforcement contacts including 272 OVI arrests, 106 distracted driving and 409 safety belt violations during the four-day period.

Nine people were killed in eight fatal crashes on Ohio roadways during four-day Christmas holiday weekend, December 22-25, resulting in the fewest deaths during a Christmas reporting period since 2018.

Of the nine people killed, five were not wearing a safety belt and impairment was a factor in two of those crashes. In comparison, there were 12 people killed during the 2022 Christmas holiday, which ran from December 23 to 26.

None of the Christmas or New Year’s holiday weekend crashes occurred in Van Wert County.