This time of year in Ohio, weather and winter driving are invariably in the news in some fashion. Stories range from reports on driving conditions that are especially conducive to car accidents and other motor vehicle mishaps to the roll out of annual drunk driving campaigns, and from safety reminders concerning winter vehicle maintenance to the need for motorists to watch for deer.
Last week the stress was most decidedly on the weather and the undesirable outcome it can bring for motorists who are not closely attentive to the road conditions it produces while they are driving.
Notably, snow and plunging temperatures created dangerous and strongly adverse driving conditions across large pockets of the state, resulting in a number of car and truck crashes.
Sandusky County was a case in point, with sub-freezing temperatures there, coupled with a number of motorists simply driving too fast for the conditions, resulting in over a score of collisions over the weekend.
Ohio Highway Patrol troopers were especially busy on highways and interstate roads. On U.S. 6 near Fremont, for example, troopers responded to more than a dozen crashes on Saturday.
“We just had crashes everywhere,” said Fremont Post Commander Lt. Brent Meredith. “Mostly everyone was just driving too fast.”
State officials also note an additional factor over the holidays that always adds a heightened safety risk, namely, more drunk drivers on the roads.
They want drivers to know they’re closely tracking that, with stepped-up observation and enforcement planned throughout the holiday season.
Source: Fremont News Messenger, “Rash of crashes occur over weekend” Dec. 21, 2011