OPINION ISSUED DECEMBER 12, 1986
KENNETH E. FRANK
VS.
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
(CC-85-198)
Claimant appeared in person.
Andrew Lopez, Attorney at Law, for respondent.
PER CURIAM:
On April 20, 1985, at approximately 10:45 P.m., the claimant was
driving his Chevrolet
Impala Sedan in an easterly direction on Interstate 70 near
Wheeling,
Ohio County. Interstate
70 is a four-lane highway.
According to claimant's testimony, the weather was clear and the
road
was dry. Claimant's
wife and two others were in his vehicle with him. They were
returning to
Pittsburgh from the
Wheeling Downs Race Track. Claimant's vehicle struck a hole in the
pavement of a bridge
overpass which was approximately two feet by three feet. This
defect was
positioned in the right
lane of the two eastbound lanes. Claimant seeks an award of $250.00
for
damage to the
automobile. Claimant alleges that the foundation of the overpass
disintegrated or perhaps
became dislodged and fell to the street below. Claimant went down
to the
street below and
observed what his vehicle had hit. Claimant testified that it was
approximately two feet by three
feet in size. He observed one vehicle ahead of him and six or eight
vehicles behind him which
had hit the hole. Claimant was unable to photograph the area
because a
member of the West
Virginia Department of Public Safety closed off the lane. Claimant
testified that he did not see
the defect before his vehicle hit it. Claimant had no knowledge of
any
complaints made to
respondent concerning this defect.
Although the respondent's duty of "reasonable care and diligence
in the
maintenance of a
highway under all the circumstances" (Parsons v. State Road
Comm'n., 8
Ct-Cl- 37 [1969])
may require respondent to put greater effort into the maintenance
of
superhighways than in the
maintenance of lesser travelled county roads (Davis Auto Parts v.
Dept.
of Highways, 12 Ct-Cl-
31 [1977]), proof of actual or constructive notice is required in
all
cases. As there was no
showing of such notice
of negligence on the part of the respondent, the Court denies the
claim.
Claim disallowed.
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