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Traffic mishaps low this holiday |
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
Traffic-related problems locally were reportedly fewer than a normal holiday weekend, a sergeant with the Wapakoneta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol says.
Sgt. Tom Brookhart said overall there were no unusual problems, no fatalities and no serious injuries.
“We had a lot of traffic Wednesday night and Sunday night, but we had good weather most of the weekend so it was pretty uneventful,” Brookhart told the Wapakoneta Daily News Monday.
Overall during the Thanksgiving weekend, which extends from 6 p.m. Wednesday to midnight Sunday, troopers from the Wapakoneta Post handled 17 crashes, only two of which involved people suffering injuries, Brookhart.
Most of the crashes involved deer, he said, as has been the case for most of the crashes that troopers have handled in the last several weeks.
Of the 342 stops troopers made, they arrested four motorists for operating vehicles while under the influence of drugs or alcohol (OVI), issued 37 citations for aggressive driving violations (including most which were driving 20 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit), issued 34 seatbelt citations and gave 139 warnings.
“It was pretty close to a normal weekend,” Brookhart said. “For a holiday weekend, it was pretty low.”
Eleven traffic fatalities on Ohio roads during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend marked the safest Thanksgiving weekend across the state since 2001, when there were 10 fatalities, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported Monday.
Last year there were 17 traffic deaths during the same holiday period.
The 11 fatalities this year all occurred in separate crashes.
Of those killed, three were not wearing seatbelts. One was a pedestrian.
Eight additional passengers and motorists were injured in crashes across the state.
As part of enforcement and motorist safety efforts, troopers arrested more than 500 motorists for operating motor vehicles while under the influence of drugs or alcohol (OVI) and assisted more than 3,740 motorists during the holiday weekend.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 December 2008 )
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