Car Accidents in Akron: 2023 Crash Data and Ohio Claim Rules

To enter NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a crash has to happen on a public road and kill someone within 30 days. Akron's 2023 tally in that census is 22 crashes and 22 deaths, so no crash took more than one life, and all of them were in Summit County. FARS classifies 21 of the locations as urban and 1 as rural. Twelve crashes occurred in clear weather and 8 in cloudy weather, and snow and rain were each recorded once.

Night defines much of the record. Fourteen crashes, about 64 percent, happened in darkness, and every one of those 14 was on a lit road; the data shows no crash in darkness without lighting. Daylight accounts for 7 crashes and dusk for 1. Twelve crashes, about 55 percent, have recorded hours inside an overnight window that starts at 9 p.m. and runs until 4:59 a.m., while 10 fall in the remaining hours. Fourteen dark crashes against 12 overnight ones leaves at least 2 dark crashes outside the window, in evening or early-morning hours.

Two moving vehicles met at the start of only 6 crashes: 2 angle impacts, 2 sideswipes between vehicles headed the same way, 1 rear-end and 1 head-on. The first harmful event, which FARS defines as the first event in a crash to cause injury or damage, involved a pedestrian in 6 crashes, the same 6 that FARS counts as involving a non-motorist. For the remaining 10, the first harm came from a curb in 4, a rollover in 2, a tree in 2, and a post or pole and a parked vehicle in 1 each.

Junction codes put 14 crashes at non-junction locations, 5 in intersection-related areas and 3 inside intersections. Tuesday had the most crashes, 6, followed by Sunday and Thursday with 4 each, Saturday and Wednesday with 3, and Monday with 2; not one crash fell on a Friday. March and August had 5 each and September 3, while February, July and November had none. Numbers this small can shift sharply from one year to the next, so they reveal little about lasting patterns.

Akron's crashes spread across several road types, and no single type dominates. Local streets and minor arterials carried 6 each, other principal arterials 4, and interstates and major collectors 3 apiece. Local streets, the neighborhood roads meant mainly for reaching homes and businesses, therefore account for 6 of the 22 crashes, about 27 percent, while arterials of both kinds account for 10.

The list of the 12 most frequent road entries accounts for 15 crashes; it omits the roads where the other 7 occurred. Route numbers and street names often appear together in the codes, and two roads repeat under slightly different codings: I-76 appears plainly twice and once with a W suffix, for 3 crashes combined, and Glenwood Avenue appears twice under county route 7015, once with an extra space in the coding. Busier roads log more crashes because of traffic alone, so these totals mark where deaths occurred rather than ranking danger:

• SR-18 Market Street: 3 fatal crashes.
• I-76, two codings combined: 3 (2 plain, 1 coded I-76 W).
• CR-7015 Glenwood Avenue, two codings combined: 2.
• CR-7003 Russell Avenue, SR-764 Arlington Street and SR-93 Manchester Road: 1 each.
• CR-627 Exchange Street, CR-632 North Street, Goodyear Boulevard and Brooklands Street: 1 each.

The FARS summary describes conditions, not causes. It carries no speed, impairment or traffic-volume data, so any reason offered for Akron's pattern is a possibility to test rather than a finding. Crashes in which the first harm came from a curb, tree, pole, parked vehicle or rollover can follow a loss of control, and speed, impairment, fatigue and distraction are common possible contributors. NHTSA's speeding page lists a greater chance of losing control, longer stopping distances and more severe crashes among the consequences of speeding.

The lighting codes add a detail: all 14 dark crashes happened where lighting was present, and 6 crashes involved a pedestrian. Street lighting helps, but a driver can still miss a person crossing outside a marked crosswalk or dressed in dark clothing, and NHTSA's pedestrian safety guidance asks drivers to watch especially carefully at night. The summary keeps lighting and crash type in separate tallies, leaving open whether any of the 6 pedestrian crashes were among the 14 dark ones.

Ohio's rules decide what these patterns mean for a claim. A passenger hurt when the driver struck a curb or rolled over, who often bears no fault, generally claims against that driver's liability coverage. A pedestrian struck at night may face an argument that he or she crossed improperly, and under Ohio's modified comparative negligence rule the claim survives only if that person's fault is 50 percent or less. A driver caught in a sideswipe may face the same kind of argument about lane position.

Suppose you were driving home on an Akron arterial at 11 at night when a car in the next lane, traveling the same direction, drifted over and sideswiped you, pushing your car into a utility pole. You suffered broken ribs and a fractured ankle that needed surgery. Medical bills reached $60,000, and you missed three months of work, losing $15,000 in pay. These numbers are invented for illustration and do not reflect any actual case.

Ohio is a fault state, so you would claim against the other driver's liability insurance. That insurer argues you were speeding and partly caused the crash, and it pins 40 percent of the fault on you. Should your full damages, counting pain and suffering, come to $150,000, a 40 percent share would reduce your recovery to $90,000. At exactly 50 percent you would still recover half, $75,000, but at 51 percent Ohio's rule would bar the claim, so a dispute over a few percentage points can decide the outcome.

Even a strong claim runs into insurance limits. Ohio sets the liability floor at 25/50/25, so a driver carrying only that floor would have $25,000 for your injuries, well short of $90,000. If you bought underinsured motorist coverage, which can pay when the other driver's limits are too low, it may fill part of the gap. Evidence such as scrape marks, the damage pattern and any video of the lane change could reduce the fault assigned to you. Whether this or any real crash supports a claim is a judgment for an attorney who has examined it.

Most of Akron's 2023 crashes happened at night, and many began with a vehicle striking a curb, tree or pole, so the steps below focus on lighting, road surface and vehicle position, along with Ohio's fault-based insurance process. They suit drivers, passengers and pedestrians, and a family member can carry out several of them for someone still recovering. Early action matters, since scrape marks fade and video is overwritten.

• Call 911, ask which police agency will write the report and get the report number before leaving.
• Report the crash to your own insurer and to the other driver's, and write down every claim number.
• Photograph lighting, lane markings, curbs, poles and tire marks, and go back after dark to capture the view a driver would have had.
• If you were a passenger, record who was driving and how the vehicle was moving just before the impact.
• Get medical treatment promptly and keep every bill, record and note about missed work.
• Ask nearby businesses and homeowners to save camera footage, which can be erased within days.
• Mark the two-year lawsuit deadline on a calendar, and ask an attorney early if a city vehicle or road condition may be involved.

Ohio divides fault under modified comparative negligence, using what is called a 51 percent bar. Recovery remains possible as long as the injured person's fault is not more than 50 percent, and the award drops by that share. Nevada, Texas and Minnesota draw the same line. Colorado and Utah bar recovery at 50 percent, California and Washington allow it at any level of fault, and North Carolina and Maryland, which keep contributory negligence, can deny a claim over even 1 percent of fault.

Ohio is a fault state, meaning the driver who caused a crash, through that driver's liability insurer, generally pays for the losses. Florida, New York and Michigan, by contrast, are no-fault states that send people to their own personal injury protection coverage first and restrict suits for pain and suffering. Ohio's required minimum is 25/50/25: a policy written at that floor covers a single person's injuries up to $25,000, caps injury payments for one crash at $50,000 and pays up to $25,000 for property, and the coverage actually in place when the crash happened is what counts.

Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10(A) gives most injury plaintiffs two years to file suit. Other states allow more time, three years in New York and North Carolina, four in Utah and five in Missouri, while Tennessee generally allows only one. Separate rules can govern a wrongful death claim or a claim against a city, county or the state, so check those early. Ohio injury cases are generally filed in the Court of Common Pleas.

Akron's 2023 record is defined by night crashes on lit roads, a large share of crashes in which the first harm came from a curb, tree, pole, parked car or rollover, and 3 fatal crashes each on SR-18 Market Street and I-76. Ohio's rules then decide what is recoverable: fault is shared under the 51 percent bar, the at-fault driver's insurer pays first, and most lawsuits must be filed within two years. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency; ask what percentage they charge and how costs are deducted before signing.

Ask Legal Matters is a lead-generation service, not a law firm, and its free claim-review request service lets injured people, or families who lost someone, have their situation looked at. It gives no legal advice. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Ohio. Only after an attorney evaluates the facts can anyone say whether a claim exists and how Ohio's fault rule affects it. If an Akron crash injured you, you can request a free claim review.

• Akron, Ohio: local injury guide, court and deadlines
• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Pedestrian Accident Claims: Rights, Fault and Compensation
• Wrongful Death Claims: Who Can File, Deadlines and Damages
• Car Accidents in Cincinnati: What 2023 Data Shows About Claims
• Car Accidents in Cleveland: 2023 Data and How a Claim Works
• Car Accidents in Toledo: Night Crashes, 2023 Data and Claims
• Car Accidents in Lakewood, CO: 2023 Crash Data and Colorado Law
• US Cities With the Most Fatal Car Accidents in 2023 (NHTSA Data)
• Child Injured in a Car Accident: How the Claim Works

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