LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The Ohio State Highway Patrol says vehicles driving off the road was the number one cause of fatal crashes in the last 5 years.
They looked at data from 2019 to 2023, and one out of four of the over 5,700 fatal crashes were caused when drivers went off the side of the road. Unsafe speed was the second leading cause, then driving left of center, and failure to yield the right of way, and following to close round out the top 5. One-third of all fatal crashes happened between 5 and 10 p.m. And of course, the Ohio counties with the most population had the most crashes.
Locally, Allen County had 61 fatal crashes over the 5 years. Hancock had 43 and Mercer 34. I-75 and I-71 are the roads with the most fatals between 2019 and 2023 with 118 each.
