Traffic crashes are increasing in the region. Here’s what you need to know.

More than 58,000 crashes happened in the Miami Valley between 2014 to 2016 — nearly one every 27 minutes.

A recently released analysis of crashes in the region by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission showed a variety of trends in traffic accidents in the valley.

Here’s what you need to know about the report:

Crashes are becoming more common

There was a 24 percent increase in crashes over the four-year period, from 16,700 in 2013 to 20,800 in 2016.

Rear-end crashes were by far the most common type of crash, making up 33 percent of the total.

Following too close was the most common contributing cause of crashes, making up 32 percent of all crashes.

Crashes were more likely to result in death or an injury when they were caused by running a red light or stop sign or driving left of center.

Distracted driving is led by youth

Drivers aged 16 to 25 were most often in crashes and made up the bulk of distracted driving crashes.

A total of 3,481 crashes involving a distracted driver occurred during the four-year period, and more than 1,200 of them involved a person between the ages of 16 to 25. Around 48 percent of distracted driving crashes were rear-end collisions

According to the report, drivers aged 16 to 25 and were involved in around 20,000 crashes, or around 40 percent of all crashes. The crashes tended to be less serious and fatal on average than in other age groups.

Fatal crashes are fueled by alcohol

People are often killed in crashes involving alcohol — 31 percent of all fatal crashes involved someone who had been drinking.

The use of drugs was involved in 15 percent of fatal crashes.

Fatal crashes occur more often in rural areas. For every 1,000 total crashes in rural areas, 9.6 resulted in a death. In urban areas, that number is less than four.

Additionally, fatal crashes occur more often at intersections.

Middle of the road

The region’s crash rate, which is calculated by the amount of crashes per million vehicle miles traveled, was 2.3, above the national average of 2.0.

However, the Miami Valley was still a safer place to drive than the rest of the state. Ohio’s crash rate was 2.6, well above the national average.

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