The statistics painted a strong picture but efforts to curb the factors behind those numbers will be important when it comes to saving lives.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol released its vehicle crash data for 2012, data that showed 37,475 crashes in Ohio were caused by a driver failing to yield, killing 187 people and injuring 23,353. There 424 were crashes of this type in Lawrence County alone.

This includes crashes stemming from running stop signs, red lights and failure to yield.

Some of this may be attributed to overall aggressive or inattentive driving but some is certainly tied to distracted drivers who are talking on the telephone, texting, adjusting the radios and all the other things that take your eyes off the road and impair your ability to react.

Addressing these behaviors need to be the focus of driver’s education courses and by all law enforcement. Penalizing those who do not follow traffic laws will go a long way toward keeping the roads safe and encouraging others to follow suit.

The statistics also seem to show that driving under the influence enforcement is up and overall fatalities are done.

All these are positive indicators that must be viewed as a building block rather than a final result.