Wyckoff

Plaintiff Richard Crawford Wyckoff was injured and his wife and two children were killed when a driver heading northbound on State Route 85 crossed the center median and crashed head-on into plaintiff’s southbound vehicle. Plaintiff sued the State of California (State) for damages for personal injury and wrongful death on the theory that the lack of a center median barrier at the collision site constituted a dangerous condition of public property. The trial court granted summary judgment for the State on the ground of design immunity (Gov. Code, § 830.6). Plaintiff appeals, contending (1) the State failed to establish the affirmative defense of design immunity, or (2) if it did establish initial design immunity, it lost that immunity by the time of the accident because of changed circumstances at the accident site. For reasons we shall explain, we affirm the judgment.

Facts

A. The Accident

On July 25, 1996, plaintiff Richard Wyckoff was driving his Mercedes sedan southbound on State Route 85, approximately two-tenths of a mile south of Saratoga Avenue. His wife, who was pregnant with twins, was traveling as a passenger in the car. At approximately 9:25 p.m., Donald…