Case Name: JUDY ANN SMITH PERDUE vs. DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
Court: West Virginia Court of Claims
Jurisdiction: West Virginia
Decision Date: 1980-02-14
Citations: 13 Ct. Cl. 137
Docket Number: CC-78-255
Parties: JUDY ANN SMITH PERDUE vs. DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
Judges: 
Reporter: Report of the West Virginia Court of Claims
Volume: 13
Pages: 137–138

Head Matter:
Opinion issued February 14, 1980
JUDY ANN SMITH PERDUE vs. DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
(CC-78-255)
Nancy J. Aliff, Attorney at Law, for respondent.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
The claimant seeks an award in the sum of $1,861.41 for damages and injuries sustained when her 1972 model Chevrolet automobile struck a hole in the berm adjacent to the northbound lane of W.Va.-U.S. Route 35 in Putnam County.
The State is neither an insurer nor a guarantor of the safety of persons travelling on its highways. Adkins v. Sims, 130 W.Va. 645 (1947). For the State to be found liable, it must first have had either actual or constructive notice of the defect in the roadway. Since there was no proof in this case that the State had notice of the defect, the claim must be denied.
Claim disallowed.