While the National Transportation Safety Board has blamed the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission for contributing to a fatal toll-plaza collision two years ago, it will be up to a Toledo court to determine civil liability.
The truck driver whose rig hit a lane-changing SUV at the Swanton toll plaza’s eastbound throat and a state trooper who responded to the scene have both named the turnpike commission among defendants in civil lawsuits seeking compensation for injuries relating to that crash.
The suits were filed last month in Lucas County Common Pleas Court by truck driver Hashim Hall of Indian Head Park, Ill., and Jacquelyn Layson, the Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper from Toledo. The lawsuits cite SUV driver Thupten Choedon’s driving as the crash’s proximate cause, but both fault the turnpike for the plaza’s design…