PICKAWAY COUNTY, Ohio — “I guess God needed her more than we did,” Tisha Nida’s ex-husband, Scott Nida, said. “He got one of his angels back.”
Scott Nida and his family wanted you to know that.
They also wanted you to know that one picture wasn’t enough, so they sent 10TV two.
In one picture, it shows the selfless, “fantastic mother” of three that Scott describes. The other pictures shows that smile and that giving personality.
Pictures of Tisha Nida who, died Saturday night on U.S. Route 23 in Pickaway County at the intersection of Radcliffe Road after the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office said another driver was on Route 23 going the wrong way.
Matt Bruning with ODOT says the chances of wrong way drivers are .01 percent.
“However, when they occur, they’re 40 times more likely to be deadly,” Bruning said.
In the last six years Bruning says ODOT has pumped millions of dollars into combatting the issue from multiple layers of additional signage, striping on the ramps and, in some cases, flashing lights.
“Have we done everything we can do because I know we have those things in place, [but] people are always going to look at these kind of stories and say what else can we do,” 10TV’s Bryant Somerville asked Bruning.
“We’re always asking that question, too,” Bruning said.
Bruning says since 2018 there have been 464 wrong way driving crashes with 82 deaths. He says the biggest factor is impairment. Another issue, he says, is time.
“By the time I realize it [and] pick up my phone [and] call 911, you’re miles apart and who knows where that driver has gone,” Bruning said.
The sheriff's office says while the death of Nida is still being investigated there was no indication of impairment.
The driver and a passenger in the vehicle that was going the wrong way were both taken to a hospital, according to Sheriff Matthew Hafey.
Bruning says ODOT is always looking at new technology for wrong way drivers. He says, right now, ODOT is testing new cameras that can detect wrong way drivers and alert ODOT officials.