“Ohio One of the Worst States for Hit/Run”
Big headline from Columbus TV station… but.. wait… what about… the… facts?
Ohio had 61 hit/run crashes involving at least 1 death in 2016…that’s a horrible thing, and a horrible number. For Ohio, that’s a BIG number… 61 represents a BIG jump from the prior year when we had 42, and from the prior 10 yr average of 37.2. However, Ohio’s numbers for 10 years have run the gamut from a low of 30 to 2016’s high of 61 – which states are really the “WORST” though?
When you look at Ohio’s population [11.6M people/7th in Population] though maybe finishing “8th” in this hit/run survey isn’t unexpected. We have a lot of people, a lot of cars, a lot of drivers, a lot of roads. A certain level of hit/run activity corresponding roughly in some way to population makes sense.
California has 3+x the number of people [39.5M] , but had 337 hit/run fatal crashes… more than FIVE times what Ohio had. Florida is less than 2x our population [20.9M] but had 206 fatal hit/run deaths, more than 3x Ohio’s number. Texas, the 2nd largest state [28M People] has 2+x Ohio’s population but 233 hit/run crashes, almost 4x Ohio’s number. I’d say all of those states are “The WORST” … by far.
So yes, Ohio is 8th… and YES Hit/Run deaths are a horrible, epidemic problem – In fact THAT should be your headline –
“HIT/RUN DEATHS ARE EPIDEMIC“
“HIT/RUN DEATHS ARE EPIDEMIC“
To have a state-shaming headline shouting “Ohio One of the WORST States for Hit/Run Crashes” simply ignores the reality. As a large state we’re going to be near the top of MANY lists that are based on large numbers of people doing things – good or bad… I’d say the WORST states are the ones whose numbers are an order of magnitude above the rest…
Now… what IS odd to me is that NY and PA, both states which are bigger than Ohio, had LOWER hit/run deaths than Ohio in 2016. Michigan had MORE, with a lower population. Ohio [and the US in general] had a VERY bad year in ALL areas of traffic crash statistics in 2015 and 2016. Fatal crash numbers were UP in MOST categories…
But…
–> “One of the WORST???” – ehhh… not by a long shot… This was just an overzealous headline writer trying to draw some attention to the station I think…
Traffic Safety needs to be a HIGH Priority item across the state!
You can read the AAA Report here – http://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/18-0058_Hit-and-Run-Brief_FINALv2.pdf
Let’s be CAREFUL out there!
Printed from: https://ohiobikelawyer.com/uncategorized/2018/04/among-the-worst-states-for-hitrun-ohio/ .
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