If a crash just upended your week somewhere between Cleveland, Akron and Canton, you're dealing with more than a dented bumper. This media market covers the top of Ohio, running from the lakefront freeways of Cuyahoga County down through Summit County around Akron and into Stark County at Canton. Its crash totals are some of the heaviest in the state. What follows is the local data, the roads that keep turning up in official reports, and how to get your own crash record.
What the crash numbers actually look like
Cuyahoga County, Ohio's most populous, records one of the highest fatal-crash counts in the state. The Ohio Traffic Safety Office logged 111 fatal crashes there in 2024 and 100 in 2023 before the count dropped to 75 in 2025, for 286 fatal crashes over the three years combined.1 Deaths are the rare outcome, though. In 2025 the county still recorded 645 serious-injury crashes and 6,651 injury crashes overall, on top of 17,430 property-damage wrecks.1 Statewide, Ohio saw roughly 1,156 traffic deaths in 2024, down about 7% from the year before, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol's fatal-crash data.2
The statewide decline reached Cuyahoga a year late. Its fatal crashes actually rose in 2024 before falling hard in 2025.12 Seat belts are one bright spot: the county's 90.2% belt-use rate runs a few points above the statewide 87.8%.1
Where Cuyahoga County crashes cluster
Three interstates carry the county's worst crash loads. The Highway Patrol's route data put Interstate 90 on top with 1,278 crashes in 2025, then I-480 at 958 and I-71 at 582.1 Time of day matters too. Almost half of the county's crashes, 47%, happen in the afternoon, and Friday is the single worst day of the week.1
On surface streets, the Ohio Department of Transportation has spent years working through a state list of the 150 most dangerous intersections, 14 of them in its Cleveland-area District 12.3 St. Clair Avenue between East 93rd and East 115th ranked as the second-worst intersection in Northeast Ohio, with 168 crashes over five years, 12 of them causing serious injury or death.3 A little south, East 93rd Street and Kinsman Road drew 114 crashes with 38% causing injury, which pushed ODOT to spend $2.4 million rebuilding it with left-turn lanes on every approach.3 The regional list was topped by Mentor Avenue near Old Johnnycake Ridge Road out in Lake County, at 229 crashes.3 The last of the District 12 fixes, at Cedar and Richmond roads on the county's east side, was still heading into construction as the program wound down.3
Akron and Summit County's problem spots
The Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study, the region's federally designated transportation planning agency, went through 46,576 crashes across Summit, Portage and northeastern Wayne counties for its 2022-2024 report.4 To land on its high-crash list, an intersection needed at least nine crashes in three years, with 30% or more causing injury.4 Two hundred seventeen of them cleared that line.4
The worst single intersection was Rhodes Avenue at West Thornton Street in Akron's Sherbondy Hill neighborhood, where 26 crashes carried an injury rate near 60%.4 Riverview and Ira roads in Cuyahoga Falls came second and included a fatal wreck.4 Among longer stretches of road, North Main Street (State Route 261) on Akron's North Hill and parts of Copley Road (State Route 162) in West Akron placed in the top ten, while State Route 59 through Stow logged the highest raw crash count of any road section studied.45 North Portage Path through the Merriman Valley made the list as well.4
Total crashes across the AMATS area fell to 14,968 in 2024. Serious-injury crashes went the other way, climbing about 19% since 2022, and nine pedestrian crashes turned deadly that year.45
Canton and Stark County
Stark County broke from the statewide trend on deaths. Its Safe Communities program counted 28 people killed in 28 fatal crashes in 2024, up from 20 a year earlier.6
The Stark County Area Transportation Study ranks 12th Street NW and Market Avenue N in Canton as the county's most hazardous intersection, with 56 crashes between 2020 and 2022 and the highest crash rate of any location it measured.7 That rate hit 2.83 crashes per million vehicles, and a 2020 motorcycle collision there killed a 27-year-old rider.7 U.S. Route 62 at Harmont Avenue and Lesh Street NE, also in Canton, came second at 86 crashes over the same three years.7 Half of Stark's ten worst intersections sit around the Belden Village Mall and Strip shopping district in Jackson Township, with three more inside Canton.7
What's driving the crashes
The Cuyahoga data name the usual causes. Failure to yield was tied to 3,972 crashes in 2025, unsafe speed to 2,550, and running a red light or stop sign to 1,333.1 Alcohol figured in 828 OVI-related crashes and distraction in 679.1 Young drivers are badly overrepresented: crashes involving someone aged 15 to 24 numbered 6,712, more than any other age group.1 Statewide, running off the road is the leading factor in fatal crashes, ahead of unsafe speed and drifting left of center.2
After a crash, get your report
Ohio makes crash reports unusually easy to pull. The Department of Public Safety runs a free Crash Retrieval System, and you can search it by name, date, county or report number with no account. The catch is that the file stays available for only 72 hours once you open it, so download it right away.8 The report carries the diagram, any citations, and both drivers' insurance details, which an injury claim usually turns on. ThatCarHitMe's Ohio crash-report guide walks through the same steps.9
There may be a second form to file if the other driver had no insurance. Under Ohio Revised Code 4509.06, you can send a Motor Vehicle Crash Report (BMV Form 3303) to the BMV within six months of a crash that caused injury or more than $400 in property damage, which can trigger a license suspension for an uninsured at-fault driver.1011
Medical bills and missed paychecks can outrun a first insurance offer quickly, and serious-injury crashes are rising across all three counties. If you're deciding whether to talk with a lawyer, thatcarhitme.com keeps a searchable legal directory of personal injury attorneys.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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Ohio Traffic Safety Office, "2025 Cuyahoga County Traffic Crashes FAST FACTS." https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/otso.ohio.gov/DataSheets/Cuyahoga.pdf
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Ohio State Highway Patrol, "Ohio Fatal Crashes 2024," Statistical Analysis Unit Fatal Crash Database. https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/statepatrol.ohio.gov/statistics/statdocs/Fatals_24/Statewide_Fatals_24.pdf
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News 5 Cleveland, "New ODOT construction aims to fix Northeast Ohio's most dangerous intersections," reporting Ohio Department of Transportation District 12 data. https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/new-odot-construction-aims-to-fix-northeast-ohios-most-dangerous-intersections
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Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study, "2022-2024 Annual Crash Report" and Safety Initiatives. https://www.amatsplanning.org/safety-initiatives
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Signal Akron, "Here are the most unsafe roadways and intersections in Akron," reporting AMATS data. https://signalakron.org/most-unsafe-roadways-and-intersections-in-akron-amats/
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WHBC News-Talk 1480, "Fatal Accidents Up In Stark in 2024, Down Statewide," reporting Stark County Safe Communities data. https://www.whbc.com/fatal-accidents-up-in-stark-in-2024-down-statewide/
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Stark County Area Transportation Study, Crash Reports and Safety Work Plans. https://rpc.starkcountyohio.gov/government/offices/regional_planning_commission/departments/stark_county_area_transportation_study_(scats)/safety.php
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Ohio Department of Public Safety, Crash Retrieval System. https://ohtrafficdata.dps.ohio.gov/crashretrieval
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ThatCarHitMe.com, "How to Get a Crash Report in Ohio (2026)." https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-reports/ohio
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Ohio Revised Code Section 4509.06, Report of motor vehicle accident. https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4509.06
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Ohio Department of Public Safety, BMV Form 3303, Motor Vehicle Crash Report. https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/publicsafety.ohio.gov/bmv3303.pdf