Is Your Car Fit To Drive? Ohio Highway Patrol Wants To Know

OHIO — Is your car fit to drive?

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is cracking down this month on unfit vehicles to make roadways safer, the agency said.

Vehicle defects contributed to more than 6,000 car crashes between 2018 and 2020, the Ohio State Highway Patrol warned. Now the agency wants Ohioans to get their cars checked before hitting the road.

“Roadway safety is a shared responsibility and we all need to do our part,” said Colonel Richard Fambro, Patrol superintendent. “ Ensuring your vehicle is roadworthy is an easy way to prevent crashes throughout Ohio.”

Between 2018 and 2020, there were 30 defect-related fatal crashes, which killed 35 people. Brake failures and tire blowouts were the most common contributors to crashes. Brake failures caused 43 percent of defect-related fatal crashes. There were also 1,689 crashes that caused injuries due to a vehicle defect.

Older vehicles are more prone to breaking down and causing an accident. Vehicles from 1999 to 2008 accounted for 53 percent of accidents, while cars from 2010 to 2019 were involved in 25 percent of crashes.

Cuyahoga County leads the state in vehicle-defect crashes, with 520 over the past three years. Hamilton County (331) and Franklin County (308) were No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Nearly 20 percent of all defect-related accidents happened in those three counties.

“These crashes are preventable,” Lt. Rob Gable, Cleveland post commander said. “Maintaining the routine maintenance on your vehicle helps keep our roads safe.”