Provencher v. Ohio Department of Transportation

The single issue presented for our review concerns the duty of care owed by the state of Ohio to persons using public roadside rest area facilities. We are asked to recognize the “public invitee” standard, as set forth in 2 Restatement of the Law 2d, Torts (1965), Section 332(2), which imposes a duty, upon the owner or occupier, of ordinary care in maintaining his or her premises in a safe condition where persons are merely invited to enter. For the reasons which follow, we decline to adopt the “public invitee” standard.

This court has defined an “invitee” as “* * * a business visitor [or…