Car Accidents in Columbus: 2023 Crash Data and How a Claim Works

NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System records every fatal crash on public roads. For 2023, crashes coded to Columbus account for 98 deaths in 89 fatal crashes, twentieth nationally and the most in Ohio, ahead of Cleveland at 59, Cincinnati at 38 and Toledo at 35. The ratio of deaths to crashes is among the higher ones in the top 25, reflecting multi-fatality crashes.

Columbus's pattern is intersections in daylight. Forty of 89 fatal crashes, 45 percent, were intersection-related, a share exceeded only by Milwaukee, Tucson, Philadelphia and Chicago. Angle collisions, 27, were the leading two-vehicle type, and head-on crashes, 10, were notable. Only 46 fatal crashes, 52 percent, happened in the dark, the lowest night share of any city in the top 25, which points to daytime crashes on the arterials rather than late-night highway crashes.

Twenty-eight fatal crashes involved a pedestrian or cyclist, 31 percent. Twenty-six were on a weekend, a low share. FARS counts fatal crashes only; injury crashes in Franklin County, reported through the Ohio Department of Public Safety, number in the tens of thousands per year.

FARS roadway coding identifies where fatal crashes concentrated in 2023.

• I-270: 5 fatal crashes on the outerbelt, the most of any road.
• I-70: 4 fatal crashes on the east-west interstate.
• Cleveland Avenue (SR-3): 4 fatal crashes on the northeast side arterial.
• 5th Avenue: 3 fatal crashes.
• Broad Street (SR-16): 3 fatal crashes on the city's main east-west street.
• Alum Creek Drive: 2 fatal crashes on the south side.

An angle collision at a Columbus intersection is a dispute about who had the signal or the right of way, and because so many of the city's fatal crashes happen in daylight at intersections, that dispute is the typical claim. The evidence that resolves it is the city's signal timing records, camera footage from businesses and COTA buses, dash cameras and witnesses, and all of it disappears within days if no one asks.

Ohio's modified comparative negligence rule uses a 51 percent bar: a driver found 50 percent at fault recovers half, one found 51 percent at fault recovers nothing. In a two-car intersection crash with no independent evidence, insurers often assign each driver 50 percent, which halves both claims, and the camera footage is what breaks the tie.

Ohio's uninsured motorist coverage rules make the coverage question unusual. Since 2001, Ohio insurers have not been required to offer uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, and many drivers do not have it. A Columbus driver hit by an uninsured driver, or by a driver with Ohio's $25,000 minimum, may find there is no coverage beyond the at-fault driver's policy, which makes checking the declarations page the first step in a serious claim.

Suppose you were driving north on Cleveland Avenue in the afternoon and entered an intersection on a green when a driver heading west ran the red and struck your car on the driver's side. You suffered a fractured hip requiring surgery, with $92,000 in medical bills and four months off work. The other driver's insurer said its driver had the green and assigned you 50 percent of the fault.

A COTA bus camera, obtained by a preservation letter in the first week, showed the westbound vehicle entering after the signal turned red. The fault assignment was withdrawn. The other driver carried Ohio's $25,000 minimum, which was paid. You had bought underinsured motorist coverage of $100,000, which paid the balance; had you not, as many Ohio drivers have not since the coverage became optional, the claim would have ended at $25,000 plus whatever the driver personally could pay.

Had the signal been malfunctioning, a claim against the City of Columbus would have required navigating Ohio's political subdivision immunity, which allows claims for negligent road maintenance but not for many design and signal decisions, and a claim against ODOT would have gone to the Court of Claims. The claim against the driver settled at month fourteen, inside the two-year deadline. All figures are hypothetical.

Columbus crashes are intersection crashes, so the evidence list is weighted toward signals and cameras, and the coverage question is unusually important.

• Get the Columbus Division of Police or Ohio State Highway Patrol report number; Ohio crash reports are available through the Department of Public Safety's online system.
• Identify every camera facing the intersection, including businesses and COTA buses, and have preservation letters sent within days.
• Photograph the signal heads, the lane markings and the position of both vehicles before they are moved.
• Get witness names; angle collisions turn on who had the green.
• Check your own policy's declarations page for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage; in Ohio it is optional and many drivers have none.
• Report to your own insurer the same day and get medical care within a day.
• If a city street or signal is involved, ask an attorney about political subdivision immunity; if a state road, about the Court of Claims and its two-year deadline.

Ohio is a fault state, not no-fault. The at-fault driver's liability insurer is the primary source of recovery, and medical payments coverage on your own policy, if purchased, pays early bills. Ohio's minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is optional and insurers need not offer it, which leaves many drivers without it.

Fault follows modified comparative negligence with a 51 percent bar: you recover if you were 50 percent or less at fault, reduced by your share. The injury deadline is two years from the crash. Claims against the State of Ohio or ODOT are filed in the Ohio Court of Claims within two years; claims against the City of Columbus, Franklin County or COTA are subject to political subdivision immunity, which permits claims for negligent operation of vehicles and for failure to keep roads in repair but immunizes many other functions. Ohio also caps non-economic damages in most injury cases, with exceptions for permanent and catastrophic injuries.

Crashes in Dublin, Westerville, Grove City and the rest of the metro follow the same Ohio rules. Workers' compensation for a crash on the job runs through the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation with a one-year claim deadline.

A Columbus claim is usually an intersection claim won on camera evidence that disappears in days, in a state where the fault percentage decides everything under the 51 percent rule, non-economic damages are capped, and uninsured motorist coverage is optional. The questions to answer early are what the cameras and signal records show, what coverage exists on both sides, and whether a public entity is involved and which immunity rules apply. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Ohio, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say what the claim is worth. If you were hurt in a crash in Columbus or Franklin County, you can request a free claim review.

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