When a crash by a negligent driver causes road damage or a costly spill cleanup, taxpayers usually pay.

        The solution: Public transportation agencies in Ohio and Kentucky routinely bill the offender's insurance company.

        The problem: The amount recouped varies. In Northern Kentucky, a district operations manager for 11 counties said it was “maybe a third on the dollar, maybe a little better than that.”

        That's because public transportation agencies in Ohio and Kentucky — which are funded entirely through a gas tax — often incur costs from hit-skip crashes, usually a smashed guard rail, sign or crash cushion. So there's no one to collect from.

        In the fiscal year that ended June 30, the 11-county District 6 saw about $300,000 damage to guard rails and crash cushions. About 90 percent of all damage is to those two items, said Joe Feinauer, District 6 operations manager.

        Spills, some of them hazardous, are less common, but can be far more costly. Agencies have better luck recovering costs, however, because spills often involve businesses with insurance coverage.

        That was the case after a tractor-trailer overturned on Fort Washington Way downtown two weeks ago, spilling the lubricant liquid graphite and causing a traffic delay that lasted several hours.

        ODOT's cleanup costs: $1,327.04.

        That's a spit in the greasy ocean compared with the spill of 5,700 gallons of heated liquid fat that closed Interstate 74 for several days in May 1998.

        ODOT's cleanup costs: $19,911.

        Costs were recovered; sources on both sides of the Ohio River say major incidents are easier to collect on.

        But they are far outnumbered by the lesser damage estimates that don't have the same public impact — until you add them up.

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