Impaired driving arrests on the rise in Portage – News – Record-Courier

The number of people arrested by state troopers for drugged and drunk driving rose in Portage County last year, and the percentage of fatal crashes that involved alcohol rose as well.

Ohio State Highway Patrol arrests in the county for driving under the influence rose from 602 in 2017 to 716 in 2018, according to the Patrol.

Four of the seven Portage County fatal crashes in 2018 involved alcohol, said Lynette Blasiman, Safe Communities irector in Portage County, with the average blood alcohol content measuring 0.15 percent, more than double Ohio’s legal limit to drive of 0.08 percent.

Lt. Jeffrey S. Greene of the Ravenna Post of the State Highway Patrol said part of the reason more arrests occurred in 2018 may be in part due to how common drugs, such as marijuana, are becoming. Driving while high is still considered impaired driving, Greene said.

“(Marijuana) makes people be lethargic in decision making,” Greene said. “They don’t have reactions that a non-impaired person would have.”

He said people driving while using other drugs, such as fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine, is also becoming more common.

“If you get a good buzz or a good high from drugs, it’s the same thing, a euphoria,” Greene said, adding that high is unsafe for both drivers and passengers, because it makes it hard to react to sudden changes in the road.

Blasiman said four of the county’s nine fatal crashes in 2017 involved alcohol.

Greene said his office is continuing to educate the public on what to look for in terms of drunk and impaired drivers, as well as working with other departments to prevent drunk driving.

The patrol also concentrates efforts where it makes the most sense, Greene said, such as Kent, where the university’s large population of young people may be experimenting with alcohol for the first time, as well as major highways like Interstate 76, the Ohio Turnpike and Routes 44 and 43.

A map released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol showing where people were arrested for driving under the influence in 2018 shows most arrests took place in Kent, Ravenna, along Routes 44 and 43 and on I-76 and the Turnpike.

There were also arrests in Streetsboro. Greene said the Aurora police department handles most of the arrests in that area.

The four fatal crashes involving took place across the county: Brimfield, Ravenna, on Route 44 in Shalersville, and in Garrettsville.

The State Patrol and Safe Communities are hosting several events to prevent drugged and drunk driving, and are working with local law enforcement to prosecute the crime.

“The biggest thing is we educate the public and let them know impaired driving is a crime and it will be punished,” Greene said.

Contact reporter Eileen McClory at 330-298-1128, emcclory@recordpub.com or @Eileen_McClory.