Where Are Ohio’s Deadliest Roads, and What Factors Contribute Most to the State's Fatal Accidents?

Over three years, 3,129 crashes in Ohio resulted in fatalities. From 2017–2019, MoneyGeek found several factors involved in these accidents, including drunk driving, speeding and distracted driving. The study — which features the most recent data available — examined accidents on 1,863 roads out of the 262,492 miles of road in the state and breaks down information county-by-county.

• I-71 Between Exit 110B and Exit 116 is the deadliest stretch of road in Ohio. Columbus — the city where this road is located — is home to four of the ten deadliest roads in the state.
• 31% of fatal accidents were related to drunk driving. In contrast, crashes on the deadliest road in the state only accounted for 0.3% of fatal accidents.
• Speeding contributed to 25% of accidents. That’s 796 crashes in three years.
• Distracted driving was involved in 6% of accidents. Compared to other states, Ohio’s numbers in this category are fairly low. A study conducted by MoneyGeek’s ranked them better than 74% of states for distracted driving rates.
• The month of September had the most fatal accidents. Labor day and mild weather may contribute to high volumes of crashes during this month.
• Franklin had more deadly accidents than any other county. Cuyahoga and Hamilton have the next two highest rates of fatal crashes.

I-71 Between Exit 110B and Exit 116

Columbus

I-75 Between Allen Rd. and Exit 14

Evendale | Sharonville | West Chester

I-480 Between Broadview Rd. and Exit 20A

Brooklyn Heights | Independence | Cleveland

Cr-75 Cleveland Ave. Between Huy Rd. and Maplewood Dr.

Columbus

Morse Rd. from Indianola Ave. to Sunbury Rd.

Columbus

I-90 from Exit 179 to Exit 182B

Euclid | Cleveland | Bratenahl

Cr-9 St. Clair Ave. from E.72nd St. to 172nd St.

Cleveland

I-70 from Exit 103 to Exit 43A

Columbus

I-75 from E. Central Ave to Exit 50B

West Carrollton | Moraine

I-90 from Exit 165 to Exit 170C

Cleveland

Out of 3,129 fatal accidents in Ohio between 2017 and 2019, 31% were drunk driving-related. In most states, drunk driving contributes more to fatal car crashes than other factors like distracted driving, speeding and winter conditions. MoneyGeek’s study shows Ohio follows a similar pattern.

Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) measures the percent of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream at a given time. In Ohio, a BAC of 0.8% makes you legally intoxicated, but consuming even a small amount of alcohol can impair your driving abilities.

Drunk driving also causes other repercussions outside of a fatality. The legal costs of drunk driving in Ohio are long-term and extensive, ranging from a license suspension to possible jail time. If you're convicted, you won't have access to affordable car insurance in Ohio.

If your license is suspended after a DUI conviction, you’ll need to file for SR-22 insurance in Ohio to have it reinstated. This status signals to car insurance providers that you’re a high-risk driver, leading to increased insurance rates. There may be some options available for relatively affordable insurance after a DUI, but these are almost certain to be more expensive than pre-DUI coverage.

Speeding was involved in 796 — or 25% — of all fatal crashes in Ohio from 2017 to 2019. It’s no wonder — speeding presents numerous dangers, including losing control of your vehicle and difficulty making sudden stops, increasing the chances of severe injuries or fatalities.

Because speeding continues to be a concern in the state, the Ohio State Highway Patrol is stepping up ticketing, issuing approximately more than 57,000 speeding tickets in March and April 2021.

From 2017–2019, 199 fatal accidents involved distracted driving — that’s 6% of all fatal crashes in the state. While this is still a significant number of deadly accidents, MoneyGeek ranked Ohio 37th in the nation for distracted driving, meaning it had lower rates of distracted driving accidents than 74% of states.

That said, distracted driving continues to be a primary concern for the Ohio Highway Patrol, which issued 1,266 violations in January and February 2021. In June 2021, Governor Mike DeWine and the OSHP released a Distracted Driving Dashboard to curb related violations and accidents.

MoneyGeek found that most fatal accidents — 331 or 10.4% — from 2017 to 2019 occurred in September. These high numbers could be caused by increased numbers of cars on the road because of Labor Day weekend travel and mild weather conditions. August has the second-highest fatal crashes at 319, or 10.1% of all deadly accidents. June came in third with 309 (9.6%).

You can help keep Ohio’s roads safe by being a responsible driver. Safe driving practices don’t just allow you to contribute to society — they also can potentially save you hundreds of dollars per year in car insurance.

Regardless of your driving behaviors, car insurance is an essential part of protecting yourself financially in the event of an accident. If you cause an accident in Ohio, state insurance laws require you to cover the other driver’s bodily injury and property damage expenses. Carrying affordable full coverage auto insurance protects you from those costs and provides coverage for damages to your own vehicle, person and passengers.

The average cost of car insurance in Ohio is $803 per year for a full coverage policy. However, your premiums can vary depending on where you live in the state. For example, car insurance in Toledo costs $837 on average every year for car insurance. In comparison, auto insurance in Akron is $113 less. Car insurance in Columbus — the most densely populated city in Ohio with 913,921 people — averages $793 yearly.

These premiums may change depending on other factors such as your age, driving experience and driving record. Comparing quotes from various carriers can help you find the most affordable car insurance companies for you.

Fatal crashes from Ohio’s top five counties accounted for 28.4% of all accidents resulting in fatalities — that’s 889 incidents. At 287, Franklin County contributes the most deadly crashes, with most of these happening on I-270. MoneyGeek’s analysis found that most fatal crashes in the county involved drunk driving and speeding — each contributing 82 and 54 accidents, respectively.

MoneyGeek analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration FARS (fatal accident reporting system) database using fatality data from 2017, 2018 and 2019. Currently, 2019 is the latest data available in the system.