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AMELIA, Ohio (AP) - A road reflector was dislodged from the highway by a snowplow and crashed through a car's windshield, injuring the woman who was driving, authorities said.
Debra Black, 42, of Amelia, was hit in the head Thursday and taken to University Hospital, where she remained in serious condition under sedation Sunday, nursing supervisor Robert Dees said.
Investigators were trying to determine how the 4.5-pound road reflector, designed to make highway lanes more visible at night, was knocked loose. Snowplows are supposed to be able to pass over them safely.
The condition of the road and the seal that keeps the reflector in the road will be checked, said Ron Mosby, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Black was driving east on state Route 125 near this southwest Ohio town when a snowplow traveling in the opposite direction dislodged a reflector embedded in the pavement.
After she was struck by the reflector, Black veered off the road and hit a tree, police said. She was alone in the car.
ODOT spokesman Joe Hunt said loose reflectors sometimes cause property damage. Eight such cases have been reported to ODOT since 1999, but none involved injury.
"Generally speaking, with freeze-thaw it is possible'' for the reflectors to come loose, Hunt said.
Amelia is about 15 miles east of Cincinnati.
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