The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) recently partnered to establish a new distracted driving safety corridor in central Ohio along a 12-mile stretch of State Route 161/State Route 37 between New Albany and Granville.
The Licking County location is the latest for targeted enforcement and increased signage to encourage safe driving.
Motorists will see increased OSHP enforcement in the zone, and ODOT crews installed signs earlier this month. The signs warn motorists that they have entered the corridor and the state has zero tolerance when it comes to unsafe driving behaviors.
Between Beech Road and State Route 16, there were approximately 200 crashes between 2018 and 2020, nearly a quarter of which resulted in an injury or fatality.
This year, troopers have issued 169 distracted driving citations in Licking County, according to OSHP.
“We’ve seen great success building awareness through the use of distracted driving safety corridors in other areas of the state,” Jason Sturgeon ODOT District 5 deputy director said. “In less than a year, the safety corridor on U.S. 33 in Fairfield County saw a dramatic decrease in crashes and fatalities, prompting a decision to relocate the corridor to Licking County.”