Pretty much everyone who drives has run into spots where it seems like there’s always a police car or an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper just sitting and waiting to catch someone speeding or driving under the influence. If you’ve ever been curious where the hot spots are for enforcement activity, the Ohio State Highway Patrol offers a set of maps that show county-by-county where troopers are seeing the most drug violations, weapons violations, driving under suspension, and fatal crashes.
The state patrol also provides a table of statistics comparing this year’s enforcement activity to last year’s. For example, as of April 28 the state patrol is showing 7,508 OVI enforcement stops compared to 7,251 by the same time last year, or about a 3.5 percent increase. There also has been a pretty big increase in seat belt enforcement, from 27,911 stops by the end of April 2013 to 31,710 stops so far in 2014, or a 13.6 percent increase statewide.
Some of the numbers for Hamilton County are even more dramatic. For the year to date, the Ohio State Highway Patrol made 5,308 total enforcement stops in the county. Only 2,912 overall enforcement stops were made by this time last year — an increase of more than 82 percent.
- Hamilton County has seen a lot more driving under suspension enforcement — 438 stops so far in 2014 compared to 231 last year, or an increase of nearly 90 percent.
- The number of seat belt stops in Hamilton County has more than doubled from 458 to 1,156, or a 152 percent increase.
- At the same time, OVI stops have seen a much smaller 5 percent increase, with 270 through April 2013 and 284 so far this year.
The overall message is that if you’re driving on a state highway or interstate in Hamilton County, troopers are watching for violations and the odds of being pulled over for a violation are high. For driving under suspension violations alone, Hamilton County and the greater Cincinnati area is one of the top areas for enforcement this year, along with Butler County, Montgomery County (Dayton), Franklin County (Columbus), Lucas County (Toledo), and Lorain and Cuyahoga counties (greater Cleveland metro area).
If you’ve been charged with a criminal or traffic violation such as OVI or driving under suspension in Southwest Ohio, Attorney Brad Groene can help. Call or text (513) 338-1890 for a free consultation today.
