Yearly Traffic Safety Analysis

3,275 CRASHES IN
OHIO, OH
2023

All metrics benchmarked against2022

In 2023, Portage County recorded 3,275 total crashes, a 4.1% decrease from the 3,416 crashes documented in 2022. Despite the overall reduction in collisions, the number of fatalities increased from 18 in 2022 to 21 in 2023. This represents a 16.7% rise in traffic-related deaths year-over-year.

3,275

-4.1%was 3,416

Total Crash Events

21

16.7%was 18

Persons Killed

1,216

-9.5%was 1,344

Persons Injured

298

-22.0%was 382

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (21) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (21) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall traffic crash volume in Portage County decreased from 2022 to 2023. Total crashes fell by 4.1% from 3,416 to 3,275, and total injuries declined by 9.5% from 1,344 to 1,216. However, this downward trend did not extend to the most severe outcomes, as fatalities rose by 16.7% from 18 to 21.

298

Hit-and-Run Crashes — 2023

-22.0% vs prior (382)

Hit-and-run incidents decreased in 2023 compared to the previous year. The total number of hit-and-run crashes fell from 382 in 2022 to 298 in 2023. This represents a downward trend in the hit-and-run rate, which dropped from 11.2% of all crashes in 2022 to 9.1% in 2023.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

2

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 4-50.0%

19

Motorists Killed

Prior: 1435.7%

17

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 25-32.0%

1,199

Motorists Injured

Prior: 1,319-9.1%

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes remained largely consistent year-over-year, with Friday being the peak day for crashes in both 2023 (542 crashes) and 2022 (567 crashes). The peak hour for collisions shifted slightly, moving from the 4 p.m. hour in 2022 (303 crashes) to the 3 p.m. hour in 2023 (284 crashes). Mid-to-late weekday afternoons consistently saw the highest crash volumes in both periods.

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

While total crashes decreased, the severity of those crashes increased from 2022 to 2023. The number of fatal crashes rose from 16 to 21, and the fatal crash rate increased from 0.47 to 0.64 per 100 crashes. The proportion of crashes resulting in any level of injury decreased from 27.1% in 2022 to 26.0% in 2023, while the share of non-injury crashes increased from 72.4% to 73.3%.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal21fatal crashes0.6%
31.3%prior 16
Serious Injury77serious injury crashes2.4%
-6.1%prior 82
Minor Injury435minor injury crashes13.3%
-19.1%prior 538
Possible Injury340possible injury crashes10.4%
10.7%prior 307
No Injury2,402no injury crashes73.3%
-2.9%prior 2,473

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Road & Environmental Conditions

The distribution of crashes by lighting conditions remained nearly identical year-over-year, with approximately 65% of incidents occurring in daylight in both periods. There was a noticeable shift in road surface conditions, as crashes on wet roads increased from 17.3% of the total in 2022 to 20.9% in 2023. This corresponds with a higher proportion of crashes occurring during rain, which accounted for 12.0% of collisions in 2023 compared to 8.1% in the prior year.

Weather

Clear1,731 (52.9%)
-5.0%prior 1,823
Cloudy886 (27.1%)
-9.5%prior 979
Rain394 (12.0%)
42.2%prior 277
Snow220 (6.7%)
-20.3%prior 276
Fog; Smog; Smoke23 (0.7%)
21.1%prior 19
Other/Unknown7 (0.2%)
-36.4%prior 11
Sleet; Hail6 (0.2%)
-45.5%prior 11
Freezing Rain or Freezing Drizzle5 (0.2%)
-37.5%prior 8
Severe Crosswinds3 (0.1%)
-40.0%prior 5

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight2,133 (65.1%)
-4.4%prior 2,231
Dark - Roadway Not Lighted623 (19.0%)
-3.6%prior 646
Dark - Lighted Roadway308 (9.4%)
-10.5%prior 344
Dawn/Dusk197 (6.0%)
8.2%prior 182
Dark - Unknown Roadway Lighting12 (0.4%)
50.0%prior 8
Other/Unknown2 (0.1%)
-60.0%prior 5

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry2,379 (72.6%)
-5.1%prior 2,508
Wet684 (20.9%)
15.7%prior 591
Snow153 (4.7%)
-34.9%prior 235
Ice44 (1.3%)
-29.0%prior 62
Slush8 (0.2%)
-38.5%prior 13
Other/Unknown5 (0.2%)
0.0%prior 5
Sand; Mud; Dirt; Oil; Gravel2 (0.1%)

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

The top vehicle makes involved in crashes saw a slight shuffle, with Ford (882 vehicles) overtaking Chevrolet (820 vehicles) for the most common make in 2023, reversing their 2022 rankings. An analysis of persons involved in crashes shows a shift in age demographics, as the proportion of individuals in the 16-20 age group decreased from 15.2% in 2022 to 14.3% in 2023. Conversely, the share of those in the 21-25 age group increased from 12.5% to 13.5%.

Top Vehicle Makes (5,605 vehicles)

1
FORD882 (15.7%)
3.6%prior 851
2
CHEVROLET820 (14.6%)
-4.8%prior 861
3
HONDA457 (8.2%)
-1.3%prior 463
4
TOYOTA411 (7.3%)
-12.0%prior 467
5
JEEP326 (5.8%)
-3.0%prior 336
6
NISSAN263 (4.7%)
3.5%prior 254
7
HYUNDAI261 (4.7%)
0.0%prior 261
8
DODGE257 (4.6%)
-25.9%prior 347
9
KIA256 (4.6%)
-5.9%prior 272
10
GMC166 (3%)
13.7%prior 146

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Vehicle unit records

269 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (7,155 persons with recorded sex)

Male4,001 (55.9%)
-4.8%prior 4,201
Female3,154 (44.1%)
-6.2%prior 3,363

Source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS) · Csv Open Data · 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS), accessed programmatically via the Csv Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.

Data Retrieval

  • Access method: Csv Open Data API (SoQL queries)
  • Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
  • Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
  • Date filter applied: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31
  • Report generated: July 7, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2023-01-01 through 2023-12-31 (365 days)
  • Geographic scope: ohio, OH
  • Total crash records analyzed: 3,275
  • Total persons involved: 7,339
  • Total vehicles involved: 5,605

Analytical Methodology

  • Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
  • Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
  • Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
  • Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
  • Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
  • Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
  • AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.

Limitations & Disclaimers

  • Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
  • Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
  • Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
  • AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
  • Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.

Non-Affiliation Disclosure

This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.

Data License

The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.

Corrections & Feedback

If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.

Suggested Citation

ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "ohio, OH Crash Intelligence Report: 2023." Published July 7, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31. Data source: Ohio Crash Data (ODOT TIMS), Csv Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/ohio/statewide/2023-annual-report

About the Publisher

ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.

Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai

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Portage County, OH Crash Report — 2023 | ThatCarHitMe.com