CANTON — A driver was seriously injured Wednesday, Oct. 14, when her car crashed into a Canton Fire Department SUV on Interstate 77, where firefighters and investigators were already working at the scene of an earlier crash, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.
The collision happened around 11:28 a.m. on the southbound lanes of I-77, just north of the Fulton Road exit. According to the Highway Patrol’s news release, investigators and rescue crews were in the area because of a prior traffic crash, and their vehicles were blocking the left and center lanes of the highway.
A 38-year-old woman from Magnolia was driving south in a 2024 Toyota Corolla when, troopers said, she failed to slow down and struck a 2020 Chevrolet Tahoe being operated by a Canton fire officer. The impact overturned the Toyota, which slid off the right side of the roadway, while the Tahoe spun around until it was facing east.
The Magnolia woman sustained serious injuries and was taken to Aultman Hospital in Canton. The fire officer, a 51-year-old from Canton, suffered minor injuries and was also taken to the hospital. The patrol’s release did not name either driver, and no update on the woman’s condition was included in the initial report.
The crash is a textbook example of the danger safety officials call a secondary crash — a second collision at a scene where responders are already exposed outside their vehicles. Blocked lanes compress traffic into less space with little warning, and a driver who does not slow early enough can reach the back of the queue, or the responders themselves, at full highway speed.
Ohio’s Move Over law exists for exactly this situation. Drivers approaching a stopped emergency vehicle with its lights flashing are required to change lanes away from it when they can do so safely, and to slow down and use caution when they cannot. The rule covers fire and EMS vehicles, law enforcement, tow trucks and road crews, and violations carry fines that grow stiffer when a responder is put at risk.
Interstate 77 is the main north-south artery through Canton and Stark County, carrying commuters between Akron and Canton and through traffic bound for points south. A midday crash closing two of its three southbound lanes near Fulton Road is the kind of event that backs traffic up quickly and tests every driver approaching it to react early.
The Highway Patrol said the crash remains under investigation. Troopers have not announced any citation or charge in the initial release, and further findings — including how fast the Corolla was traveling and why it did not slow — are expected to come from that investigation. For drivers, the reminder from Canton is a simple one: flashing lights ahead mean foot off the gas, eyes up, and a lane over if there is room to give.
