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Driver inattention key factor in Sunday fatal accidents
By Joe Gorman
CANFIELD
State troopers say driver inattention is being looked at as the key factor in two separate accidents that killed two people Sunday.
Lt. Jerad Sutton, head of the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, said in both cases investigators examined cellphones from the juvenile drivers and in one case seized a phone.
Sutton said the day was very unusual because of having two similar accidents, both fatal, within hours of each other.
“It is very unusual to have two crashes where a vehicle went off the road and caused an injury or fatality so close together,” Sutton said.
About 6:45 p.m., Thomas R. Smith, 65, of Warren, was killed when he was hit by an SUV that was driven by a 16-year-old.
Smith was standing next to his motorcycle, which was parked off the road in the westbound lanes of Mahoning Avenue east of Lipkey Road by the Meander Reservoir. Reports said the SUV went off the right side of the road, hitting Smith.
Michael J. Helon, 54, of Poland was killed and his wife, Kendra Helon, was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital after their vehicle, in a driveway on state Route 7 south of Western Reserve Road in Beaver, was struck about 5:30 p.m. by a vehicle being driven by a 17-year-old that was heading north.
That driver was also taken to St. Elizabeth.
Sutton said no charges have been filed yet, and both accidents are still under investigation.
He said the names of the juveniles will not be released until the reports for both crashes are finished.
Another factor in the crash could have been driver inexperience as well, because both drivers are young, Sutton said. He said the fact both were driving SUVs was probably not a factor.
According to statistics supplied by the state, the patrol has investigated nine fatal crashes so far in Mahoning County in 2017, down one from the same time last year.
The patrol investigated a total of 20 fatal accidents in Mahoning County in 2016.