“It’s very satisfying to see those numbers come down,” Patrol Sgt. Matt Cleaveland told News Center 7’s Sean Cudahy.
Cleaveland said it is difficult to pinpoint a specific reason for the decrease but Xenia troopers have been proactive in advising motorists.
“Working with (the Ohio Department of Transportation) to improve certain roads or stretches of road across the county, obviously we focused our enforcement efforts on those areas where we were seeing these trends with fatality crashes and serious injury crashes,” Cleaveland said.
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Troopers also handed out flyers about driving safely to drivers they pulled over, according to Cleaveland.
Through these efforts, troopers said they’re still seeing too many motorists driving at high speeds and driving while not wearing a seat belt.
All seven of the 2018 crash-related deaths involved people not wearing seat belts, according to the OSP.
Half of the 22 crash fatalities in 2017 also were the result of drivers and passengers not buckling up.
The total fatal crash numbers are the lowest in three years (11 crash-related deaths in 2016), but Cleaveland and the Xenia post want to continue to see the numbers dwindle.
“Ultimately, our goal is zero,” the sergeant said. “That would be amazing. That’s what we strive for each year.
“If we can reduce those numbers even more, that’s just another life or two, or three or four, of people that are still alive,” Cleaveland said.
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