OPINION ISSUED NOVEMBER 24, 1986

LARRY J. WALLEN
VS.
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS

(CC-86-120)

Claimant appeared in person.
Andrew Lopez, Attorney at Law, for respondent.

PER CURIAM:

This claim was originally filed in the names of Larry J. Wallen and Iva
J. Wallen, his wife. At
the hearing, the Court amended the style of the claim to reflect the
sole owner of the vehicle.,
Larry J. Wallen, as claimant.

The claimant, on January 22, 1986, was operating his vehicle, a 1976
Mercury Cougar, in a
southerly direction on U.S. Route 119, also known as Logan Boulevard, at
or near an
intersection of State Route 10 when rocks fell from a cliff. One of
these rocks struck the
claimant's vehicle as it passed. The damage totalled $522.80, of which
the claimant's insurance
paid $138.00. The claimant testified that U.S. Route 119 is a four-lane
highway with a median.
On the day of this incident, the roadway was damp. It was approximately
12:00 noon. The
claimant was transporting his wife from her place of employment, the
Save Rite Pharmacy, to the
post office in Logan. He was proceeding at approximately 35-40 miles per
hour. He was in the
right lane of the two southbound lanes. The claimant observed that two
rocks fell from the cliff,
whereupon he switched his vehicle to the left lane to avoid these rocks.
A third unobserved rock
struck and damaged the vehicle in the right, rear quarter panel. The
claimant testified that he
passed the cliff in travelling this route, and rocks falling from the
cliff were a common occurrence
at this location. Three to four weeks prior to his accident, the
claimant observed the
respondent's crew cleaning up some rocks which had apparently come off
the hill and were
blocking all four lanes of the highway.

The claimant described the concrete barriers which the respondent had
erected between the
base of the cliff and the berm of the highway. On this particular
occasion, the rock which struck
the claimant's vehicle missed the barrier. The respondent was aware of
the propensity of the
rocks to fall from the cliff at this location as evidenced by the
existence of the concrete barrier.
The barriers indicate that the respondent has taken measures to remedy
the dangerous condition
of the falling rocks. The Court, then, is unable to find negligence on
the part of the respondent,
and the claim must be denied.

Claim disallowed.

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