Hawkeye-Security Ins. Co. v. Gilbert, HAWKEYE-SECURITY

• Decision Date: 03 January 1994
• Docket Number: HAWKEYE-SECURITY,No. 20213,20213
• Citation: 124 Idaho 953,866 P.2d 976
• Parties: INSURANCE COMPANY, an Iowa insurance company, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Cordon L. GILBERT and Terri M. Gilbert, husband and wife, Defendants-Respondents, and Greg Laragan, an individual, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

Page 976

866 P.2d 976

124 Idaho 953

HAWKEYE-SECURITY INSURANCE COMPANY, an Iowa insurance company, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Cordon L. GILBERT and Terri M. Gilbert, husband and wife, Defendants-Respondents and Greg Laragan, an individual, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 20213.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

Jan. 3, 1994.

Ringert, Clark Chtd., James P. Kaufman, Boise, argued for appellant.

Brady, Lerma & Thomas Chtd., John J. Lerma, Boise, argued for respondent Hawkeye-Security Ins. Co. Respondents Gilbert did not appear or present argument on appeal.

LANSING, Judge.

This case presents an unusual factual background for a claim against an automobile insurer for injuries inflicted on a bicyclist by the owner of the insured vehicle. We conclude that the automobile liability insurance coverage does not extend to the incident that resulted in the bicyclist's injuries.

Hawkeye-Security Insurance Co. ("Hawkeye") instituted this declaratory judgment action to determine whether an automobile insurance policy issued by it to Cordon L. Gilbert covers injuries sustained by the bicyclist, Greg Laragan. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of Hawkeye, and Laragan appeals. We affirm the well-reasoned decision of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

The facts giving rise to this litigation can be summarized as follows. On July 26, 1990, Gilbert and Laragan were involved in an incident on Eagle Road in Ada County, Idaho. Laragan was riding his bicycle northbound on Eagle Road when Gilbert approached from behind in his automobile. Gilbert allegedly observed Laragan swerving back and forth in the lane of traffic. As Gilbert started to pass, Laragan moved into Gilbert's lane, causing Gilbert to hit his brakes and honk his horn for several seconds. Gilbert pulled alongside Laragan, gestured at Laragan with his fist and finger, and shouted at him. Laragan nodded his head to acknowledge Gilbert's presence, but did not turn his head in that direction. After staying beside Laragan for about one hundred yards, Gilbert drove ahead of Laragan and pulled off the road onto the graveled shoulder. As Gilbert rolled down his window in an attempt to speak to Laragan, Laragan rode by without stopping and continued north on Eagle Road. Gilbert pursued, overtaking and passing Laragan. At the crest of a hill, Gilbert observed a wide spot about seventy-five to one hundred yards ahead where he could pull off the road. Gilbert parked the car on the right shoulder of the road, rapidly got out of his car, and took a position near the center of the road. Gilbert stood with his hands on his hips, and, as Laragan approached, extended his left arm in the manner of a traffic officer directing a vehicle to stop. Laragan attempted to pass between Gilbert and his automobile. As he did so, Gilbert touched Laragan in some way, causing Laragan to fall from his bicycle. Laragan states that it felt as if Gilbert had grabbed his left arm. Gilbert denies having grabbed Laragan and states that he believes that he and Laragan hit elbows. As a result of his fall, Laragan suffered a compound fracture of the right tibia, a fracture of the right fibula, and numerous cuts, scrapes and bruises. At the time of the incident, Gilbert's car was completely stopped with the motor turned off, and the automobile at no time came into physical contact with Laragan. Gilbert was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, I.C. § 18-907, but was acquitted following a jury trial. Except for the noted disagreement regarding Gilbert's manner of touching Laragan, which is not material to our inquiry on this appeal, ¹ these facts were undisputed for purposes of the summary judgment motion.

Laragan made a claim against Gilbert and his automobile insurance carrier, Hawkeye, to recover damages for his injuries. Hawkeye denied the claim and filed this declaratory judgment action asking the court to determine that the policy issued to Gilbert does not obligate Hawkeye to provide a defense for Gilbert or to indemnify Gilbert for any liability he may bear toward Laragan.

Both parties moved for summary judgment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Hawkeye, holding that Gilbert's potential liability was not covered by the insurance policy because Laragan's injuries did not arise from the ownership, maintenance or use of the insured automobile. Laragan appeals, contending that because Gilbert was driving the car when he initially encountered Laragan, and because Gilbert used the automobile to overtake and stop Laragan and to cut off Laragan's potential escape along the shoulder of the road, Gilbert's actions were within the coverage of the policy.

That portion of the insurance policy governing the scope of coverage states:

A. We will pay damages for "bodily injury" or "property damage" for which any "insured" becomes legally responsible because of an auto accident.... We have no duty to defend any suit or settle any claim for "bodily injury" or "property damage" not covered under this policy.

While the term "auto accident" is not defined in the policy, both Hawkeye and Laragan recognize that, pursuant to this state's Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act, I.C. §§ 49-1201 et seq., an owner's policy of liability insurance must insure the named insured "against loss from the liability imposed by law for damages arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the [insured] motor vehicles...." I.C. § 49-1212(1)(b). Because the policy's language does not provide for coverage greater than that mandated by I.C. § 49-1212(1)(b), the parties agree that the scope of coverage afforded by the Hawkeye policy is that prescribed by the statute. Accordingly, the question presented is whether Laragan's injuries arose out of Gilbert's "use" of his automobile. ²

Laragan argues that his injuries did in fact arise out of Gilbert's use of his vehicle in two fashions. First, it was while Gilbert was driving his automobile that he initially encountered Laragan, became irritated at Laragan, and pursued and overtook him. This use, he asserts, ultimately led to the incident where Laragan was injured. Second, Laragan contends that Gilbert used his parked automobile to block Laragan's escape along the right-hand shoulder of the roadway, making the automobile an instrumentality that aided in causing the injuries. The district court concluded there was not a sufficient causal relationship between the use of the vehicle and Laragan's injuries and, therefore, held that the automobile insurance policy did not afford coverage.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Ordinarily, on appeal from a summary judgment, we review the facts to determine whether any genuine issue of material fact exists and whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Mitchell v. Siqueiros, 99 Idaho 396, 582 P.2d 1074 (1978); Gro-Mor, Inc. v. Butts, 109 Idaho 1020, 712 P.2d 721 (Ct.App.1985). However, on this appeal Laragan does not contend that there are material factual issues which preclude summary judgment. Therefore, our review is limited to a determination of whether Hawkeye is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. This requires interpretation of I.C. § 49-1212 and application of that statute to the facts of the case. This is a question of law which we freely review. Hix v. Potlatch Forests, Inc., 88 Idaho 155, 159, 397 P.2d 237, 241 (1964).

III. ANALYSIS

The issue of whether a particular act constitutes "use" of an insured vehicle for purposes of insurance coverage has frequently been the subject of litigation in other jurisdictions where the courts have construed the term as it is used in insurance policies or in statutes similar to I.C. § 49-1212. See generally Larry D. Scheafer, Annotation, Automobile Liability Insurance: What are Accidents or Injuries "Arising out of Ownership Maintenance, or Use" of Insured Vehicle, 15 A.L.R.4th 10 (1982). Our appellate courts have considered the issue on only one prior occasion, in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Smith, 107 Idaho 674, 691 P.2d 1289 (Ct.App.1984). In Smith, an occupant of a parked motor home was shot when a shotgun discharged while being pulled across a bed. We held that the insurance policy issued by State Farm did not provide coverage for the passenger's death because the accident did not arise out of the use of the motor home. We explained:

The policy provision requiring the injury to "arise out of the use" of the vehicle connotes a causal relation between the injury and the use. The causal connection must be more than incidental or fortuitous. The accident and resulting injury must have arisen out of the inherent nature of the automobile in order to bring it within the terms of the "use" clause. [Citations omitted.]

Id. at 675, 691 P.2d at 1290. We concluded that the accident "was caused by the negligent handling of a loaded firearm, not by the type of use associated with the inherent nature of the motor home," which was "merely the situs of the accident." Id. at 676, 691 P.2d at 1291.

Although our decision in Smith interpreted the term "use" as it appeared in an automobile insurance policy, we think the same analysis applies to interpretation of the term in I.C. § 49-1212, which governs the content of such policies. Therefore, under the law announced in Smith, liability insurance coverage will be afforded in the present case only if Laragan's injury was causally connected to Gilbert's use of the automobile and that use of the vehicle was related to the inherent nature of the automobile.

A. Use of the Vehicle at the Time of Initial Encounter and to Overtake Laragan.

We consider first Laragan's argument that the fact that Gilbert was driving the car when he initially observed and became troubled by Laragan and overtook Laragan creates a sufficient causal relationship.

As Smith illustrates, courts confronted with this issue agree that a causal relation or connection must...