Government agency sued over car accident

CHARLESTON - A recently filed lawsuit alleges that a highway worker rammed a fellow motorist into a retaining wall while trying to pull a U-turn.

Norman and Barbara Jones filed a lawsuit Dec. 5 in Kanawha Circuit Court over the alleged accident. Tim Robinson is listed as a defendant both individually and in his capacity as an employee of the West Virginia Department of Transportation's Division of Parkways Economic Development and Tourism Authority.

The agency itself is also a defendant on the suit.

Norman Jones says he was driving 2002 Ford F-150 in the left lane of Route 61 in Kanawha County on Dec. 9, 2004. In the right lane, he says, was Robinson driving a 2003 Ford truck owned by the DOT.

The complaint says Robinson received a call to a respond to an accident, attempted to make a U-turn and struck Jones' truck, "forcing it into a retaining wall."

Jones says he received temporary and permanent injuries to his body and is seeking compensatory damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress and medical expenses. His wife Barbara makes a claim for loss of consortium.

Tim Carrico of Carrico Law Offices in Charleston is representing the plaintiffs.

Judge Paul Zakaib has been assigned the case.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number 06-C-2590