COPEMISH (AP) --

The state appeals court says Manistee County can be sued over the condition of a gravel road near Copemish.

In 2010, Debra Hagerty-Kraemer,17, apparently was blinded by dust stirred up by a passing vehicle on Litzen Road and smashed her car into a tree. She died.

Manistee County officials say the county should be immune to the lawsuit because road dust is not related to a road defect. But the appeals court disagreed, saying the dust made the road unsafe.

Hagerty-Kraemer was driving to perform at a Mesick High School graduation when she was killed.

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