The number of traffic deaths on Ohio’s roadways is up in 2019, after being down in 2018 for the first time in ten years.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says 880 people have lost their lives in crashes so far this year, an increase of around 4 percent from last year.

ODOT Spokesman Matt Bruning says one of the best tools ODOT has to continue reminding people to drive safely are those digital message boards you see over the highways.

“I got a note from someone who was driving on I-90 in Lake County near Cleveland, they said that the message board at the time said ‘that seat belt looks good on you’ and as they drove under it they noticed that the driver and passenger to their left both reached across and put their seat belts on.”

Bruning also says the state’s new gas tax will add about $50 million to ODOT’s safety program, which is money only used to help keep drivers safe.