Makenna Blanding of Waynesville was killed — and a Xenia man suffered life-threatening injuries — Tuesday in a two-vehicle accident on U.S. 42, near Township Line Road, in Wayne Twp.
There were 15 fatal crash victims in Warren County in 2017.
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Blanding was driving with her sister Kylee Blanding, 25, north on U.S. 42 in an Oldsmobile Alero when it slid off the road, over-corrected and traveled left of center into the path of a Chevrolet Trailblazer just before noon, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol post in Lebanon.
Makenna Blanding was pronounced dead at the scene, her sister was treated for non life-threatening injuries and released from Atrium Medical Center in Middletown.
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The other driver, Daniel Harvey, 42, of Xenia, the driver of the SUV, was taken to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton and was in critical condition, according to Lt. Chuck O’Bryon, commander of the Lebanon post. Harvey was not listed at the hospital on Wednesday.
Blanding attended Fairmont High School in Kettering as a sophomore in 2015-2016, before transferring to Lakota Local Schools in Butler County, according to Fairmont officials.
She and her sister were driving to their home nearby on Collett Road near Spring Valley Marsh when the crash occurred, O’Bryon said.
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O’Bryon was unsure what led to the crash. He said Blanding’s sister said she was not using her cellphone. He confirmed neighbor accounts that numerous crashes have occurred on this stretch of road.
However O’Bryon said he was unsure why the area was crash prone, noting thousands of drivers pass safely through on a typical day.
O’Bryon said he was concerned about the number of fatal crashes in Warren County through nine months: 13, compared with 15 in all of 2017.
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The post commander said four of the year’s 12 fatal crashes were caused by drivers going left of center and another four were attributed to a failure to yield.
“A lot of it is the result of distracted driving,” he said.
Both Blandings and Harvey were wearing their seatbelts, according to O’Bryon.
Lakota school officials said Blanding was not currently attending a school in the district and there was no record of her attending school there. Other attempts to get more information about her were unsuccessful.
Staff writer Jeremy Kelley and the WHIO TV Breaking News team contributed to this report.
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