By 1812Blockhouse
Perhaps it is due to a traffic increase related to the reopening of the economy after 2020’s economic shutdown.
Whatever the case it is clear that, based on recent numbers shared by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Richland County has seen an across the board increase in activity of the Patrol related to traffic enforcement over the last 11 months.
The increase has been a deadly one as well. Since the start of the year, 13 people have been killed on county roads, as compared to 7 last year. Only four of those fatal crashes occurred on or in close proximity to Interstate 71.
Two of those crashes took place on or near US30.
What follows is a breakdown of Patrol activity during 2021, year-to-date. The first column is for 2021, followed by the 2020 statistic.
| Enforcement Stops | 6,929 | 5,441 |
| Non-Enforcement Activity | 17,236 | 16,277 |
| – Warnings | 5,060 | 4,181 |
| – Motorist Assists | 3,351 | 3,177 |
| Crashes Investigated | 1,598 | 1,384 |
| OVI Enforcement | 517 | 308 |
| Driving Under Suspension Enforcement | 554 | 527 |
| Seat Belt Enforcement | 831 | 636 |
| Distracted Driving Violations | 208 | 140 |
| Commercial Vehicle Enforcement | 286 | 188 |
| Felony Arrests | 91 | 78 |
| Felony Warrants Served | 28 | 21 |
| Misdemeanor Summons Issued | 272 | 267 |
| Misdemeanor Warrants Served | 128 | 125 |
| Drug Violations | 265 | 256 |
| Identity Theft Enforcement | 1 | 1 |
| Resisting Arrest Violations | 19 | 16 |
| Weapons Violations | 33 | 18 |
Raymond Wambsgans from Akron Ohio, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
