A 53-year-old Adams County man is dead after the pickup truck he was riding in ran a red light and collided with a towed trailer before a tractor-trailer slammed into it at a rural intersection south of Peebles on Wednesday. Matthew Taylor was killed in the three-vehicle wreck at State Routes 32 and 41 in Meigs Township.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, a southbound 2001 Ford F-150 on State Route 41 ran a red light at the intersection with State Route 32, striking a trailer being towed by a Dodge Ram before a Freightliner tractor-trailer struck the pickup. As reported by WKEF, Taylor was killed in the collision, while the Ford's driver and another passenger were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The driver pulling the trailer and the tractor-trailer driver were not injured, the station reported.
Per the state patrol's account relayed by the station, Taylor and the other Ford occupants were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. That detail lines up with a broader pattern state officials have flagged this year: Ohio State Highway Patrol data through August shows 60% of motor vehicle crash victims killed on state roadways were not wearing an available safety belt, up from 57% in 2025, according to Ohio.gov.
Crash Closes Routes Near Peebles
The crash forced the closure of State Route 41 south of Peebles for several hours during the investigation, with lanes also shut down on State Route 32 at the intersection, the station noted. Emergency crews took time to reach the scene given the area's remote location — an ambulance arrived in 11 minutes and the first sheriff's deputy in 12, according to the Peebles Messenger, illustrating the transit distances rural first responders routinely face in Adams County.
Hoodline previously reported on a 2024 fatal crash on State Route 41 in Meigs Township, in which a 75-year-old Peebles woman died after striking a stopped garbage truck near Pioneer Drive.
Legal Exposure and Statewide Safety Trends
Ohio Revised Code Sections 4511.12 and 4511.13 address obeying traffic signals, according to the Maher Law Firm. Ohio's seat-belt law is addressed under Ohio Revised Code Section 4513.263.
State officials have flagged running traffic signals and failing to yield the right-of-way among the top contributing causes of fatal crashes in Ohio, behind driving off the roadway, according to Governor Mike DeWine's office.
State Route 32 Across Southern Ohio
State Route 32 has been the site of crashes in southern Ohio.
Closer to Wednesday's crash site, a teenager rolled a Chevy Trailblazer into the path of a Rumpke truck on SR 32 in Adams County earlier last month, sending both drivers to the hospital. Whether the Ford F-150 driver in Wednesday's crash will face vehicular homicide or traffic charges has not been reported, and it remains unclear whether toxicology testing has been ordered or whether ODOT has evaluated signal or geometric safety changes at the SR 32/SR 41 intersection.
