The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said 679 crashes that involved an impaired driver occurred last year in the county, 33 of those crashes were fatal and killed 44 people.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety statistics show in 2020, there were 37 fatal crashes related to drugs or alcohol resulting in 41 deaths.
Ohio Department of Public Safety statistics shows this year three fatal crashes have occurred in Montgomery County that involved drugs or alcohol.
“It’s obviously not what we want to see,” Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Captain Andy Flagg said. “A lot of times, it’s going to be an innocent victim that is involved in these types of crashes and that’s truly what want to deter. We don’t mind people going out and having a good time, attending the parties, we just ask that they do it responsibly.”
The sheriff’s office will have more patrols out in the next couple of days as residents are expected to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day through the weekend.
State troopers will also be out looking for impaired drivers, Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Geoff Freeman said. Last year troopers saw a lot of impaired driving, he said, and one trooper arrested 100 people for OVI.
He noted that impaired driving can mean drunk driving and driving while under the influence of drugs.
“There is absolutely no excuse for somebody to be driving in 2022 impaired,” Freeman said. “It’s not worth your life and not worth the life of somebody innocent just driving down the road.”
A zero-tolerance policy exists when it comes to driving impaired, he said, and troopers will arrest motorists for doing so.
“The reason we are so strict on this is that too many people are dying,” he said. “We had a lot of fatalities, and I do know that many were alcohol and drug-related.”
The lieutenant also encouraged anyone being pulled over by law enforcement to stop their vehicle. By fleeing, a person is only further endangering themselves and innocent people around them and getting into more legal trouble, he said.
The number of crashes in the county is too high, Flagg said, and people need to make good decisions to keep everyone safe.
“The true goal here is to keep people safe on the roadways. We don’t want injuries, we don’t want to have to go knock on somebody’s door and tell them their loved one has been killed in a motor vehicle crash,” Flagg said.
About the Author
