There have been fewer car crashes in Athens County in recent years compared to several other counties.
But when those crashes are fatal, the likelihood that alcohol was involved is still high.
From 2008-2010, there was an average 1,487 car crashes per year in the county. Between 2011-2012, that average dipped to 1,254 crashes according to numbers from the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
“I can’t lay claim to all of those numbers dropping,” said Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle. “I can say (the city) did our fair share in the last couple years by increasing our traffic enforcement, specifically in the past two years.”
The Athens branch of the Ohio State Highway Patrol has increased its troopers during the past few years, said Sgt. Chris Goss of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He added the increase has contributed to the recent drop in wrecks.
“We’re able to be more productive, more proactive in enforcing the laws and in trying to get some compliance,” Goss said.
The places where APD sees the most crash activity are the roundabout on State Route 682 and the East State Street and State Route 33 bypass exchange, Pyle said.
“There are big accidents there on a regular basis,” he said.
Most of the crashes Goss’ post deals with occur on the stretch of State Route 33, he said, and that has remained consistent.
One of the major focuses of highway patrol is handling drunk driving. Between March 22, 2012 and March 21, 2013, alcohol-impaired drivers accounted for 6.14 percent of all crashes in Athens County. In the same time period, drunk drivers accounted for 3.53 percent of all crashes in Franklin County and 7.04 percent of all crashes in Washington County, according to figures from the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
But alcohol-impaired drivers account for a far higher percentage of deaths.
Within the same time frame, drunk drivers accounted for 50 percent, or three of the six fatalities in Athens County. They accounted for 25 percent, or one of the four in Washington County. About 39.74 percent of the car crash fatalities in Franklin County were because of drunken drivers, according to state safety department figures.
“The number of alcohol-related crashes has remained pretty consistent over the past few years,” Goss said. “That’s not surprising. Our OVI (operating a vehicle while intoxicated) arrests increased last year and are on target this year.”
The highway patrol runs several different public awareness campaigns through Public Affairs Commander Lt. Anne Ralston’s office. March’s campaign happens to focus on OVI education, Ralston said.
The agency also looks to reduce crashes, particularly alcohol-related, by using statistical data on where these crashes are occurring and allocating resources to focus on those areas.
“We can determine a problem behavior area, such as where we have a spike in a certain area for OVI-related crashes, and we can deploy resources to that area in particular during certain times of day,” Ralston said. “We can also hold OVI checkpoints in that area.”
She added the highway patrol would work closely with the Ohio Department of Transportation if engineering problems were to arise and that all highway patrol commanders are tasked to indentify problem sites on a yearly basis.
“Really, it boils down to reducing crashes and making Ohio a safer place to live in through education, enforcement and working with our transportation partners,” Ralston said.
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