A Columbus man died Thursday night after his car left the roadway and struck a tree along State Route 315 in Liberty Township, in what investigators are calling a single-vehicle crash on one of Delaware County's most notoriously winding stretches of highway. Jared Freeman, who lived in Columbus, was pronounced dead at the scene after his 2014 Chevrolet Cruze went off the right side of the road while traveling southbound.
Per preliminary findings from the investigation, Freeman failed to navigate a curve on State Route 315 before his car left the pavement and struck a tree, according to WSYX. The crash investigation remains open, and no additional details about the cause — including whether speed, impairment, or a mechanical issue played a role — have been released.
A Road Built to Stay Narrow
The stretch of highway where Freeman died runs through the Olentangy Heritage Corridor State Scenic Byway, a 10.5-mile designation from 1998 that requires the road to remain a narrow, two-lane arterial in order to protect the adjacent Olentangy River, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. That designation means the corridor can't simply be widened to smooth out its curves, even as traffic volumes in Liberty Township have grown.
The road itself predates the automobile by more than a century — it was the first public road commissioned in Delaware County back in August 1808, tracing the path of ancient Native American trails along the Olentangy River valley, per ODOT. The combination of that historic, curve-heavy layout and mature trees lining the riverbank has made the corridor a recurring site of roadway-departure crashes.
A History of Fatal Crashes on the Same Stretch
Freeman's death is not the first fatal crash tied to a curve on this section of SR 315. In April 2008, two teenagers died in Liberty Township when their car failed to negotiate a curve near Home Road, slid off the right side of the road, and struck two trees, according to a report at the time from WBNS-TV. More recently, Hoodline reported on a fatal head-on crash near Highbanks in April 2025 that killed a 36-year-old Worthington man and drew responses from multiple emergency agencies, and a motorcyclist died in a separate late-night crash along the same corridor in North Columbus that October.
Statewide, roadway-departure crashes are a leading killer on Ohio highways. A five-year analysis from the Ohio State Highway Patrol found that driving off the roadway was the primary cause in 26% of all fatal crashes across the state between 2021 and 2025, with unsafe speed and driving left of center ranking as the next most common factors. Delaware County has recorded 8 fatal crashes resulting in 8 deaths between January 1 and July 16 this year, with 5 of those occurring in rural township areas, per Ohio State Highway Patrol statistics — a toll that follows 13 fatal crashes countywide in 2025, down from 19 in 2024 and 15 in 2023.
Recent Safety Investments Along the Corridor
State and local officials have poured money into safety upgrades along SR 315 in Liberty Township in recent months. The Ohio Department of Transportation awarded Delaware County $1.09 million in July through its Highway Safety Improvement Program to build dedicated left-turn lanes at the intersection of SR 315 and Home Road, part of a broader $72 million statewide push across 33 safety projects. That followed a 120-day closure of SR 315 between Home Road and Bunty Station Road that began in March, during which crews upgraded guardrails, replaced culverts, and built retaining walls to keep the roadway from eroding into the river.
Delaware County commissioners have also moved to slow traffic on roads feeding into the corridor. In September 2025, the board approved lowering the speed limit on Home Road between SR 315 and U.S. Route 23 from 55 mph to 50 mph, following safety studies conducted by the county engineer. None of those measures directly targeted the specific curve where Freeman's crash occurred, and officials have not indicated whether further changes are planned as the investigation into his death continues.
