With the new Ohio texting law going into effect I was wondering just what had been the trend of injuries and deaths from car crashes in Middletown, Ohio. It is possible to garner these statistics from the Ohio Department of Public Safety Web site. http://www.publicsafety.ohio.gov/

I traced the trend for 2011, 2012 . These are statistics collected from Middletown traffic crash reports. I also included all of Butler County.

Traffic Injuries and Deaths Middletown, Ohio

In 2010 there were 469 injuries and 4 deaths reported by the Middletown police. In 2011 in Middletown, reported by Middletown police, there were 452 injuries and 1 death. In 2012 there were 341 injuries and 2 deaths. So the trend appears to be going down in Middletown in terms of the number of motor vehicle  crashes involving injury or death.

Traffic Injuries and Death Butler County, Ohio

In all of Butler County, Ohio there were 3433 injuries and 21 deaths in 2011. In 2012 there were 2845 injuries and 25 deaths. In all cases the most injuries came in the 16-20 age group . This is not surprising and is consistent with teen driving statistics. These statistics also show a trend of decreasing injury causing accidents.

In 2010 in all of Ohio there were 74,427 traffic crashes with injury and 984 with death.  In all of Ohio there were 72,305 injuries and 941 deaths in 2011. It should also be remembered that injuries can show up later,even the next day or later. So the reports of injuries given to the police are probably lower than the number of actual injury causing automobile accidents.

It is also significant to note that about 12,000 of the drivers involved in crashes in 2010 in Ohio were uninsured . But another 39,000 were not confirmed as insured or uninsured. It is safe to say that many more people are driving uninsured. And even if they have insurance, many have the bare minimum of $12,500. So remember to protect yourself with uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in limits of at least $100,000.00 .

Some Sobering Facts From 2010 For The State of Ohio

- Approximately 2.7 fatal crashes each day.
- Approximately 3.0 persons were killed each day.
- One person was killed every 8.1 hours.
- There were 298.0 persons injured every day.
- One person was injured every 4.8 minutes.
- Of drivers involved in crashes, 53.2 % are males, 42.6 % are females, and 4.2 % are gender not stated.
- Alcohol impaired drivers were involved in 4.30 % of all crashes.
- Alcohol impaired drivers were involved in 39.91 % of all fatalities.
- 73.4 % of all alcohol impaired drivers involved in crashes were males.
- 65.3 % of all crashes occurred during the daylight.
- Motor vehicle crashes killed 40.0 children and injured 8,345.0

Source:  Ohio Traffic Crash Facts 2010 

Recent studies on the national level  show the trend of accidents is increasing. This is a recent phenomena and is said to be attibutable to more driving miles because of increase in economic well being.

Conclusion

Way too many people are being killed and maimed in car accidents. The largest majority strikes the young. With the advent of cell phones, dialing and texting has increased the risk of car crashes . I expect the trend to continue and the 16-20 age group will continue to be the hardest hit.

I'm calling for increasing the driving age to 16 1/2 and the continued use of graduated driving privileges.

By Anthony Castelli Attorney

Anthony Castelli is an Ohio accident and injury lawyer thatpractices injury law and  writes about auto injury topics and motor vehicle safety.For more information www.castellilaw.com and http://daytoncaraccident.attorneys.us