A Lake County woman is killed in a crash on the Ohio Turnpike

AMHERST TOWNSHIP, Ohio – A Lake County woman was killed Thursday evening when she drove her vehicle the wrong way on the Ohio Turnpike and crashed head-on into an oncoming tractor-trailer.

According to the State Highway Patrol, Rita Robinson Whitman, 78, of Willoughby, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident near milepost 142 in Lorain County. The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 33-year-old woman from McComb, Ohio, suffered minor injuries. She was taken by ambulance to UH Elyria Medical Center.

The accident occurred shortly before 9 p.m. Whitman was reportedly driving a 2015 Toyota RAV4 westbound in the eastbound lanes of the highway. She crashed into a 2021 International tractor-trailer in the center lane of the highway.

The patrol says it is unknown why Whitman was driving the wrong way on the highway, but the accident remains under investigation.