About 300 claims have been filed statewide this year. Most claims filed by area residents have been rejected; additionally, those drivers were hit with court costs after losing their cases.
John Grace, a small business owner, is among 30 people in the Dayton region to file claims this year. Court records indicate that of the group, nine claims were accepted, 18 were rejected and three are pending.
Grace said he hit a pothole on Ohio 4 at Derby Road on Aug. 7 in Jefferson Township. He said the exhaust system of his 2000 Saturn XL came loose, causing $971.69 worth of damage.
“It actually sounded like I ran over a land mine — boom!” Grace said.
Grace applied for reimbursement from the Ohio Department of Transportation through the state Court of Claims, but his claim was denied.
Court records obtained by the I-Team indicate the rejection was based on a finding by the court that the section of roadway in question is maintained by Jefferson Township, not ODOT, even though Grace provided photos that showed the pothole was on the edge of Ohio 4.
The ruling said, in part: “Since the defendant (ODOT) had no responsibility to maintain this road, they cannot be held liable for plaintiff’s losses.”
Grace was mystified: “Even a blind man with a seeing-eye dog could see that this pothole is on a county road or a state road.”
Car went ‘whoosh’
Also among the car owners who expected to win reimbursement for damage, only to be turned away, was Karen Gratz of Kettering. Gratz said she hit a series of potholes on Interstate 75 near Wapakoneta on Christmas Day 2013.
“I just felt my car go ‘whoosh’ and it fell into a pothole,” Gratz said.
Damage to her 2007 Pontiac G5 amounted to $871.30, she said. Her claim, though, was rejected because Gratz failed to prove that ODOT was negligent in maintaining the roadway. The finding in her case stated: “No ODOT personnel had any knowledge of the particular damage-causing potholes prior to the plaintiff’s incident.”
Like Grace and Gratz, Tracie Cole of Beavercreek had heard that money was available from the state to reimburse drivers for pothole damage, so she thought making a claim would be worth the effort and the $25 filing fee.
“I expected the state to pay,” Cole said, who said a pothole caused nearly $1,500 of damage to her 2004 BMW. “The whole overpass was full of potholes. It was a really, really large boom.”
Cole later learned that her claim was rejected because the state said ODOT was unaware of the damaged roadway.
“They repaved the whole overpass a month-and-a-half later, so I thought that they were liable,” she said. “I did not think I would get a denial letter. It makes me feel like the state thinks I’m lying. I was due my tax dollars that I paid them to fix the roads.”
An ODOT spokesperson declined to comment, offering instead a written statement. In part it said: “Filing a claim does not guarantee reimbursement.”
Half get some money
Mark Reed, Clerk of the Ohio Court of Claims, said state law determines which claims are accepted for reimbursement.
“The legislature decided to enable the citizens to collect where the department (ODOT) has taken a bit too long to fix the potholes,” he said. “Those are the cases that are winners here.”
People who file a claim must specify where the pothole was hit, when it happened, prove that ODOT maintains that road and that the state was aware of the hazardous condition of the roadway.
A total of 299 claims have been filed for pothole damage statewide this year. Reed said while the court does not keep statistics on how many claims are successful, he said about half of the car owners win some kind of compensation. In some cases, the amount approved by the court is far less than what was requested by the owner.
Reed said people should be sure to include as much detail as possible on a claim form. Additionally, he said people should determine which government agency is responsible for the roadway where the pothole was found.
“You have cities, townships, counties. For example, the city of Dayton maintains a large part of I-75,” Reed said. “Contact the Montgomery County Engineer to ask who maintains that road. We’ve had people hit a pothole in the CVS parking lot and sued ODOT.”
Car owners who were denied reimbursement for pothole damage said it was bad enough to be shot down by the state, but the next mailing they received really had them fuming. Grace said he was told since he lost his case, he will have to pay court costs. In some cases it amounts to $50 or more. The amount for Grace has yet to be determined.
“I have no idea,” Grace said. “I don’t know what they’re going to make up.”
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