OhioSafe Commute Media Release

For Immediate Release: October 10, 2006
Contact: Lt. Tony Bradshaw (614) 752-2792 (OSHP)
Michelle May (614) 644-8309 (ODOT)

OhioSafe Commute to target high-crash locations statewide
State continues program to save lives and reduce injuries through safer driving

COLUMBUS - Commuters in Ohio’s largest cities will see increased law enforcement on congested, high-crash freeways beginning today, and running through November 17, as state officials continue their focused efforts to reduce injuries and fatalities on Ohio roadways.

OhioSafe Commute, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), the Ohio Department of the Public Safety (ODPS), and the Ohio State Highway Patrol, places troopers and police officers on Ohio’s busiest roadways. Law enforcement agencies are stationed in these high-crash corridors to enforce safer speeds and clear crashes quickly to prevent congestion and additional crashes.

"Law enforcement can be a powerful motivator in improving driver behavior," said ODOT Director Gordon Proctor. "When motorists drive responsibly, there are fewer crashes, deaths, injuries, and delays on our highways."

OhioSafe Commute will be operating in the following locations (note: crash data is for 2005 and ADT is average daily traffic):

Interstate 75 in Dayton from East River to Needmore Road (10 miles, 682 crashes, 114,150 ADT)
Interstate 71 in Cincinnati from State Route 562 to Fields-Ertel Road (14 miles, 841 crashes, 127,654 ADT)
Interstate 71 in Cleveland from State Route 82 to Interstate 480 (8 miles, 312 crashes, 96,713 ADT)
Columbus
Interstate 70 from Mound Street to Interstate 270 (9 miles, 580 crashes, 119,575 ADT)
Interstate 71 from the I-70 split to Hudson Street (5 miles, 614 crashes, 147,801 ADT)
Interstate 270 from State Route 161 in Dublin to US 23 (6.5 miles, 287 crashes, 139,721 ADT)
Interstate 270 from Morse Road to E. Broad Street (3 miles, 326 crashes, 146,340 ADT)
State Route 315 from Lane Avenue to Interstate 270 (8 miles, 309 crashes, 108,082 ADT)
Toledo
Interstate 75 from Miami Street to Phillips Avenue (6 miles, 365 crashes, 96,619 ADT)
Interstate 475 from Talmadge Road to Interstate 75 (4 miles, 224 crashes, 97,011 ADT)

Combined, these areas accounted for approximately 4,500 crashes in 2005. Each year, there are approximately 380,000 crashes that kill 1,300 people and injure 190,000 people in Ohio.

In 2005, OhioSafe Commute corridors experienced a decrease in crashes by up to 25 percent and decreased speeds by up to 7 percent.

"We want to build on OhioSafe Commute past successes to make metropolitan interstates as safe as possible," Colonel Paul McClellan, Superintendent of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, said. "Through focused enforcement and traffic safety services, along with the commitment from the motoring public to make driving safely a priority, we can reduce crashes and the associated economic impact of those crashes, to make everyone's commute safer."

OhioSafe Commute began in 2003 as a $500,000 pilot program in central Ohio. In 2004, ODOT spent $300,000 to expand the program to Cincinnati and Cleveland. Last year, ODOT spent $800,000 to target existing areas and new corridors in Toledo and Dayton. A similar amount will be spent this year.

OhioSafe Commute is funded by Governor Bob Taft’s Jobs and Progress Plan, which increases funding from $35 million to $65 million annually to improve high-crash locations.

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www.statepatrol.ohio.gov A division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety

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OhioSafe Commute to target high-crash locations statewide State continues program to save lives and reduce injuries through safer driving

OhioSafe Commute to target high-crash locations statewide
State continues program to save lives and reduce injuries through safer driving