COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A recent analysis has found that an increase in the speed limit along stretches of rural Ohio interstates has resulted in more accidents and fewer tickets.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that state troopers wrote 55,000 tickets last year on rural interstates compared with a yearly average of about 63,000 tickets between 2010 and 2013. Ohio raised the speed limit along rural interstates from 65 mph to 70 mph in July 2013.
A state analysis shows crashes have risen. The number of crashes jumped 19 percent from 8,600 in the two years prior to the increase to 10,200 the last two years. Fatal crashes fell from 48 to 43 in those time periods.
An Ohio Department of Transportation official says interstate speeds have risen slightly since the speed limit change.
