An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper, investigates a multi-vehicle crash on the north bound lane of state Route 11 on the Interstate 90 overpass in 2019. AP photo

Twenty-two crashes resulted in 23 deaths on Ohio’s roads during the Memorial Day weekend, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

That’s the highest number of traffic fatalities in Ohio for that holiday weekend since 2020, when 20 died.

The four-day reporting period began May 26 and ran through Monday.

The deadly crashes included a fatal motorcycle-vehicle crash Monday on U.S. Route 224 just west of the Mahoning County line near Deerfield. Another traffic fatality occurred Sunday in Columbiana County.

The Route 224 crash killed motorcyclist Gerry D. Fraley, 65, of Doylestown, who along with his wife, Barbara, 65, were ejected from the bike after crashing into a Kia Soul. Barbara Fraley suffered minor injuries.

In Columbiana County, another motorcyclist was killed in a crash. Around 3 p.m. Sunday, Joseph Balistrieri, 42, of Sewickley, Pa., was heading west on state Route 172 near U.S. Route 30 and lost control of the bike, according to a report. The motorcycle then trailed off to the right side of the road, hitting a ditch and causing it to overturn. Ballistrieri died at Salem Regional Medical Center.

During the reporting period, state troopers made 19,980 traffic enforcement contacts, including 399 impaired driving arrests, 233 drug arrests and 2,797 safety belt citations.

In the district that includes Mahoning and Trumbull counties, the patrol reported 78 crashes and 31 OVI arrests.

Trumbull County now has eight crash fatals in 2023. It had four at this time in 2022. Mahoning County has had two fatal crashes in 2023. It had 14 at this time last year.