Turnpike crash kills man Friday

Authorities are investigating a crash that killed a man on the Ohio Turnpike on Friday morning.

Christopher J. Mair Sr., 34, of Lorain, was driving a 2010 Kia Forte east in the left lane of the turnpike at milepost 147.6 in Elyria at 8:43 a.m. when he lost control of the vehicle, said troopers with the Elyria post of the state Highway Patrol.

Mair's vehicle went off the right side of the road and hit a guardrail, then returned to the road and collided with a 2007 International commercial vehicle, which also was traveling east in the far right lane, troopers said.

After impact, Mair's vehicle went off the left side of the roadway and struck the median wall.

Mair, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was transported by Life Care EMS to St. John Medical Center in Westlake, where he was pronounced dead, troopers said.

The truck driver, Victor S. Bennett, 48, of Beaver Falls, Pa., had been wearing a seat belt and was not injured, troopers said.

Both vehicles were towed from the scene by Rich's Towing. Assistance at the scene was proved by the Ohio Turnpike Commission, Life Care EMS and the Elyria Fire Department.

Earlier this week on the turnpike, a tractor-trailer ran into two pickup trucks and a dump truck being used by an Ohio Turnpike maintenance crew near Fremont. The crash killed assistant foreman John Fletcher, 53, of Perrysburg.

Fletcher was born in Norwalk in 1958 and graduated from Western Reserve High School. He is survived by a wife and three children. To read his full obituary, click HERE.