By Wayne Gates

Distracted driving in Brown County continues to be a dangerous and sometimes deadly problem.

“In Adams County last year, we ended up with five people who lost their lives and in Brown County we ended up with seven. Those numbers are probably the highest we’ve had since 2011,” said Lieutenant Randy McElfresh of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

“I attribute those fatal accidents to the drug use we have in the area, I attribute that to a higher traffic count and to distracted driving,” he said.

McElfresh is in charge of the Georgetown Post, which is responsible for Brown and Adams counties.

He estimates that four drivers in ten are distracted at any one time.

“I guarantee you that many of your readers have been driving down the road and somebody has drifted left of center at them and corrected real quick. They could be under the influence, but more than likely, it’s because they are on a cell phone,” McElfresh said. “I see it when I’m driving. People drift over at you all the time. You look at them and they are looking down because they can’t take that cell phone out of their hand. Those things will kill you.”

McElfresh said that people driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is also a big problem. In 2018, the number of OVI arrests by the Georgetown Post was 262, up from 195 in 2017. That’s a 34 percent increase in one year.

“38 percent of the accidents we investigate are drug or alcohol related. We estimate that one driver out of five at any time of day is impaired on something while driving,” McElfresh said.

He added that the cause of the impairment is usually drugs of some kind.

“It has shifted to where the overwhelming majority of OVI crashes are drug related and not alcohol related,” McElfresh said.

McElfresh said that the actual number of crashes in the two counties was lower than in 2017, with 1255 happening in 2018 compared to 1270 the year before. But when they did happen, the damage was worse.

“Two vehicles hitting head on, driver side headlight to driver side headlight, is the worst impact you can take. Your body is not designed to take that impact. Wearing a seat selt, airbag, it doesn’t matter,” McElfresh said.

He said those types of crashes are the result of someone drifting left of center while distracted or impaired.

“Everybody knows that you shouldn’t drive impaired. But people are driving every day looking down at their cell phones and thinking that it’s not that big a deal,” McElfresh said. “If you are doing that, you are just as dangerous as someone who is driving impaired. You are putting yourself and others at risk.”

McElfresh said that safety on the highway starts with self-defense.

“Defensive driving has got to be the number one skill set of someone driving today. You have to take care of yourself. You can’t control the other guy,” he said.

McElfresh said it all comes down to being in the moment behind the wheel.

“You have to be analyzing ten seconds down the roadway and watching this vehicle coming at you and be engaged in driving. You may have to quickly find an out to avoid a crash. I would rather have somebody hit a mailbox versus having a head-on collision. Your chance of surviving that is slim if the speeds are high enough.”

McElfresh said that anyone who would like to report a suspected impaired or distracted driver or other road safety issue is asked to call (937) 378-6191 or #677.

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_OHP-Logo-1.jpg