Inman v. Life & Cas. Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 13 February 1932
• Citation: 45 S.W.2d 1073,164 Tenn. 12
• Parties: INMAN v. LIFE & CASUALTY INS. CO.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

45 S.W.2d 1073

164 Tenn. 12

INMAN v. LIFE & CASUALTY INS. CO.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

February 13, 1932

Appeal from Circuit Court, Davidson County; A. B. Neil, Judge.

Action by Maggie Lee Inman against the Life & Casualty Insurance Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant brings error.

Reversed and dismissed.

M. P Estes, of Nashville, for plaintiff in error.

W. C Cherry and Jack Norman, both of Nashville, for defendant in error.

CHAMBLISS J.

The insurance company appeals from a judgment for $1,000 on a policy contract, and insists that on the facts shown by the stipulation in the record there is no liability. Plaintiff is the beneficiary under a limited accident policy on the life of her deceased husband, William E. Inman. He was an employee of a Nashville furniture house, and at the time of the accident which resulted in his death he was aiding in the delivery of a truckload of furniture. The truck was being driven by another employee, who was riding on the driver's seat in a closed cab. A third employee called Inman's attention to an article of furniture which appeared to be slipping, and he got on a box, or trunk, to adjust or hold the article. The truck was moving at not more than fifteen or eighteen miles an hour, and, as it passed through an underpass of the Tennessee Central Railroad, Inman's head, being above the level of the furniture load, struck an iron girder of the underpass, and he was knocked from the truck and instantly killed. Neither the truck nor the furniture with which it was loaded collided or came in contact with the underpass, and there was no injury to the truck. It is, of course, conceded that the deceased met his death by accident, but it is insisted that the accident which he suffered was not within the terms of this policy, which carries a weekly premium of 5 cents only with an accidental death benefit of $1,000, and which is limited as to liability as follows:

"The Life & Casualty Ins. Company of Tennessee hereby insures the person named in said schedule against the result of bodily injuries received during the time this policy is in force, and effected solely by external, violent and accidental means strictly in the manner hereafter stated, subject to all the provisions and limitations hereinafter contained, as follows:

If the insured shall be struck by a vehicle which is being propelled by steam, cable, electricity, naphtha, gasoline, horse, compressed air or liquid power, while insured is walking or standing on a public highway, which term, Public Highway, as here used shall not be construed to include any portion of railroad or interurban yards, station grounds, or right of way except where crossed by a thoroughfare dedicated to and used by the public for automobile or horse vehicle traffic:

Or if the insured shall by the collision of or by any accident to any railroad passenger car, passenger steamship, public omnibus, street railway car, taxicab or automobile, stage or bus, which is being driven or operated at the time by a person regularly employed for that purpose, and in which such Insured is traveling as a fare paying passenger or on which he is lawfully riding on a pass; or by the collision of or by any accident to any private horse drawn vehicle or private motor driven automobile in which Insured is riding or driving; or shall by any accident to any...