Message sent: Patrol commander says texting law, blitzes may be making roads safer
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The commander of the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol says he does not know whether the 2-month-old Ohio texting law is responsible for bringing down traffic fatalities and crashes statewide so far this year, but he can tell that people are getting the message.
"I would like to think the new texting law has played a factor in the numbers being down," Lt. Eric Brown said. "I know here in Mahoning County our crashes are down compared to last year."
Statistics from the Ohio Department of Public Safety show that Mahoning County has had 46 serious crashes through May 30, compared to 52 through that date in 2022. The decrease in Mahoning County crash fatals is way down -- three this year compared to 14 through that date in 2022.
Those who died in the three crashes this year were motorcyclists.
The number of serious injury crashes this year across the state is 1,935, compared to 2,229 through May 30, 2022. The number of fatal crashes through May 30 this year is 343 compared to 412 through May 30, 2022.
The texting law went into effect statewide April 4, and the first six months are only for warnings, no citations.
"Troopers are making traffic stops. I know over the Memorial Day weekend, I was out the entire weekend, that was one of the things I was looking for. My personal observations are that I see far less people with phones in their hands, which is a good thing," he said.
He said troopers at the Canfield Post have written 34 warnings for violating the texting law so far. "Our troopers are enforcing it," Brown said of the new texting law. Since April 4, texting and driving has been a primary violation in Ohio, meaning a law enforcement officer does not need to see any other violation to justify making a traffic stop, Brown said.
"I think it is too early to say what is driving the fatal crashes down in Mahoning County and statewide. Maybe by year's end or after a couple of years, we may be able to say the texting law made a difference," he said.
Brown said Thursday when he was out on patrol in recent days, he looked for drivers violating the texting law and could not find any. Furthermore, when he is in plainclothes in his own vehicle, he has seen "far fewer people" texting than before the law went into effect.
His post also started a system of holding traffic blitzes in areas where the most crashes occur historically in the county. The post is carrying out four of these enforcement blitzes each month through September.
Brown said the main goal of the traffic blitzes is for troopers to be visible on the roadways. Last month, one of the blitzes was on busy U.S. Route 224 from Tippecanoe Road to the Southern Park Mall area.
Brown said he saw an image from a Facebook page for Boardman residents that took note of the highway patrol traffic blitz that morning. It said there were "State Highway Patrol everywhere, speed trap on 224 near Blue Wolf." Brown said it demonstrated that the blitz had accomplished its goal of being noticed.
"We're letting them know what we are doing. Hopefully they are putting their seat belts on, they're slowing down, putting their phones down. Just the education piece is huge," he said.
Brown said he knows the fatality and crash stats could go the other way fast. He gave the example of a person who narrowly avoided a fatal accident because he was wearing the necessary safety equipment, especially a helmet.
He said a motorcyclist on Interstate 76 near Lake Milton last weekend struck a deer going 75 miles per hour and "laid the bike down," but he was wearing a helmet with a face guard, leather jacket, proper boots and pants.
"He walked away from it. He had a heck of a goose egg on his forehead, but if he did not have that helmet on, there is no doubt in my mind he would have been critically if not fatally injured," Brown said.
A man and woman on another motorcycle stopped to check on the motorcyclist who hit the deer. They were not wearing helmets, Brown said.
They asked if the driver was OK, "and I said 'He's OK, and that's why you wear helmets,'" Brown said.
Brown noted that he hopes the safety message continues to get out throughout the period from Memorial Day to Labor Day, which is sometimes called the "100 deadliest days" because of the number of traffic fatalities that typically occur.