COLUMBUS – As traffic begins to increase for the holiday travel weekend, the Ohio State Highway Patrol is releasing the “Top 25 At-Risk Roadways” for OVI crashes this holiday and where serious injury and fatal crashes occur before they happen. This information is a result of a probability forecasting model developed by The Ohio State University’s Statistical Consulting Service (SCS).

The Patrol uses this model to provide quantitative predictions of the likelihood of future crashes. Additionally, the model provides some insight into the causes of crashes and is used to enhance Patrol dispatching and crash prevention strategies.

Among the “Top 25 OVI At-Risk Roadways” for crashes are:
• Interstate 77 in Cuyahoga County, between milepost 156.08 to 160.08
• Interstate 71 in Franklin County, between milepost 108.07 to 120.07
• Interstate 75 in Hamilton County between milepost 0 to 5.

The OSU holiday crash forecasting models are available on the Patrol’s Web site at www.statepatrol.ohio.gov/osu_06.htm. The OSU Google Earth forecast map and the Google Earth 2006 Impaired Driving Enforcement Activity map are available at http://www.statepatrol.ohio.gov/google.htm.

The SCS in the Department of Statistics at Ohio State provides professional statistical research and consulting services to the university's student and faculty community, as well as clients outside the university. This project with the Patrol utilized five years of crash data to develop models that may keep the people of Ohio safer on the roadways.

# # #
06-252