OPINION ISSUED SEPTEMBER 24, 1987
FRANK B. BROWN
VS.
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
(CC-86-270)
Claimant appeared in person.
Nancy J. Aliff, Attorney at Law, for respondent.
PER CURIAM:
Claimants seeks compensation from the respondent for damages
sustained
in his GS 750
Suzuki motorcycle after striking a pothole.
The claimant lives in Jeffrey, West Virginia. At approximately
12:00
noon on June 8, 1986, he
was travelling west on Route 17 in the direction of his home. The
pavement was dry. There was
a pothole extending approximately 12 inches from the berm into the
roadway. The hold was
approximately a foot deep. The claimant testified that he was
travelling
at approximately 50
miles an hour when the motorcycle struck the pothole. The
motorcycle
sustained damages in the
amount of $761.19. The claimant further testified that he travelled
the
road daily and knew of the
existence of the hold. He had not notified respondent of the
present of
the pothole.
The State is neither an insurer nor guarantor of the safety of
persons
travelling on its highways.
Adkins vs. Sims, 130 W.Va. 645, 46 S.E.2d 81 (1947). For negligence
of
the respondent to be
shown, proof of notice of the defect in the road is required. Davis
Auto
Parts vs. Dept. of
Highways, 12 Ct.Cl. 31 (1977). Although the hole, by its size, is
indicative of the constructive
notice of respondent, the Court is of the opinion that the claimant,
with his prior knowledge of
the condition of the road, was likewise negligent. He travelled the
road
daily and knew of the
existence and location of this pothole. Under the doctrine of
comparative negligence, the Court
is of the opinion that the claimant's negligence was equal to or
greater
than the respondent's and
disallows the claim. See also Edwards vs. Dept. of Highways, 14
Ct.Cl
354 (1983).
Claim disallowed.