Diana Glazer, the Surviving Spouse of Michael Glazer, Deceased, on Her Own Behalf and as Statutory Trustee For…

Summary

The Arizona Supreme Court held that the statutory state-of-the-art affirmative defense for roadway injuries remains available even when later changes in roadway use render the original design substandard. The State established that the highway design conformed to standards in effect when constructed, but it did not establish that the open median was not unreasonably dangerous or that it provided adequate warnings, so the trial court properly denied judgment as a matter of law and its judgment was affirmed. Chief Justice Bales, dissenting in part and concurring in the result, would have held that the defense did not apply because the injury arose from materially changed roadway conditions rather than a defect inherent in the original design.