"Sooner or later, we do get them. But it’s gotten crazy lately, with a lot of speeding and dangerous drivers. I’m getting worried.” – Deputy Dan Fant
A Geauga County Sheriff’s Office deputy told Parkman Township officials Tuesday that he has observed speeders and impaired drivers making it dangerous for pedestrians and slow-moving vehicles in the township.
Road safety has long been a major concern in Parkman, where a majority of residents are Amish. For the past several years, trustees have met with Amish leaders and county officials to discuss options to make the township’s roadways safer for school children, pedestrians, scooter riders, buggies and farm traffic.
Two years ago, trustees contracted with the sheriff’s office for extra patrol, hoping an increased presence enforcing traffic laws would result in safer roads and fewer crashes.
During his regular report to township officials at the May 7 trustees meeting, Deputy Dan Fant, who patrols problem roads as well as quiet areas in the township, reported that motorists are ignoring speed limits and many drive impaired, despite regular warnings and citations.
“I do a lot of patrols during school hours when there is a lot of foot traffic,” Fant told trustees. “Just my presence there helps slow the traffic down.”
However, the deputy increasingly is concerned with the number of impaired drivers he is seeing during the day.
“Recently, on Route 528, I saw a car with an expired plate that was rusty and hard to read, so I pulled it over,” Fant said. “When I saw it more clearly, I could tell the plate was not expired; I had read it wrong. So as I went to the car to tell the driver he was free to go, he got out of the car and approached me half way. I escorted him back to his car and saw an open container. He said it was old, but it was a fresh open beer with foam and condensation. So I tested him for alcohol and he failed.”
Fant said the man was taken to jail while his car was left in a church parking lot.
“He blew over the double legal limit, right there on 528 in the middle of the day, right after school was let out,” Fant told trustees. “It was a tragedy waiting to happen.”
Fant said speeders are also a major problem, especially on U.S. Route 422, the main road through town and a major route between Cleveland and Warren.
“They’ll do 77 (mph) in a 45 zone,” Fant said. “Thirty percent of them try to outrun me, and I’ll pursue them until the county line or unless it’s dangerous. Sooner or later, we do get them. But it’s gotten crazy lately, with a lot of speeding and dangerous drivers. I’m getting worried.”
Fant said that because Route 422 is a major truck route, he encounters a lot of speeding trucks that don’t bother slowing down as they roll through the downtown area of the township.
“A majority of the problems are on the nicely paved roads,” Fant said. “A big concern is getting a handle on all the traffic going through.”
Amish businessman John A. Yoder said, “Scooter traffic can become a serious issue because they don’t have lights, and we are taught to go with traffic. That has long been a concern of mine.”
Yoder said a person on a non-motorized scooter, popular among local Amish, recently crashed into a bread truck.
“Another big concern of mine is motorcycle traffic,” Fant said.
He and township officials apparently were unaware that, just two hours earlier, a motorcyclist had died on state Route 528 in Parkman Township when the driver struck a buggy containing an Amish family as it was making a left turn into a private drive just north of state Route 88. The buggy’s four occupants were injured, some seriously, in the crash.
Fant said, in another incident, he was called upon to dispatch a runaway horse pulling a buggy, also on Route 528. The horse had struck a car, totaling it and injuring the horse.
“Unfortunately, I had to shoot the horse,” the deputy said. “And my shot didn’t dispatch him, so I had to shoot him again. The last thing I ever want to do is draw a weapon in public. But it was a dangerous situation that could have ended badly.”
Tavern Road resident Cindy Gazley said she is concerned about pedestrians and children driving pony carts as motorized vehicles whiz by.
“It’s very concerning for the safety of the kids,” Gazley said.
Fant said he would continue to patrol all the roads in the township and asked if there were any “hot spots” that need extra patrol. Parkman Fire Chief Mike Komandt said Nelson Road is plagued with speeders, especially during rush hour, and recommended a spot where the patrol car could be concealed while observing traffic there.
“I’ll definitely look into that,” said Fant.
