Crashes up 24 percent with new limit

Increasing the speed limit to 70 miles per hour on rural interstates and divided highways was welcomed by many Ohioans in 2013.

But thousands of motorists have paid a price for saving some time on the road, according to State Highway Patrol researchers.

Crashes increased by 1,928 — or 24 percent — on the higher-speed stretches of Ohio roads over 2014 and 2015 when compared with the two years before the speedlimit increase.

The number of fatal and injury crashes increased 22 percent over those two years, translating into five more fatal crashes and 421 more injury crashes.

On all other Ohio roads during the same period, the number of crashes decreased by 1 percent and fatal crashes dropped by 3 percent.

The numbers come from an Ohio Department of Public Safety study of the increase in the speed limit to 70 mph on 570 miles of rural interstates and 398 miles of divided highways.

The failure of drivers to carefully watch for other vehicles when passing, and being passed, led to nearly half of the increase in crashes, the study found. Crashes attributable to unsafe lane changes increased 66 percent on 70-mph interstates and highways.

In the Columbus area, the speed limit increased on sections of Interstates 71 and 70, as well as parts of Routes 33 and 161 — divided state highways with intersections — outside the urban core.

The patrol, which took no position four years ago on increasing the speed limit, is using targeted and highvisibility enforcement and public-education campaigns in a bid to reduce crashes on 70-mph roads, said Lt. Robert Sellers.

“While the last six years have been the safest ever on Ohio’s roads, there are always areas of the state where we want people to know crashes are occurring,” Sellers said.

Ohio has recorded 1,022 traffic fatalities this year, five more than at the same point in 2016.

The patrol study found that two central Ohio roads were among those with the biggest increases in crashes after the change to 70 mph.

A 5-mile section of I-70 east of the Franklin-Licking counties line saw severe crashes increase from 12 to 32, or 167 percent. Also, a 5-mile stretch of Rt. 33 northwest of the Franklin-Union counties line experienced a 157 percent increase in fatal and injury crashes, from seven to 18.

The patrol plans to pay extra attention to those two roads by shifting troopers and obtaining overtime funding from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office to cite unsafe drivers.

The speed limit on an undetermined section of one 70-mph road also might be dropped to 65 mph for six months to see whether fewer crashes occur.

Ohio lawmakers approved the 70-mph speed limit for specific sections of rural roads in 2013 after nearly three dozen other states had increased their speed limits on interstates.

The move was opposed as dangerous by the Ohio Insurance Institute and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Crashes in 2016 on the roads where the speed limit was increased have not yet been analyzed.