Bucyrus – The Ohio State Highway Patrol in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Transportation will be launching a distracted driving safety corridor on US 23 in Wyandot County.
The section of US 23 between State Route 53 to State Route 294 is being designated as a distracted driving safety corridor. From 2018 through 2019, this section of US 23 had 91 crashes resulting in 16 injuries. As a result, motorists will see an increased presence of troopers and ODOT signage within this area in an effort to reduce crashes.
Last year in Ohio, 48 people lost their lives and 7,200 were injured in 13,532 crashes as a result of distracted driving. Sending or receiving a text message takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field when traveling 55 mph.
“The dangers of distracted driving are apparent to everyone, but motorists still choose to participate in this dangerous behavior,” said Lieutenant Scott Rike, Bucyrus Post commander. “The purpose of establishing this safety corridor is to bring further awareness, enforcement, and education to the problem of distracted driving.”
Distracted driving is any non-driving activity with the potential to distract a person from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing. Distractions can be visual, taking eyes off of the road; manual, taking hands off the wheel; or cognitive, taking the mind off driving. Texting while driving is an example that results in all three types of distraction.
"Distracted driving safety corridor signage will be erected in the corridor to remind motorists to eliminate distractions while behind the wheel,” said Chris Hughes, ODOT District One Deputy Director. “Similar safety corridors have been established across the state and have been found to be effective.”
The public is encouraged to use #677 to report dangerous or impaired drivers, as well as drug activity. Additional crash information is available from the OSTATS dashboard at: https://www.statepatrol.ohio.gov/ostats.aspx#gsc.tab=0