‘Very purposeful;’ New numbers show drop in deadly crashes, state troopers share why

MIAMI VALLEY — The number of deadly crashes continues to drop across parts of the Miami Valley.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) saw a slight drop in deadly crashes in both Montgomery and Greene Counties in 2023.

In 2022, there were 15 deadly crashes on Greene County Streets, but last year that number dropped to five.

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News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson spoke with Commander Robert Hildebrandt of the Xenia Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol about why he thinks they have seen a steady drop in the number of deadly crashes.

“Ultimately, we love for those fatal numbers to be very low,” Hildebrandt said. “I can contribute that possibly to several different things. One, we tried to be very purposeful, purposeful in our enforcement initiatives here.”

We also looked into the deadly crash numbers in other counties in the Miami Valley.

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Last year in Montgomery County, there were 58 deadly crashes. Butler County followed behind with 30 crashes. Warren and Clark had 20 crashes each, and Miami had 13 deadly crashes.

Hildebrandt told Robertson that troopers will look up statistics on what areas in the county see more crashes or dangerous driving, and make sure that area has more law enforcement patrols. He said OSHP started to see a decrease in crashes in those troubled spots after they started putting in more state troopers.

“We have a few troopers here that really noticed some problem areas in the county and then they went in to work those areas a little more often and the crashes went down in those areas,” said Hildebrandt. “So, we tried to be very purposeful in what we do.”

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He also said the new distracted driving law has had an impact on the number of deadly crashes.

“The new distracted driving law absolutely helps because people need to be more mindful about what they’re doing behind the wheel,” Hildebrandt said.

Molly Cope, who has been on Beavercreek roads since the 70′s, thinks that people need to be paying more attention on the roads.

“I feel like there is not enough people that watch out in the parking lots for other people, I also feel like drivers do not give the courtesy at the pedestrians and walkways very much anymore,” Cope said.

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She was happy to hear that troopers are paying attention to where the problem areas are.

“Obviously, a lot of people won’t do things when they see a police car,” Hildebrandt said.

If anyone sees reckless or dangerous driving on the roads, they are asked to call #677 and report them.

“The most important thing you are doing at that point in time is operating that vehicle. It’s no different than having any other deadly weapon in your hand,” Hildebrandt explained. “That car can be a deadly weapon if they’re not being responsible behind the wheel.”

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