A 21-year-old driver was cruising eastbound along U.S. Route 33 in Pickerington early Saturday morning, expecting nothing more than an easy drive through Fairfield County. It was around 12:45 a.m. near the Lockville Road intersection when routine turned into pure shock.
Out of nowhere, headlights cut through the dark near mile marker 5. A vehicle was speeding straight toward his 2022 Chevrolet Colorado pickup in the exact same lane.
Behind the wheel of that oncoming car was 28-year-old Bailey Johnston. She was driving a 2016 Hyundai Sonata westbound, but she was traveling on the wrong side of the divided highway, directly into oncoming traffic.
Before either driver could steer away, the two vehicles collided head-on with violent force. The crash shattered the peaceful night air southeast of Columbus and left both vehicles heavily wrecked in the road.
First responders arrived to find a grim scene. Emergency personnel worked urgently to extract the injured 21-year-old pickup driver from his truck. He sustained severe injuries in the crash and was rushed to Grant Medical Center in Columbus for medical care.
For Johnston, the outcome was fatal. She sustained critical injuries during the head-on collision and was pronounced dead at the crash site by responding medics.
State troopers from the Lancaster Post remained on Route 33 for several hours to map out the crash site and piece together what happened. Backed by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office and Bloom Township Fire Department, officials are still searching for answers as to why Johnston was driving on the wrong side of the road.
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