OPINION ISSUED JUNE 6, 1989

ARLISS JONES AND JENNIFER WILLIAMS
VS.
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS

(CC-88-303)

Claimants appeared in person.
Nancy J. Aliff, Attorney at Law, for respondent.

WALLACE, JUDGE:

Claimants seek $18,800.00 for damage to an automobile and also personal
injuries arising out
of an automobile accident which occurred on December 10, 1986. Claimant,
Jennifer Williams,
was a passenger in the 1983 Chevrolet Cavalier titled in claimant Arliss
Jones' name. At the time
of the incident, the Cavalier was driven by Jeffrey Todd Williams,
present husband of claimant
Williams.

Jeffrey Todd Williams was operating the automobile in a southerly
direction toward Alderson
on West Virginia Route 12. The highways is a two-lane road, and its
surface was dry at
approximately 10:00 p.m., when this incident occurred. Mr. Williams
testified that his speed was
approximately fifty-seven miles per hour. The headlights of the
automobile which he was
operating were on low beam. He is familiar with this route as he had
driven it to and from his
place of employment for a period of four-to-six months prior to the
accident. He stated that the
weather was clear and dry. He was on a straight section of the road when
his vehicle
encountered rocks. He was of the opinion that the rocks came from a
hillside to the right of the
highway. He was unable to maneuver the automobile to avoid striking the
rocks which were in
the automobile's path.

Claimant Arliss Jones testified that she had operated a vehicle on West
Virginia Route 12 on
the evening of the accident. She stated that when she travelled the
roadway at approximately
9:00 p.m., she did not observe any fallen rocks. She had purchased the
automobile involved in
the accident as a used vehicle for $3,600.00 six months before the
accident occurred. The
automobile was totalled and claimant Jones received approximately
$400.00 as salvage for her
automobile.

Claimant Jennifer Williams testified that she has reoccurring headaches
and back pain as a
result of the accident. She has not seen a physician since April, 1988,
due to the expense of
medical treatment.

Two employees of the respondent, Eugene Ray Tuckwiller and Charles
Raymond Lewis, II,
testified. Mr. Tuckwiller stated that the accident area had not been
brought to his attention as a
falling rock problem area. Mr. Lewis' records of the respondent revealed
that there have not
been any other fallen rock accidents reported in this area for a
three-year period prior to
December 10, 1986.

The State is neither an insurer nor a guarantor of the safety of
motorists on its highways.
Adkins vs. Sims, 130 W.Va. 645, 46 S.E.2d 81 (1941). This Court has held
on numerous
occasions that the unexplained falling of rock onto a highway without a
positive showing that
respondent knew or should have known of a dangerous condition is
insufficient to justify an
award. Hammond vs. Dept. of Highways, 11 Ct.Cl. 234 (1977); Adkins vs.
Dept. of
Highways, 13 Ct.Cl. 307 (1980); Hatfield vs. Dept. of Highways, 15
Ct.Cl. 168 (1984); and