Case Name: SUZANNE STEINMAN VS. DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
Court: West Virginia Court of Claims
Jurisdiction: West Virginia
Decision Date: 1988-12-29
Citations: 17 Ct. Cl. 167
Docket Number: CC-87-717
Parties: SUZANNE STEINMAN VS. DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
Judges: 
Reporter: Report of the West Virginia Court of Claims
Volume: 17
Pages: 167–168

Head Matter:
OPINION ISSUED DECEMBER 29, 1988
SUZANNE STEINMAN VS. DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
(CC-87-717)
Claimant appeared in person.
Nancy J. Aliff, Attorney at Law, for respondent.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
On December 8,1987, at approximately 9:00 p.m. claimant was operating her 1987 Mazda on Route 88 near Bethlehem, Ohio County, when her vehicle struck a hole. A rim had to be replaced at a cost of $250.00 and one tire replaced at a cost of $110.00.
Claimant testified that at the time of the incident it was dark, rainy and foggy. The highway had several holes. She estimated the hole to be six to eight inches deep and as wide as a tire. The hole extended for at least six inches form the berm into the travel portion of the highway. The claimant travels this route two to three times a week, but she had not observed the hole when she last travelled it.
The State is neither an insurer nor a guarantor of the safety of motorists travelling on its highways. Adkins vs. Sims, 130 W.Va. 645 (1947). In order for the respondent to be found liable, it must be shown that the respondent had notice, either actual or constructive, of the defect in the road. As no evidence was presented that the respondent had notice, the claim must be denied.
Claim disallowed.