The owner, operator, or person responsible for the operation of a motor vehicle shall not be liable for loss or damage arising from injuries to or death of a guest, resulting from the operation of said motor vehicle, while such guest is being transported without payment therefor in or upon said motor vehicle, unless such injuries or death are caused by the willful or wanton misconduct of such operator, owner, or person responsible for the operation of said motor vehicle.
Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 4515.02
Liability to guests in motor vehicles
Applied in 14 court decisions — leading case Mellk v. Sarahson (1967)
Most recently applied in 68 So. 3d 194 - Neal v. Sem Ray, Inc. (February 2011)
Effective: October 1, 1953; Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules (Legislative Service Commission). Reproduced from public-domain Ohio statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.