CASTALIA, Ohio — After interviewing dozens of drivers and reviewing at least eight dashcam videos, Ohio state troopers have not been able to determine if anyone was at fault for the 51-vehicle pileup that killed four people on the Ohio Turnpike in western Erie County two days before Christmas.
“After reviewing the statements and dashcam footage, a specific at-fault vehicle was not discernible,” Trooper Andrew Lash, of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Milan post, wrote in a 107-page report the patrol provided to The Blade.
The pileup occurred in a whiteout, and nearly everyone involved who troopers contacted attributed the pileup “to the poor roadway and weather conditions” at the time, Mr. Lash’s narrative said.
Along with the four fatalities, the patrol reported 73 injuries in the pileup, which was first reported at 12:34 p.m. Dec. 23 just east of Milepost 106 in Erie County’s Groton Township. The injuries included 15 listed in the report as “suspected serious,” 42 listed as “suspected minor,” and 16 listed as “possible.”
Two of the serious injuries were to the young children of Julie Roth, 37, of Toledo, a car driver who was one of the four people killed in the crash. Also killed were Bernard Bloniarz, 59, a truck driver from Napoleon; Emma Smith, 19, of Webberville, Mich., who was a passenger in a minivan, and Francisco Martinez-Gutierrez, 30, of Cleveland, who was driving a pickup truck.
The patrol’s report itemized the 51 vehicles involved as 12 tractor-trailers, 17 sport utility vehicles, 10 pickup trucks, nine cars, a single-unit truck, the minivan, and a passenger van towing a trailer.
Sgt. Ryan Purpura, a regional spokesman for the state patrol, said Saturday the pileup is still under investigation.
“Troopers from the Milan post and investigators from our Crash Reconstruction section continue to review evidence, including video, pictures, and statements that have been gathered as a result of the crash,” he said in a written statement. “A crash of this magnitude requires a lengthy investigative process, with investigators completing many steps and actions to ensure the investigation is as detailed as possible and receives the attention it deserves – especially for those who have been negatively impacted.”
Upon its completion, the full investigation report “will be sent to the Erie County Prosecutor’s Office for their review, so they can determine any applicable charges,” Sergeant Purpura said.
A weather report the patrol retrieved for the Castalia area at the time of the crash listed an air temperature of -2 degrees Fahrenheit, light snowfall and blowing snow, a southwesterly wind of 26 mph gusting to 38 mph, and visibility of between one tenth and one quarter of a mile. Troopers arriving at the crash scene also observed snow blowing across the roadway because of strong crosswinds.
Trooper Lash’s report said the dashcam videos showed a roadway covered with snow except for the right and center lanes.
“Visibility leading up to the crash was fair until the units reached the area just west of the overpass for Northwest Road. At that point, visibility was greatly reduced concealing vehicles that were crashed ahead and blocking the roadway,” the trooper wrote.
One of the videos documented a truck traveling at 33 mph that did not slow down when wreckage came to view and hit the rear of another truck at that speed.
Another truck was traveling at 59 mph but began to brake “well before the overpass” and swerved slightly into the left lane as it approached the pileup; it hit a pickup truck at 18 mph, pushing the pickup into two other vehicles including Ms. Roth’s.
That semi’s video continued to record after it stopped, and showed “a large impact from the rear” that investigators determined was Mr. Bloniarz’s truck hitting its right rear. Mr. Bloniarz was ejected from his truck by that impact’s force.
A truck that was recording yet another video may have been among the first involved. It showed “a significant amount of traffic” nearby but “no crashed vehicles in the area just east of the overpass.” As that truck emerged from beneath Northwest Road, the patrol’s report said, vehicles around it began braking and its driver slowed to a stop without hitting anything, but was then hit from behind and then passed by another tractor-trailer that in turn was hit from behind by an undetermined vehicle before pulling off onto the right shoulder.
The investigation’s timeline mentioned that one of the emergency calls left staff at the state patrol’s Cleveland dispatching office with an open telephone line through which they could hear vehicles crashing at the scene.
The report also noted that extrications took place over six hours, as many wrecked vehicles had to be moved carefully so that rescuers could reach the trapped victims.
First Published January 23, 2023, 1:30 p.m.
