TOLEDO, Ohio — Whether you're coming from or going to a family gathering, Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) is on high alert looking for impaired drivers and speeders. But the holiday traffic might not be as bad you think.
Kevin Kerr is driving from Michigan to Pennsylvania to see family and said the roads have been pretty open.
"No it's really not busy at all, kinda happy," Kerr said.
"Seems like the roads are pretty normal, haven't noticed anything different," Matt Maas said as he drove from Columbus.
Law enforcement is still cracking down on those drinking and driving, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.
"Troopers have been on the road, on the look out, it makes me feel secure and everything like that. I'm coming from the west coast, straight across the country, I'm going to Boston Massachusetts," semi truck driver Cortlin Whitehead said.
Just because you're not drinking and driving, doesn't mean others aren't, so stay cautious.
"Last year during the holiday period from Wednesday through Sunday, there were 18 fatal crashes in Ohio where 19 people were killed, so it's far too many and a lot of those involved impaired driving and a good amount of those included those not wearing a safety belt," Sgt. Ryan Purpura with OSHP said.
According to OSHP, there have been a number of fatal crashes through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend through the state:
2019: 18 killed
2020: 11 killed
2021: 17 killed
2022: 19 killed
In 2022, there were four incidents were pedestrians were hit. Of the other 14 crashes, 12 of them involved alcohol or drugs. 11 crashes out of those 14, people weren't wearing seatbelts.
If you notice a drunk driver, you can call #677 to report it.
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