Ohio State Highway Patrol gives Fourth of July Weekend Traffic/Fatality Update

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- Over the Fourth of July weekend, you may have noticed an increased presence by the Ohio State Highway patrol on the Buckeye State’s roadways.

Annually, there’s typically a huge swell in traffic as Americans travel to celebrate the Independence Day holiday. This year saw an even bigger amount of holiday travel as we emerged from the pandemic. Despite this dramatic increase from last year, traffic fatalities in Ohio are actually down.

“There was a lot more traffic on the roads. Troopers were out there making sure everyone was safe and as a result there were less crashes and less fatalities than last year,” Brice Nihiser, a trooper for the Ohio State Highway Patrol stated.

While any fatality is too many, the increased presence of state highway patrol troopers and Ohioans collectively driving safer and smarter this Fourth of July allowed for safer holiday travel.

“So provisional numbers showed that we had 16 fatalities on Ohio roads this past weekend, that’s less than last year where we had 25 last year. So that’s a good decrease but at the same time, we want to drive that number back down to zero. So our job really isn’t done until that number is as low as it can possibly go,” Nihiser said.

The state highway patrol wants to remind everyone that you always have a designated driver, wear your seatbelt, and don’t drive distracted.