COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Transportation reports over the last year, drivers hit ODOT vehicles 56 times throughout the state.
"We have seen a downward trend over the last couple years which is good, but that's still 56 drivers too many,” Matt Bruning, press secretary for ODOT, said.
Bruning said in 2022, there were 135 of these crashes, and 154 crashes in 2021.
"A lot of these are drivers that are not paying attention, either they're distracted or they're impaired, or they're just driving too fast and those are the big causes of a lot of these crashes."
Bruning said there are certain factors that can have an impact on the numbers in a given year, like weather.
"This last winter with our snow plows, we were struck 26 times compared to about twice that from the winter before. It was a much more wild winter overall last year than it was the winter before." Bruning said.
This year, the state’s distracted driving law also took effect, but Bruning said it still continues to be a problem on the roads.
"It is not hard to see an ODOT crew working on the road and that is by design, we want you to be able to see us. But you're never gonna see us if you're looking at this, and that's the biggest problem you're going to see,” Bruning said.
Bruning said the department continues to work to spread awareness about keeping space between your car and working vehicles, and most of all, paying attention.
"I think if we could all focus a little bit more on what we need to do as drivers and that is the road ahead, a lot of these 100% preventable crashes would be prevented. And that is what I hope we see in the coming year."