the lanes of oncoming vehicles in the westbound lanes. Mr. Robinson stated that, after the car left the travel lane, he attempted to brake and to bring the vehicle under control. Instead, the car when into a "flat spin." The vehicle crossed the median onto the opposing westbound lanes of travel into the pathway of an oncoming eighteen-wheeler. The right side of the car driven by Mr. Robinson was hit. The passenger accompanying Mr. Robinson was killed; Mr. Robinson was injured.
Following a trial on July 9 and 10, 1998, the verdict handed down by the jury indicated that the condition of the roadway created an unreasonable risk of harm, of which DOTD had constructive or actual knowledge; that DOTD failed to take corrective action; that DOTD was fiftyits failure to find any liability on the part of Derrick Robinson would hinge in part on the legal assessment that a driver's departure from the main road inherently entails a degree of fault. There might also exist a lack of independent evidence to demonstrate that Mr. Robinson attempted to avoid traveling into the on-coming *324 westbound lane of traffic. It is generally conceded that the conditions were dark, there were no fog lines on either side of the highway, and the weather ranged from cloudy to misting. It is also undisputed that the six-inch drop off from the travel lane to the side of the road at the left lane of eastbound traffic, on which Mr. Robinson had been traveling, constituted a dangerous condition.
Mr. Robinson testified that,