Sean Price’s loved ones say they are grieving and angry after a wrong-way driver triggered a chain-reaction crash on I-71 that killed the 53-year-old Columbus man. Relatives say Price was thrown from his Ram 1500 after traffic slowed behind an earlier collision and his pickup burst into flames. Now the family says police and prosecutors owe them clear answers on how the crash happened and why the driver who started it all was able to leave the scene.
Video outlines the sequence
Traffic-camera video from the Ohio Department of Transportation, obtained and published by WBNS, shows a Chrysler Town & Country heading south in the northbound lanes of I-71 near East Broad Street. The minivan slams into a pickup, then into a semitruck.
Moments later, another semitruck plows into a Ram 1500 that had slowed for the initial wreck, and that pickup erupts in flames. The driver, identified as Price, was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. The footage, along with 911 calls, has fueled questions about how the wrong-way vehicle got onto the interstate in the first place and whether any intervention could have stopped the second, deadly impact, according to WBNS.
Family demands answers
Relatives describe Price as an avid Bengals fan, a jokester and an “amazing cook” whose death has left a hole in a large, close-knit family. “He was a shining example of a man,” his sister Tequila Williams told reporters. Family members told investigators they want full transparency and real accountability from officials, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Relatives also said Price supported nine children, and they say that reality adds urgency to their questions about what went wrong and how the wrong-way driver managed to get onto I-71.
Who police say was driving
Police records identify the wrong-way driver as 58-year-old Joe Howard. Investigators say he was behind the wheel of the Chrysler Town & Country that first hit a northbound Ford F-150, then collided with a semitruck.
According to police, Howard ran from the scene. He was found about six hours later and treated for hypothermia. As of mid-February, detectives had not filed criminal charges in the case. The Columbus Division of Police Accident Investigation Unit is leading the probe and reviewing ODOT camera footage and 911 recordings, according to reporting by National Today.
Safety and policy context
Ohio transportation officials say wrong-way crashes are rare but far more deadly than most other types of wrecks. In response, the state has been installing electronic wrong-way detection systems on entrance ramps along parts of I-71 and other highways in an effort to cut down on these incidents.
The Ohio Department of Transportation reports that wrong-way collisions account for roughly 0.01% of crashes but are much more likely to result in death. ODOT materials detail where detectors are in place, which corridors they cover and what data the agency collects on attempted wrong-way entries. These systems, officials say, are part of a broader push to prevent the kind of catastrophic chain reaction that killed Price, according to an ODOT news release.
Investigation and what’s next
Columbus police are asking anyone who saw the crash or the wrong-way minivan to contact the Accident Investigation Unit tip line at 614-645-4767, according to WBNS. The Franklin County Prosecutor's Office has said the case remains under review as investigators go through video, crash reports and 911 recordings.
Price’s family says they will keep pressing officials for answers and for accountability, as the investigation continues. Police and prosecutors have not given a public timeline for potential charges or a detailed briefing on their findings so far.
