CLEVELAND — Friday’s incident on I-90 in Lake County, where two tow truck operators from Fast and Friendly Repair and Towing were struck by a driver while working an earlier crash, raised questions about how many citations the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) has issued for violations of Ohio’s Move Over law.
The incident
Joshua Holstein owns the towing business and is one of the men who was struck. He spoke with me last Friday and said he is doing fine, and that his employee, who suffered serious injuries, is expected to recover.
Watch:
RELATED: Driver crashes into 2 tow truck drivers on I-90, highway patrol cruiser
According to OSHP, the men were working at the scene of a jackknifed tractor-trailer in Madison Township and were standing at the window of an OSHP patrol car that was parked on the berm with its lights activated, speaking with troopers about the situation. During that time, a Dodge Charger swerved off course, struck the patrol car, and hit the tow truck operators. The incident was captured on Ohio Department of Transportation cameras.
According to OSHP, “Ohio’s Move Over Law requires motorists to cautiously shift over one lane, or slow down if changing lanes is not possible, when passing any vehicle with flashing lights on the side of a road.”
Citation data
Last week, I asked OSHP how many Move Over citations it has written. On Tuesday, the agency provided data from 2021 to the present.
Statewide, nearly 18,000 Move Over citations have been issued since 2021.
In Northeast Ohio counties (Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga, Portage, Stark, Carroll, Tuscarawas, Summit, Cuyahoga, Medina, Wayne, Holmes, Ashland, Richland, Huron, Erie, and Lorain), between 805 and 950 citations have been written each year during that time period.
For the same span, the three Northeast Ohio counties with the most citations are Erie, Cuyahoga, and Portage.
Here are the rankings of Northeast Ohio counties (2021-2026 YTD):
- Erie — 803
- Cuyahoga — 610
- Portage — 472
- Lorain — 428
- Summit — 318
- Stark — 280
- Ashland — 252
- Medina — 227
- Richland — 211
- Tuscarawas — 168
- Wayne — 166
- Lake — 159
- Ashtabula — 130
- Geauga — 86
- Huron — 50
- Carroll — 0
- Holmes — 0
You can see the data for the rest of Ohio's 88 counties below:
Violating the Move Over law is a minor misdemeanor and carries a fine. Fines increase, and jail time is possible for repeat offenders.
The crash in Lake County remains under investigation.
The Ohio Department of Transportation also stresses the importance of the state's Move Over law. It says so far this winter, 30 of its plows have been struck by drivers.
