COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State Highway Patrol and Ohio Department of Transportation are putting out a warning for highway safety after a tragic incident took the life of a 33-year-old woman serving as a good Samaritan on U.S 33 this weekend.
Randi Maddix, of Michigan, stopped to help two teens in a car crash and was hit and killed by a semitrailer.
According to OSHP, since 2020, there have been nearly 66,000 crashes statewide involving 7,000 pedestrians, resulting in over 3,000 deaths.
Miranda Nash from Lancaster tells 10TV it’s a miracle she’s still alive after her highway crash earlier this year when a semi hit her on the highway and drove away.
"I hit the median. And it my car flipped over. And then I was like, panicking because I couldn't get out,” says Nash. “I did have my seatbelt on, airbags deployed and everything.”
Nash said she’s thankful for her seatbelt and the first responders that saved her life.
“They had to cut my windshield and cut me out,” shares Nash.
OSHP and ODOT said if you see someone in danger, get to a safe location and call 911. They urge you not to exit your vehicle if it is not safe.
"It is so incredibly dangerous for you to exit your vehicle, walk around it on the shoulder, when you've got traffic traveling at 75 miles per hour, right next to you, you've now eliminated any kind of barrier that you had between you and another car,” says Brooke Eberole, the public information officer for ODOT.
“If you're able to get out of the vehicle and get safely off the roadway, move as far off the roadway as you can. If you're not able to then just remain in your vehicle with his lights flashing and call for help, call 911,” says Lt. Nathan Dennis from the OSHP.
If you and your vehicle are stuck on the highway, Eberole says do not get out of your vehicle, it is protecting you from on-coming traffic hitting you straight-on.
“If you are in the shoulder on a highway, the safest place for you is in your driver's seat with your seatbelt on. If you are struck, that way, you have the highest likelihood of walking away from that crash," Ebersole said.