Court of Claims: State to Pay $210,000 to Woman Injured When Car Struck Salt Pile

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) agreed to pay $210,000 to a woman whose car slid off the road after she struck a thick layer of road salt accidentally spilled onto a highway in Medina County.

The Ohio Court of Claims recently approved a settlement between Rebecca Cmar and ODOT. Cmar and her husband, Richard, of Lodi, sought $380,442 from the state for the January 2020 accident. Cmar suffered multiple back injuries, and indicated she incurred more than $88,000 in medical expenses. She anticipates paying another $50,000 for future medical costs.

Driver Dumps Two Tons of Salt on Highway
On a January 2020 evening, ODOT driver Dylan Hale spread salt on U.S. Route 224 in Medina County. Hale set his truck to spread 40 pounds of salt per mile. While driving through Westfield Township, his truck dumped a thick load of salt in one spot. Hale estimated it was between two and three tons.

Cmar was driving a compact car on the highway when she struck the piled salt in her lane. She lost control of the vehicle and slid off the right side of the road into a ditch. The car rolled over twice. A nearby motorist told emergency responders that he put out a fire in Cmar’s car and helped her remove her seat belt to free her. Emergency responders extricated her from the vehicle.

Cmar told an Ohio State Highway Patrol Officer that she was driving to work and “hit salt or rocks” that caused her to swerve and fishtail. “I remember rolling then finally stopping,” she said.

Cmar was taken to Lodi Community Hospital and then transferred to Akron General Medical Center for treatment. She complained of severe back pain and received care for multiple injuries to her back. She has been advised she will need spinal fusion surgery for her lower spine.

Driver Sues State For Faulty Road Maintenance
In January 2022, the Cmars sued ODOT in the Court of Claims, arguing Hale had negligently deposited the road salt on the highway, which caused Cmar to lose control of her car. The department disputed that it was at fault for her injuries.

In a pretrial statement filed with the court, ODOT maintained Cmar’s actions led to the accident. The department argued she was “negligent in operating her car at an unreasonable speed, given the dangerous road conditions, weather conditions, and nighttime visibility.” Had Cmar been driving at a reasonable speed, she could have avoided any “discernible objects (salt crystals) on the roadway,” the department maintained.

In her pretrial statement, Cmar produced photos taken by the highway patrol, which showed a wide patch of salt spread across the eastbound lane. The trooper placed a quarter into the salt, and the photo depicted the salt covering the bottom half of the coin. A report by Allin/Rose Consulting, a firm with expertise in snow plowing accidents, concluded that the ODOT driver’s failure to operate the equipment properly led to the accident.

After submitting the pretrial reports, the Cmars and ODOT agreed to settle the matter for $210,000, which the court approved on Sept. 20.

Rebecca Cmar et al.  v. Ohio Department of Transportation, Case No. 2023-00101JD.

To access information on this case, visit the Court of Claims website.

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