Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co. v. Ohio Department of Transportation

These appeals concern a one-vehicle accident occurring on April 23, 1984 near mile marker 134.4 of eastbound Interstate 70. There, the driver of a tractor-trailer, David Bates, lost control of his vehicle, collided into a concrete underpass, and overturned on the median of the highway. The accident caused severe injury to Bates and the total loss of the tractor-trailer and its cargo.

Various plaintiffs, including Bates, subsequently brought suit in the Ohio Court of Claims. At trial, they presented evidence- in order to prove that the state had failed to keep the highway in a reasonably safe…