By David Eck
Enquirer contributor

A state trooper checks cars that tangled Thursday morning on Interstate 75 but were kept from crossing into oncoming traffic by cable barriers installed early last year. The Enquirer/GLENN HARTONG

MONROE - Authorities credit cable barriers installed along a dangerous stretch of Interstate 75 with preventing major injuries - or even deaths - in a Thursday crash.

No one was seriously injured or even taken to a hospital in the crash, which eventually involved four vehicles, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers said.

"The barrier worked great," Trooper Bob Phillips said. "It held the (vehicles) right in there. If it weren't for that, we'd really have had a problem."

Melissa Burns, 26, of Middletown was driving a Volkswagen Jetta south on I-75 near the rest area south of Ohio 63 about 7:40 a.m. when she passed a Pontiac driven by Gina Douglas, 25, also of Middletown. The Jetta clipped the Pontiac after passing it, causing a crash that sent both cars into the barrier, Phillips said.

Concrete from the impact was thrown and struck two vehicles in the northbound lane, Phillips said. The two southbound cars rode along the cable barrier for about 160 feet, he said.

Had the cable not been there, the cars would have likely crossed the median into northbound traffic.

"(We) would have had major injuries, if not fatals," Phillips said. "No doubt."

Burns was cited for reckless operation, Phillips said.

A rash of crossover accidents along I-75 in Warren and Butler counties killed 13 people from November 2000 to January 2002 and prompted the Ohio Department of Transportation to install the cables. The barriers, which feature three steel cables attached to posts, run in the middle of I-75 from Ohio 129 in Liberty Township to Ohio 73 in Franklin.

The cables were installed in early 2003, and officials say simply: The barrier has worked.

"Since the cable has been installed, we've had zero crossover deaths, and that was really the intent of installing the cables in the first place," said ODOT spokesman Ron Mosby said. "The installation of those cables has certainly served their purpose. As far as the safety of drivers and passengers ... it's done an exceptional job.''

E-mail daveck@fuse.net