The Arizona Supreme Court has found the state is liable for a fatal accident that was a result of outdated highway design and unsafe conditions. The high court handed down the decision on Friday.
In 2007, Diana Glazer and her family were driving on Interstate 10, south of Phoenix, when a car in the oncoming lane swerved, causing a head-on collision. Both Glazer’s husband and daughter were killed and she was seriously injured. That stretch of highway, constructed in 1967, had no median barrier.
Glazer then sued the state and won. Eventually, the high court took up the case.
Under law, the state is not liable for the accident, even on a hazardous stretch of road, as long as it provides a warning — which it did not do in this case.
John Leader, who represented Glazer, said he hopes this prompts the state to do a better job monitoring these accidents and making the roads safer. Leader said "at a minimum, [the state should be] providing warnings."
"The sad reality is that people are still dying on these roadways regularly, and the deaths are preventable," Leader said.
Glazer will now receive almost $8 million in damages from the state.
As of Friday morning, the Arizona Department of Transportation did not have a comment on the suit.
Updated 5/8/2015 at 2:10 p.m.
