FATAL CRASHES UP

Statistic rose in 2020 despite fewer total number of crashes

As the novel coronavirus altered the way people worked, traveled, shopped and more in 2020, Lake County and the state as a whole saw fewer traffic crashes in 2020.

However, both the county and the state also saw an increase in fatal crashes.

Looking at five year’s worth of crash data from the Ohio Highway Patrol, Lake County in 2020 saw by far its fewest overall crashes over that span.

There were 3,723 total crashes in 2020, an 809-crash decrease over 2019, which had the second fewest (4,532) for the county.

OHP data shows that Lake County’s total crashes decreased every year from 2016 to 2020. The second closest year-overyear decrease in crashes Lake County saw over that span occurred in 2017 when crashes decreased by 223 from 2016.

Ohio as a whole saw its fewest crashes over the five-year period in 2020, as statewide there were 244,237.

The county last year, however, saw its highest number of fatal crashes over that five year span. There were 16 fatal crashes in Lake County in 2020, according to OHP data. Three times over that five year span, Lake County saw a double digit number of fatal crashes: there were 11 in 2016 and 12 in 2018.

Between 2016 and 2019, Lake County never saw fewer than 309 crashes in a single month, according to OHP data. The county dipped below 300 in three consecutive months in 2020, between March and May.

March saw Ohio’s first confirmed cases of COVID-19 as well as the first health orders, including a stay-at-home order that went into effect March 24. There were 235 total crashes in Lake County reported that month.

In April, there were 148 total crashes in the county, by far the lowest monthly figure in the past five years. There were 256 total crashes in the county reported in May, when phased reopenings began. From June through December, the monthly number of crashes ranged from 317 to 384. In 2019, from June through December, the number of monthly crashes ranged from 340 to 461.

Ohio as a whole saw its fewest crashes over the fiveyear period in 2020 as statewide there were 244,237.

As with Lake County, Ohio has seen a decrease in total crashes each year over the past five years, but the drop between 2019 and 2020 was the most dramatic.

There were 52,344 fewer crashes in 2020 than in 2019. The next biggest yearover-year decrease was in 2018, which saw 5,449 fewer crashes than 2017.

The state also saw a fiveyear high in fatal crashes. There were 1,146 fatal crashes in Ohio in 2020 according to OHP. The number of fatal crashes ranged from 996 in 2018 to 1,094 in 2017.

Over the five-year span, four of the five months with the most fatal crashes occurred in 2020, according to OHP data. There were 140 fatal crashes in July 2020 (1st), 136 in August (2nd), 118 in September (4th) and 117 in October (5th).

Despite the highs in fatal crashes over those months, there were fewer overall crashes in each of those months than in the previous four years.

For example, in June 2020 there were 20,498 overall crashes. Each June between 2016 and 2019 had at least 23,286 crashes.

DATA COURTESY OF OHIO HIGHWAY PATROL

SOURCE: OHIO HIGHWAY PATROL Yearly statistics from left to right are in chronological order by month, with the left-most bar in each year category representing January statistics, and the right-most bar representing December statistics,