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Trumbull Co. traffic fatalities surged in Oct.
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Trumbull County police agencies recorded seven traffic fatalities last month — half the number recorded in all of 2009.
The October spike, coupled with two triple fatalities this year, may well produce the most deadly year on county roads since 2001.
Lt. Michael Orosz, commander of the Southington post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, said October fatalities don’t suggest a specific reason for the crashes — only the three main reasons they routinely see.
“Their causes are the ongoing reasons — speeding, following too closely, failure to yield,” he said.
Though texting and cell-phone usage have been hot topics in the news recently, none of the fatal October crashes was attributed to that, he said.
Police believe the driver of a car involved in a fatal Oct. 6 crash on U.S. Route 422 in Warren Township was driving 65 mph in a 55 zone when he lost control while changing lanes and hit a mailbox, fence and telephone pole, a crash report says.
The driver of a car involved in a fatal accident on state Route 534 on Oct. 7 failed to stop for a red light at state Route 5 and was struck by another car, a police report said.
A fatality Oct. 8 on Dana Street in Warren occurred when two men on motorcycles were driving fast side by side and one of them crossed the center line on a curve, hit a pothole and slid about 60 feet into a parking lot, police said.
In one of two fatal crashes Oct. 9, a 21-year-old passenger in a car was killed when the vehicle she was riding in failed to negotiate a curve on Palmyra Road in Warren Township at 100 mph and struck a utility pole, ejecting her.
In the other, a motorcyclist was hit head-on by an automobile driver who failed to yield the right of way while turning left from state Route 88 onto Hoagland-Blackstub Road in Mecca Township. The accident killed the motorcyclist, who was wearing a helmet, a police report said.
On Oct. 17, a vehicle traveling east on Tibbetts-Wick Road in Liberty Township failed to navigate a curve, hitting a ditch and a tree, ejecting the driver. Alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash, police said.
On Oct. 28, a man was killed when his auto struck the back of a stopped tractor-trailer on Warren Avenue in Niles. Police have not said what they think caused that crash.
So far in 2010, Trumbull County has recorded 31 traffic-related fatalities — six of them March 31, when three Marine Corps recruits were killed on state Route 5 just west of Warren, and three others May 24 on Interstate 80 in Hubbard Township when three adult siblings died in a crash on their way to Pittsburgh International Airport.
The 2010 fatalities are more than double the total for 2009, but 2009 was the lowest year since 2000, when 13 people died, according to statistics.
Statewide, fatal crashes also are up this year — 927 so far, compared with 865 during the same time period in 2009.
Orosz said he has only one observation to share with drivers wanting to avoid becoming a statistic: “You just learn after so many crashes, if you can just stay away from traffic, just stay away.”