ODOT tells Ohioans to quit stopping in the middle of the highway

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Despite multiple reminders from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and multiple crashes, drivers on Ohio highways continue to create dangerous situations by attempting to get to an exit lane at the last second. 

“There’s no excuse for putting people in harm’s way just so you can avoid maybe a two or three minute detour,” said Matt Bruning, ODOT’s press secretary.

Just this month, a truck carrying watermelons came to a sudden stop on a highway in the Cincinnati area. It did so because a car in front of it slowed down and crossed several lanes of traffic to get to an exit they were about to pass.

“Luckily, that truck driver was paying attention and was able to bring their truck to a stop. Had he not, that could have ended very tragically, when you look at where that car was and the angle he would have hit it. If he hadn’t been aware of the situation that very easily could have been a tragedy,” Bruning said.

Watermelons ended up all over the road, but no one was hurt, according to Bruning.

“There are a lot of lessons we can learn from looking at some of these incidents,” he said.

ODOT shared similar reminders following incidents in the spring. In May, a driver in Columbus stopped in the shoulder, then moved over three lanes of highway traffic to make an exit. It caused a crash behind them.

“These are things that are easily avoided. Just because you happen to be in the wrong lane and you don’t have enough time to get over to your exit, again, just go to the next one. That’s how we avoid these kinds of situations,” Bruning said.

In April, also in Columbus, a red van stopped in the middle of I-71 just so they could get to an exit. It led to a chain-reaction crash behind them. That driver left as well, but was found and charged.

“We just need people to pay attention and drive responsibly, and that’s not a hard ask,” Bruning said. “That’s an easy fix, and it doesn’t cost anything, but it could save lives, and that’s what we’re trying to do here.”

Bruning said incidents like these have happened more; it’s just these three were caught on ODOT’s cameras. ODOT is urging drivers who are about to miss exits to just keep driving and take the next one. Bruning said it’s safer for the driver and all other drivers around them.

“It’s frustrating because we try to engineer the roads to be as safe as we can, vehicle manufacturers obviously try to manufacture their vehicles to be as safe as we can. The one thing we can’t directly impact is the driver behavior and we’re trying to do that through education,” he said.