Failure to Control - County Engineer Error?

What is the name of your state? Ohio

My 17 year old daughter was sighted for failure to control while avoiding a road closed sign placed incorrectly on a county road by the county engineers office. My question is how should she approach the judge in court when asked about her situation.

The morning after the accident I notified the county sheriff and the county engineer of what I felt was an improper sign placement. I had gone on the Ohio Department of Transportation’s website and viewed the Ohio manual of uniform traffic control devices for streets and highways.

The sign was placed at an intersection blocking the southbound lane of a county road. She was traveling south at 50 mph slowing down to approx 40 mph because the intersection is just over a hill and curves to the right. She had traveled this road numerous times and was unaware of the newly placed sign. The distance between the crest of the hill and the curve just past the intersection was approx 300 feet. There were no warning signs of the approaching road closure or lane adjustment. The only warning was a flashing yellow light on the sign. When she crested over the hill at 9:00 pm (dark) she then saw the sign in the road and had to go left of the sign to avoid a collision and wrecked her car in the ditch damaging the car, fence posts and a telephone post. She suffered no injuries.

The county engineer did go to the site on the day I requested their attention to this matter and corrected the situation. The sign that was blocking the southbound lane of the county road is now in the ditch on the right of the road. There is now another sign posted prior to the crest of the hill notifying drivers of the upcoming traffic pattern change and there is even another sign posted approx 1.5 miles prior to the sign prior to the sign posted on the crest of the hill. It is quite evident that the engineering office felt there was a substantial claim in my complaint to make the necessary adjustments. She and I have taken pictures of the sign placement just after the accident showing the placement and also have taken pictures of the sign postings after the engineer corrected the situation.

My question’s are is how should my daughter approach the judge when asked about the citation? Should she ask that it be dismissed due to the circumstances? Should the county engineer be held responsible for the damage to the private property and her car?
Does she even have a chance?