OSHP and ODOT hope message boards improve driver safety

CANFIELD — Officials from the Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio State Highway Patrol announced a new initiative this morning to use message boards in Mahoning and Trumbull counties to display traffic deaths on Ohio roadways as well as enforcement messages like "drive sober or get pulled over" or "click it or ticket."

This initiative was undertaken due to 76 more traffic deaths statewide at this point in 2015 versus a year ago.

"Those are numbers, but those are families," said Lt. Nakia Hendrix, commander of the OSP Canfield Post. "[These accidents] start with a bad decision and hopefully with these message board we can be" proactive, he said.

Officials from ODOT said the boards will be displaying the new messages by Friday for the July 4th weekend. The boards will run 24 hours per day on the weekends and from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays.

For the complete story, read Thursday's Vindicator and Vindy.com