New Year’s holiday continues to be a deadly problem time for drunken driving

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - This New Year’s Eve, many Ohioans have a lot to celebrate.

And since the Buckeyes are playing, there may be even more people out on our roads.

This can be a dangerous time of the year to be driving.

Ohio State Highway Patrol is reminding you to stay safe.

We found Cuyahoga County continues to be one of the top three most dangerous counties in the state for crashes involving drunk drivers.

Summit, Stark and Lorain counties are the next highest in our area.

Statewide since 2019, there have been nearly 50,000 impaired driving-related crashes on Ohio’s roads, killing about 2,500 people.

Here’s a snapshot of what state troopers saw over the four-day New Year’s holiday reporting period from 2021 to 2022.

Twelve deadly crashes statewide killed 12 people.

Drugs and alcohol were a factor in half of those crashes.

Four pedestrians were also killed during that time.

You can expect to see more enforcement on our roads starting Friday.

Ohio State Highway Patrol made 232 OVI arrests last year at this time.

You can check out their OVI dashboard here.

It’s always a good idea to plan ahead for New Year’s Eve, by designating a sober driver or making other plans like using Uber, Lyft or a taxi.

You can report impaired drivers by calling #677.

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