Colonel Paul Pride talks road safety

The Superintendent of the Ohio State Highway Patrol made a stop in Zanesville Tuesday.

He spoke to the Noon Rotary Club about keeping the roads safe and partnering with other law enforcement to do so. Last year on Ohio’s roads there were 990 fatalities. While that number seems high, Colonel Paul Pride said it is the lowest the number has ever been.

"That’s 990 lives that have been lost, which is still too many, which we’ve still got work to do, but at least we’re heading in the right direction, but we’re not satisfied with that, and we have found that working together, sharing resources, collaborating, communicating we’re able to drive those down," Pride said.

He attributes the dwindling numbers to several factors including education, enforcement, engineering and emergency care. He feels combining those four elements with increased collaboration with other law enforcement has allowed the patrol to help make sure more people can travel safely.

"Many hands make light work, so with all of us collaborating, sharing resources, communicating on a better level than we have in past we’re able to accomplish pretty significant things in regards to us for the traffic safety side of things," Pride said.

Colonel pride, who is from Roseville, has been the superintendent of the state patrol for a year and a half.