More Crashes, Fewer Tickets in Ohio as Speed Limits Rise

April 19, 2016

A newspaper analysis has found that an increase in the speed limit along stretches of rural Ohio interstates has resulted in more accidents and fewer tickets.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that state troopers wrote 55,000 tickets last year on rural interstates compared with a yearly average of about 63,000 tickets between 2010 and 2013. Ohio raised the speed limit along rural interstates from 65 mph to 70 mph in July 2013.

A state analysis shows crashes have risen. The number of crashes jumped 19 percent from 8,600 in the two years prior to the increase to 10,200 the last two years. Fatal crashes fell from 48 to 43 in those time periods.

An Ohio Department of Transportation official says interstate speeds have risen slightly since the speed limit change.

Topics Trends Ohio

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Latest Comments

  • May 3, 2016 at 12:01 pm
    Agent says:
    I'm not sure that driving a car 70-75 MPH is the most fuel efficient way to drive it. I believe a car is more fuel efficient at 65 rather than 75. Who really cares? Gas is ... read more
  • May 3, 2016 at 11:39 am
    Becky says:
    I also wonder if the accident rate will change as the "newness" of the higher speed limits wear off and people become more accustomed to driving at higher speeds (I have no da... read more
  • April 22, 2016 at 10:22 am
    Yogi Polar Berra says:
    Lower gas prices leads to more miles driven. More miles driven leads to more accidents. The underlying truth would be found if the author pursued the accident rate per 1,000 m... read more

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