Semadeni v. Ohio Dept. of Transp

In Semadeni v. Ohio Dept. of Transp. (1996), 75 Ohio St. 3d 128, 132, 1996 Ohio 199, 661 N.E.2d 1013, five years after ODOT adopted its fencing policy, a large chunk of concrete was thrown from an overpass bridge that had not been equipped with protective fencing. The concrete crashed through the windshield of Semadeni's vehicle on the freeway below and killed him. Prior to Semadeni's incident, ODOT had received reports of objects being thrown from nearby bridges onto interstate highways below, the bridge in question had been evaluated and scored 12 points, and ODOT had determined that the bridge was in need of fencing. Id. at 132. In addressing the facts of the case, the Supreme Court determined ODOT's decision to adopt the justification items was a "basic policy decision" for which ODOT is immune from liability. It nonetheless concluded ODOT's subsequent "time and manner" decisions implementing the policy are themselves not entitled to immunity. As a result, the court held that ODOT possesses a duty to foreseeable travelers to take adequate measures to timely implement the fencing policy, and ODOT is not immune from liability if it negligently fails to timely implement the fencing policy and thereby proximately causes injury to a foreseeable traveler. Id. at 131, 133.