COLUMBUS – Two accidents in Franklin County accounted for a third of the fatalities reported on Ohio roadways over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Detailed statistics on accidents and enforcement actions
Fewer motorists were killed than in recent years, according to provisional numbers released Tuesday by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, but accidents in Franklin County claimed three lives, including that of an 18-year-old Johnstown woman and a 62-year-old man from Franklin.
Nine people were killed in Ohio during the reporting period from Wednesday, Nov. 25, until Sunday, Nov. 29, a reversal of the upward trend seen over the past three years when 23 were killed in 2014, 17 in 2013, and 12 in 2012, said Patrol superintendent Colonel Paul Pride.
A 62-year-old Franklin man was killed in a single-vehicle accident on I-71 in southwestern Franklin County Thursday afternoon. Franklin County sheriff’s deputies say Virgil Pack, Jr., was killed when he apparently lost control of his Chevrolet Trail Blazer while northbound on I-71 near the Young Road overpass. Pack was thrown from the SUV when it drove into the median and rolled over several times, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Amanda Trump said. Pack was pronounced dead at Grant Medical Center. Trump says neither alcohol nor drugs were considered factors in the accident.
Haley Meadows, of Johnstown, was killed, along with a 20-year-old Alexandria man, in a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Route 62 north of Walnut Road in Plain Township Friday night, Trump said.
The 2005 Buick Rendezvous Meadows, 18, was riding in was northbound on U.S. 62 at approximately 9:42 p.m. when it crossed over the median into the southbound lane and was struck by a 2008 Dodge Caliber driven by Heather Thomas, 33, of Mt. Vernon, Trump said.
Thomas was taken to Grant Medical Center in stable condition.
Gregory Long, 20, of Alexandria, was driving the Buick and was also taken to Grant Medical Center where he died, said Trump.
Trump says neither alcohol nor drugs are believed to have been factors and all three victims were wearing seat belts.
Both accidents remain under investigation.
The Patrol made 498 arrests for OVI, 688 for aggressive driving and issued 1,651 citations for not wearing safety belts. All three increased from last year, Pride said.