There were seven fatal car crashes between July and September this year, according to the third quarter report from the county’s Fatality Review Board.
The board is required by the Safe Communities grant program from the Portage County Health District to assess crash reports to identify trends and recommend countermeasures.
Over the past year, there have been a total of 15 fatal crashes resulting 17 related deaths. When comparing the months of July, August and September, there were three more fatal crashes this year than last. There were a total of 16 fatal crashes over the entire year of 2021.
The causes of the crashes, as reported by the FRB, were:
- Three drove off the roadway
- Two were driving at an unsafe speed
- One was a lack of safe assured distance ahead
In four out of seven fatal crashes in this period, no one was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Five out of seven of the at-fault drivers were males and the age range was between 22 and 67 years old.
