Cuyahoga County tops Ohio for distracted driving crashes
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Phones down, folks. We've got a problem. Cuyahoga County ranks at the very top of an unfortunate list: distracted-driving crashes.
Why it matters: The county had nearly 4,400 distracted-driving crashes from 2021 through 2025 according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, far more than any other county in the state.
- Cincinnati's Hamilton County was a distant number two, with about 3,8000 crashes over the same span.
The big picture: State Highway Patrol issued 42,371 distracted-driving citations in 2025, up 42% from 2024.
- In the two years after primary enforcement began, troopers issued 65,503 distracted-driving citations — about four times as many as the 16,344 issued during the comparable two-year period before enforcement changed.
The latest: Cuyahoga County is seeing its own enforcement surge in 2026, with citations up 113% year over year, from 936 to 1,996.
Flashback: Ohio outlawed texting behind the wheel in 2012, but generally couldn't stop adult drivers solely for texting until the expanded hands-free law took effect in 2023.
What changed: Ohio's expanded hands-free law took effect in April 2023, allowing officers to stop drivers they see illegally using or holding a phone.
- The law generally prohibits drivers from holding or supporting a phone, scrolling social media or manually entering information while driving, with limited exceptions.
Ohio's distracted-driving data also includes crashes involving distractions from passengers and other activities inside a vehicle.
The bottom line: Ohio is writing far more distracted-driving tickets under its hands-free law, but Cuyahoga County's five-year crash total shows the region still has plenty of room for improvement.