State troopers use aerial support to combat speeding and reckless driving in construction zones

HARRISON TWP. — Drivers told News Center 7 that speeding and reckless driving are a problem in the construction zones on I-75 in Montgomery County.

Today, troopers, deputies, and officers with Dayton Police worked to slow drivers down to reduce crashes in construction zones.

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The sheriff’s office deputized a group of Dayton officers on the traffic detail for the day, so they had the authority to pull over drivers they were tracking in Harrison Township.

While they did that on the highway, News Center 7′s John Bedell watched from about 3,500 feet above Interstate 75.

We talked to Jay Mosier after he and his wife pulled off I-75 on their way to Dayton’s racino.

“Yeah, I’ll be playing the ponies, I’m a big horse race fan,” Mosier said.

He said he felt like drivers were racing on I-75 Wednesday.

“They seemed to be moving pretty quick and I noticed it, said, ‘speed monitored from the air or something on some of the signs,’” Mosier said.

Bedell was in a plane with the Ohio State Highway Patrol as they monitored speeds from the sky. Trooper Mark Nelson was the pilot.

He used calibrated stopwatches to clock drivers in quarter-mile stretches indicated by payment markers. In the house they spent in the air, he spotted a driver going 74 mph, and three more drivers going 72 mph in an active construction zone where the speed limit was 50.

“And that is a major concern, said, Lt. Dallas Root with the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Root was in the group of law enforcement officers on the ground pulling over the drivers the pilot clocked from the sky.

“Just like this morning, we had a multi-car crash in the contraflow lane because faster traffic was coming upon the slower traffic that was following the law and didn’t stop in time and struck them. And, then it shuts down the interstate,” Root said.

Most drivers slowed down when they saw Root’s cruiser. He said that’s a good and common effect, but he did pull over a driver going 66 mph in a 50 mph zone.

Part of a teamwork traffic detail from police, deputies, and troopers to help make I-75 a little safer. The construction zone is going to be around until the summer of 2027.

Root said they will continue to focus on it as a part of their monthly joint traffic details. It’s part of a statewide initiative to cut down on crashes in construction zones. I-75 through Montgomery County is on a list of 10 priority enforcement zones for that project.

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