One person, whose name was not released, was killed in the crash. Although the death was reported as a traffic fatality, a medical issue is suspected, troopers said, so the death could be removed from crash statistics once a cause of death is determined.
The seven deadly crashes included two quadruple-fatal crashes over the four-day reporting period from midnight Friday through 11:59 p.m. Monday.
Four people were killed in a massive pileup on Friday on the Ohio Turnpike involving nearly 50 vehicles during the winter storm, according to the patrol.
Four more people were killed in a three-vehicle crash just after 8:30 a.m. Saturday on southbound Interstate 75 in Shelby County, which was investigated by the patrol’s Piqua Post.
Single-fatality crashes also were reported in Crawford and Summit counties, with two in Washington County, according to the state traffic fatality report.
The death toll in crashes this year was the most over the past four years and up three from last year. Of the 13 killed this year, impairment was a factor in one crash.
Troopers removed 56 impaired drivers from Ohio’s roads during the holiday and cited 14 motorists for distracted driving and 21 drivers for drugs.
The public is encouraged to use #677 to report dangerous or impaired drivers, as well as drug activity. A statistical analysis of the patrol’s enforcement activity over the holiday is available at https://statepatrol.ohio.gov/static/links/Christmas2022_PIO.pdf.
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