In Lacasse v. Burns, 214 Conn. 464, 572 A.2d 357 (1990), the issue was whether the accidental failure of suit statute applied, where the state had consented to be sued pursuant to General Statutes 13a-144. The Supreme Court determined that once the state waives its immunity, the procedural statutes and rules of court apply to the state just as they apply to any other litigant. General Statutes 13a-144 provides in relevant part: "Any person injured in person or property through the neglect or default of the state or any of its employees by means of any defective highway, bridge or sidewalk which it is the duty of the Commissioner of Transportation to keep in repair, or by reason of the lack of any railing or fence on the side of such bridge or part of such road which may be raised above the adjoining ground so as to be unsafe for travel or, in case of the death of any person by reason of any such neglect or default, the executor or administrator of such person, may bring a civil action to recover damages sustained thereby against the commissioner in the Superior Court. . . ."