CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Transportation is sending a major warning to all drivers: ditch the distractions.
It comes just days after ODOT officials say a suspected distracted driver slammed right into an ODOT plow.
Video courtesy of an ODOT camera shows a person driving in the far right lane.
The driver then slams right into a parked ODOT plow in the shoulder.
This happened Sunday afternoon on I-90 near the West 117th Street exit.
Video shows the driver casually veered across the lane—and seamlessly ran into the ODOT vehicle which had its hazards on at the time.
ODOT says had the plow not been there—the person likely would've crashed into another car, a sign or something else.
"I don't know the condition of the driver, but it's clear to see that there is some sort of distraction going on from the driver. And this brings me up to my next point—is that while we're on the roads, we have to minimize distractions by putting your phone down by making sure that we're paying attention to the flashing lights on the side of the road and moving over when appropriate," said ODOT District 12 Public Information Officer Brent Kovacs.
ODOT reports an overall decrease in plows and workers getting hit on the roadways.
They report more than 130 incidents occurred in 2022.
In 2023, that number dropped to a little more than 50 incidents involving ODOT vehicles and employees.
This all comes on the heels of Ohio's distracted driving law which took full effect in early October.
Statewide there are currently 231 distracted driving violations.
Five have been reported so far in Cuyahoga County and 20 already in Lorain County for this 2024 calendar year.
The ODOT driver who was hit on Sunday was checked out and released with non-life-threatening injuries and is said to be doing well.
