Formed in 1808 and named after General John Stark, Stark County is located northeast of the heart of Ohio. While the population of Stark County is officially listed as 378,098, many of those residents live in areas that are considered separate and unique by the Ohio Department of Public Safety when it comes to traffic related statistics.
Canton is listed as both the county seat and the largest population center in Stark County, and it is worth noting that the Ohio Department of Public Safety lists the combined number of residents in all the townships as 233,868. This disparity in recording methods also results in the Ohio Department of Public Safety not listing Canton as the largest population center in Stark County. Covering 581 square miles, 5 of which are covered in water most of the year, Stark County is a potential hot-spot for traffic accidents due to geography, topology, and weather patterns.
Indeed, Stark County is a dangerous place for motorists according to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, as a grand total of 5,712 traffic accidents were reported in Stark County during 2007. 2008 saw another 5719 traffic accidents go on the books of Stark County. Further reinforcing the impression that Stark County is a dangerous place would be the 25 deaths and 2,241 injuries that were attributed to the traffic accidents in 2007, as well as the 18 fatalities and 2,299 injuries caused by traffic accidents during 2008.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety noted the following townships as being the most accident prone during 2007: Jackson with a grand total of 1,678 traffic accidents, Plain with 925, Perry with 789, Canton with 395, Lake with 314, Nimishillen with 233, and Lexington with 205. 2008’s list of most traffic accident prone townships in Stark County was a virtual repeat of the 2007 list in terms of rank and placement, and even the numbers were very similar: Jackson with 1,534 total traffic accidents, Plain with 943, Perry with 732, Canton with 452, Lake with 340, Nimishillen with 288, and Lexington with 207 total traffic accidents on file.
Plain has the greatest population actually residing within Stark County according to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, with 51,997 residents. The fact that the Township of Jackson, home to only 37,774 by the same recording methods, could consistently report more traffic accidents than the larger Township of Plain is worthy of further investigation. Part of the problem may be linked to the fact that the Township of Jackson is home to more overall unreported and/or unattributable traffic accidents each year, with 1 more (3 vs. 2) during 2007, and 3 more in 2008 (12 vs. 9).
Interestingly, Lake, Nimishillen, and Sugar Creek all experienced 3 traffic-related fatalities during 2007, just shy of matching Plain’s countywide high of 4. The otherwise dangerous township of Jackson only recorded a single traffic-related fatality during 2007. Jackson did come back to top this particular list in 2008 with a total of 12 traffic-related fatalities, followed by Perry with 11, and Plain with 9.
If you’ve been seriously injured or have lost a loved one in a Canton, Plain Township, or Jackson Township truck / car accident, call the Stark 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.