With most schools out for summer break and more people taking vacations as coronavirus restrictions are lifted, experts have warned this summer could be especially dangerous on the road.
Officials also have cautioned about the “100 deadliest days,” the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day, which sees an increase in deadly crashes, particularly involving teens who have more unstructured time during the summer months.
Sgt. Nathan Dennis of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said that while the 100 days account for 27% of the calendar year, it accounts for about one-third of annual total fatalities.
Of the four recent deadly crashes in Montgomery County, it’s not clear whether any teens were involved.
The first crash was reported early Sunday on state Route 4 near Stanley Avenue in Dayton.
Two people were killed after a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe traveling north attempted to move into the right lane.
Charlie Amber Roark, a 21-year-old Dayton woman, lost control the of SUV, which went off the right side of the road and hit a guardrail, according to a Dayton police crash report. The SUV went over the guardrail and became airborne, landing east of Stanley Avenue below state Route 4. The SUV rolled as it crossed the road and came to a stop on its top on the other side of Stanley Avenue.
Both Roark and her passenger, 28-year-old Jayme Andrew Laurent, also of Dayton, were thrown from the SUV and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the crash report. No other injuries were reported.
On Monday, 60-year-old Michael Caylor of Englewood, died at Miami Valley North after a crash on Main Street in Union, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
At around 5:30 p.m., Caylor was driving south on Main Street when the truck went off the left side of the road, crashing into a pole and a tree. Caylor was taken to the hospital, where he died.
A Fairborn man was killed Tuesday afternoon and two others suffered critical injuries in a crash on state Route 4 in Riverside.
Around 2:30 p.m., an SUV going south crossed the median near Harshman Road and hit a minivan heading in the opposite direction.
Timothy Hall, 40, was ejected from the SUV and pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
Two others were reportedly cut from a vehicle and taken to Miami Valley Hospital in critical condition. Their names have not been released.
The fourth deadly crash took place early Wednesday, just after midnight in Dayton.
An unknown vehicle going east on Hoover Avenue attempted to turn right onto the southbound lanes of North James H. McGee Boulevard around 12:05 a.m., but instead turned onto the northbound lanes.
The vehicle hit a Honda Civic, and the driver fled the scene, according to a crash report filed by Dayton police.
Levi Long 61, of Dayton, was driving the Honda was killed.
Dayton police, Riverside police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are continuing to investigate the four crashes.
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