COLUMBUS – The Ohio State Highway Patrol is reporting 16 people lost their lives in 15 traffic crashes during the July Fourth reporting period, which began Friday, July 2, and ended Monday, July 5. Impairment was determined to be a factor in at least five of those crashes.
Troopers made 536 arrests for impaired driving and 368 for drug-related charges. The Patrol responded to 534 crashes and made more than 40,000 traffic contacts in total, which included providing assistance to more than 2,761 motorists.
During last year’s Fourth of July reporting period, which was also from July 2 through 5, a total of 24 fatal crashes killed 25 people. Of those, 17 crashes and 18 fatalities involved alcohol and/or drugs.
