SWANTON, OHIO — The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that a 2024 crash at the Swanton Township Toll Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike that killed four people could have been avoided — and would have been avoided entirely if the plaza had been configured for fully electronic tolling — as two people injured in the crash have filed separate lawsuits against the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission.
The NTSB’s final report found that the hybrid toll plaza design, which placed low-speed manual toll lanes alongside 70-mph electronic lanes, carried an inherent safety risk due to the large speed differences between vehicles. The probable cause was determined to be the deceleration and last-second lane change of an SUV driver who became confused about which lane to use, crossing into the path of a semi-truck driven by Hashim Hall. Four people in the SUV died. Hall’s truck overturned.
Investigators also documented 1,099 instances of vehicles cutting across the striped gore area separating highway-speed lanes from toll-booth lanes during the three weeks before the crash — an average of 52 per day. NTSB Deputy Director of Highway Safety Dr. Kristin Poland said those incidents should have been treated as warnings.
“These are warning signs,” Poland said. “We’re seeing that drivers aren’t doing what we want them to do at this toll plaza and they’re taking dangerous, risky driving actions. But that’s a warning sign that this toll plaza isn’t working as we expect it to.”
The NTSB also found that the lack of signage telling drivers they could pay missed tolls online contributed to the SUV driver’s decision to change lanes, and that the large speed differential between vehicles left Hall no time to slow or avoid the collision.
The NTSB’s Recommendations
The agency is recommending the Ohio Turnpike permanently close the low-speed manual toll lanes at all four of its hybrid plazas — Westgate, Swanton Township, Newton Falls, and Eastgate — and convert to fully electronic high-speed tolling. In the meantime it wants better signs informing drivers of payment options and updated pavement markings to reduce last-second lane changes. The NTSB also wants the turnpike to provide a timeline for the changes and to expedite a planned emergency access point near milepost 57.3.
The NTSB noted that Illinois and Pennsylvania have already implemented fully electronic tolling and that Ohio already has high-speed license-plate readers capable of billing drivers by mail or online. The agency concluded the decision by toll operators to maintain hybrid systems is largely financial rather than based on safety.
Ohio Turnpike officials previously considered fully electronic tolling in 2016 but rejected it. When asked about converting after the crash, officials estimated it could result in nearly $42 million in lost annual revenue. The turnpike reported record revenue of $448 million in 2024.
Two Lawsuits Filed
Hall filed his lawsuit on August 14 in Lucas County Common Pleas Court against SUV driver Thupten Choedon, OTIC, engineering firm Prime AE Group, Mosser Construction, and several unidentified corporations. Hall alleges he was traveling at a lawful speed in the right high-speed lane when Choedon crossed into his path, causing his semi to strike the SUV and overturn. He alleges serious and permanent injuries. His lawsuit cites 257,000 drivers who either missed tolls or had E-ZPass transponders fail to register during the first two months of the new system as evidence the turnpike had prior warning of driver confusion.
Mosser Construction has responded, saying it built the plaza according to plans and specifications provided by OTIC and its design professionals and that its work was inspected, approved, and accepted by the turnpike before being placed into service.
Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Jacquelyn Layson filed a separate lawsuit on August 3 against Hall, his motor carrier Best National Industries/CJJ Industries, chemical supplier Brenntag Great Lakes, Choedon, and OTIC. Layson alleges she was exposed to hazardous substances released when Hall’s semi overturned while she was responding to the crash, was decontaminated at the scene, and was transported to the University of Toledo Medical Center with cardiac, pulmonary, and respiratory injuries.
On the same day the NTSB released its final report, a judge granted OTIC additional time to respond to Layson’s lawsuit, with a new deadline of October 1.
The Ohio Turnpike Commission said it would carefully review the NTSB’s recommendations and extended sympathies to victims and families. The commission noted its fatal crash rate of 0.4 crashes per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2025.
Reporting courtesy of 11 Investigates/WTOL.
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