Did you notice there were less OVI checkpoints this year? Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers made the decision to change from an OVI checkpoint strategy, to a more concentrated OVI patrol strategy. So, how many OVI arrests did the Ohio State Highway Patrol make over night Dec. 31 into Jan. 1 in our area? Numbers from a 12-county area, including Montgomery and Miami counties, shows 19 OVI offenses. Those numbers include:
- 7 from the Dayton post that covers Montgomery and Preble counties;
- 2 from the Springfield post for Clark and Champaign counties;
- 3 from the Xenia post in Greene County;
- 6 from the Piqua post that covers Miami, Darke, Shelby, Mercer and Auglaize counties;
- 1 from the Lebanon post that covers Warren County; and
- 3 from the Hamilton post that covers Butler County
Across Ohio, there were three fatal crashes compared to 10 during the same period last year. This is significant because this year marked a change in strategy for the OSP. They used less ineffective OVI checkpoints and more traditional "saturation" patrols to look for impaired drivers. Let's hope this is a trend that continues.