OHIO — The Ohio State Highway Patrol said provisional statistics showed nine people were killed in eight fatal crashes over the holiday weekend, resulting in the fewest deaths during a Christmas reporting period since 2018.

The reporting period ran for four days from midnight Dec. 22 to Dec. 25 at 11:59 p.m. Of the nine killed, five were not wearing safety belts and impairment factored in two of the crashes. 

Troopers arrested 213 people over the four day period for operating a vehicle while impaired and 21 for illegal drugs. There were 228 safety belt citations, 75 distracted driving violations and troopers assisted more than 1,000 motorists on Ohio roadways. 

There were 240 incidents in Portage County, and 206 in Franklin County. Montgomery County had 128 incidents and Hamilton County had 32 incidents. According to OHSP statistics there were more than 8,000 incidents across the state. 

In 2022 there were 12 people killed over the holiday reporting period.