Top 10 Ohio counties the State Highway Patrol cracks down the most & least on DUI’s

​It’s always a terrible idea to drive drunk or drugged anywhere.  This is especially true in the state of Ohio, where the Ohio State Highway Patrol doesn’t mess around with DUI’s!  If you drive impaired in Ohio, chances are you will get caught sooner or later.  The vast majority of people understands and is very aware of that.  However, impaired judgment sometimes leads to impaired decisions.
   
      I am not here to lecture, preach or pass judgment on any of you that this has already happened to.  Whatever has happened in the past can’t be reversed, so there’s no use dwelling on it.  As an independent agent that specializes in SR22 auto insurance, I help a lot of customers with DUI’s on their record get their license back again.  And over the years, I have noticed that some areas of Ohio can be a lot busier than others, as far as people with DUI’s needing auto insurance with an SR22. This made me curious…. Are some areas enforced more than others? And also … Can any conclusions be drawn from examining DUI statistics, as far as some areas being targeted more than others?
    
      Fortunately, the statistics that might give us an answer are very easy to find because they are posted on the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s (OSP) website. The stats you’re about to see are the DUI charges the OSP has caught drivers with since January 1, 2017. They represent the first half of the year, plus July the 4th week added in (numbers reported as of July 9th). So to get a close idea of yearly projections, take the numbers and double them.                                     






Three Things to keep in mind about these stats:

• These statistics only reflect DUI's process by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. DUI's from police and sheriff departments aren't counted.

• Counties that have big metro cities can't be can't be compared to smaller counties as apples vs. apples. This is because the larger cities have much bigger police forces than do smaller counties (numbers that aren't counted here).

• There is no distinction made here between driving drunk and driving drugged. A DUI is a DUI, and both count here as one in the same.

Top 10 Highest Counties for DUI’s per Capita


Stats from 1/1/17 - 7/9/17

​Similarities:

• All of these counties have a low population. Only Allen county (Lima) has a population higher than 100,000.

 

• All of these counties have a high number of crashes relative to their population.

 

• All of these counties have at least one major high traffic interstate, US highway or state highway running through them (most have more than one). A lot of traffic comes from non-residents passing through.

Top 10 Lowest Counties for DUI’s per Capita

Similarities:

• All of these counties also have small populations.

• Not only do these counties have very low number of DUI's, but most also have very low numbers of crashes.

• Most of these counties don't have nearly the amount of passing through traffic.

Rest of State

What conclusions can be drawn from these stats?


     There’s really no earth shattering revelation that can be concluded here.  However, people who live in counties that are passing through gateways to other areas tend to have the most traffic, most crashes and most enforcement per capita than other counties.  Some people may argue that some counties get picked on more than others, but the stats don’t reflect that.


     As we saw from the lowest 10 counties, the reason they were ranked the lowest is because they also had very low number of crashes.  And with the highest 10 counties, most all of them had high numbers of crashes.  So it only makes logical sense of those counties that have the highest number of crashes per capita will experience the most enforcement.




Summary:


It is always a terrible idea to drive impaired. We all know that. For those of you who live in gateway areas, you have to be extra careful not to get behind the wheel when you are impaired. The best way to combat this problem is to always plan ahead any time you know you’re going to be partying. Having plans for a designated driver go a long way. That will keep you from having to deal with fines, license suspensions, state SR22 filings, and high risk auto insurance agents like me.  :)



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