Located along the shores of Lake Erie in north-central Ohio, Lorain County is named after Lorraine, France. While part of Greater Cleveland is located in Lorain County, which causes the overall population of the county to spike to just over 284,000, the population of the various townships in Lorain County add up to only 73,516.
Lorain County experiences a relatively average number of traffic accidents for a county in Ohio each year. Given the inclement weather, humidity, and road conditions, the figures should be viewed with some additional context. Simply put, driving in Lorain County from September to March often presents motorists with challenges that are not seen throughout the country. Thus, the 1,857 total traffic accidents on file in 2007 and 1,908 in 2008 should be viewed with that fact in mind.
The townships in Lorain County that reported the most traffic accidents in 2007 were: Elyria with 243 total traffic accidents on file, Amherst with 232, Carlisle with 225, Eaton with 220, Columbia with 141, and Sheffield with 135 total traffic accidents. In 2008, many of these townships reprised their roles upon the list of most dangerous places in Lorain County for motorists: Elyria topped the list again with 243 total traffic accidents, Amherst with 234, Carlisle with 233, Eaton with 192, Columbia with 172, Sheffield with 122, and Pittsfield with 102 total traffic accidents on file.
What is particularly troubling about these figures is that the townships of Amherst and Carlisle are fairly large, with 7,598 and 7,782 residents respectively, while Elyria is home to just over 3,500 residents. This marks the Township of Elyria as one of the more dangerous places in Lorain County on a per capita basis despite the fact that not a single traffic-related fatality was recorded there during 2007 or 2008. In fact, over two-thirds of the traffic accidents that occurred in the Township of Elyria in the 2007-2008 timeframe were PDO crashes, meaning that no injuries were reported. In fact, only 91 crashes in Elyria resulted in injuries in 2007, though 148 injuries were the result. 72 traffic accidents resulted in 122 injuries in 2008 in the Township if Elyria, and it is worth noting that there is a high rate of injuries per accident in Elyria overall.
The Township of Brownhelm would appear to be a particularly safe place for motorists in Lorain County if were not for the trio of traffic-related fatalities that occurred there in 2007. Simply put, the 7,782-resident township only experienced 81 traffic accidents in 2007 and another 89 in 2008. For a larger township, these are impressive figures. Add to this the scant 45 people who were injured in traffic-related accidents in 2007, and another 26 in 2008, in Brownhelm, and it is easy to declare Brownhelm to be a beacon of safety within Ohio as a whole, as well as within Lorain County.
Finally, the Township of Columbia saw an impressive 5 unknown and/or unattributable traffic accidents in 2007. These figures are only to be expected of a medium-sized township, with 6,912 residents. What is unexpected is the complete absence of such crashes on the books in 2008.
If you’ve been seriously injured or have lost a loved one in an Elyria, Amherst Township, or Sheffield Township truck / car accident, call the Lorain County auto accident and wrongful death attorneys / lawyers at Chester Law Group at 800-218-4243 or order your FREE BOOK entitled The Insider’s Guide to Handling Ohio Accident Claims at www.ChesterLaw.com.