Court Tosses $47M Arizona Lawsuit in Cross-Median Crash

A state appellate court has overturned rulings by a trial court and dismissed a lawsuit stemming from a cross-median crash that killed two women on Interstate 10 in southern Arizona in 2008.

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled last week that the family members of Pamela Humphrey and Ann Quinn didn’t file a valid notice-of-claim against the state before filing a negligence suit over their deaths.

The ruling overturns a Maricopa County Superior Court jury’s 2008 trial verdict and award of $47 million in damages, including nearly $40 million against the state.

The two women were killed when their vehicle went across the median near Casa Grande and collided with a tractor-trailer rig going in the opposition direction.

The lawsuit contended that the state was negligent because the highway lacked barrier cables to prevent cross-median crashes.