CLEVELAND – Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers recently arrested 83 aggressive drivers and 14 impaired drivers, using high-visibility enforcement, and specialized computer mapping and statistics to help troopers and other local law enforcement officers make Cleveland roads safer, as part of their ongoing Cuyahoga County Metropolitan Initiative (CCMI).

Overall from July 16-28, state troopers involved with the CCMI issued 586 citations in Cuyahoga County, assisted 71 motorists, and conducted sobriety checkpoints in conjunction with the Cleveland Police Department on three consecutive nights from July 26-28.

This recent effort marked the second time Patrol troopers have been in Cuyahoga County as part of the CCMI this summer. Previously, troopers, including members of the Patrol’s motorcycle unit, worked in Cuyahoga County from April 30 through June 1, alongside partnering local law enforcement agencies.

“We remain committed to helping improve traffic safety across Ohio, including here in Cuyahoga County,” Colonel Richard H. Collins, Patrol superintendent said. “Through the successes we are seeing with our law enforcement efforts in Cuyahoga County, it is clear our initial goal and plan to improve traffic safety and the quality of life for people using Cleveland’s public roadways is working.”

The CCMI employs a combination of high-visibility enforcement, multi-agency OVI deterrence, and a strategic public information campaign to promote traffic safety on Cuyahoga County roads.

The Patrol said a formal evaluation of the CCMI, and its traffic-safety impact in Cuyahoga County, will be forthcoming following an in-depth analysis of this summer’s results.

The CCMI was developed in part because last year Cuyahoga County had the most fatal crashes among all Ohio Counties, killing 68 motorists, and nearly 14,000 traffic crashes over the last four years. More than one in four of these crashes have involved an injury or death, an average of one injury or fatal crash every 51 minutes. There have been 243 fatal crashes resulting in 264 deaths in the past four years on Cuyahoga County roadways.

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