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SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA No. 98-C-1182 c/w 98-C-1197 TRACI ALLEN NETECKE, ET AL. versus STATE OF LOUISIANA, THROUGH DOTD, ET AL. ******************** ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT, PARISH OF ST. MARTIN ******************** KNOLL, JUSTICE* This case is before us on consolidated writ applications filed by the plaintiff, Traci Netecke ("Ms. Netecke"), who was severely injured in a two-vehicle, head-on collision, and one of the defendants, Department of Transportation and Development ("DOTD"), to review the correctness of the court of appeal's judgment. After a careful and thorough review of the record, the testimony, and the evidence presented, we conclude that the lower courts erred in finding DOTD negligent and/or strictly liable for a defective road condition that did not create an unreasonable risk of harm and reverse. We find that the record evidence clearly establishes that the sole legal cause of this accident was Mia Zebouni's ("Ms. Zebouni") negligent operation of her vehicle and assign one-hundred percent fault to her.1 FACTS On April 18, 1994, Ms. Netecke was involved in a head-on collision on Louisiana Highway 182 ("La. Hwy. 182") near the St. Martin Parish/Iberia Parish

*

Lemmon, J., not on panel. See Rule IV, Part 2,

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