According to the Ohio State Patrol, officers busted 213 impaired drivers over the Christmas holiday weekend. They also handed out 75 distracted driving violations and 228 seatbelt citations. When you look at the fatalities for the weekend, you’ll see why seatbelts matter.
Troopers say nine people died in eight crashes over the weekend. Of those nine people killed, five of them were not wearing seatbelts. OSP says driving under the influence played a part in two of those accidents.
But there is good news. The number of people killed in accidents dropped from last year. Twelve people died during the same period in 2022. In fact, officers say it’s the lowest total number of deaths since 2018.
According to OSP, there have been 1,063 fatal crashes in Ohio so far in 2023, with 11 of those fatalities happening in Scioto County.
