Insurance Company v. Seaver

• Decision Date: 01 October 1873
• Citation: 22 L.Ed. 155,86 U.S. 531,19 Wall. 531
• Parties: INSURANCE COMPANY v. SEAVER
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

86 U.S. 531

22 L.Ed. 155

19 Wall. 531

INSURANCE COMPANY v. SEAVER.

October Term, 1873

ERROR to the Circuit Court for the District of Vermont.

Mrs. Elizabeth Seaver sued the Travellers' Insurance Company of Hartford on a policy of insurance, which insured her against loss of life of her husband—described in the policy as a livery-stable keeper—caused by any accident within the meaning of the policy and conditions thereto annexed. Among these conditions was one that the insurance should 'not extend to death or injury caused by duelling or fighting, or other breach of the law on the part of the assured, . . . or by his wilfully exposing himself to any unnecessary danger or peril.' Seaver, the husband, was killed suddenly at Morrisville, Vermont, immediately after jumping from a sulky, in which he was driving in a match race, on the event of which a considerable sum of money was wagered. The defence of the company, as the case was submitted to the jury, was, that his death was caused by a breach of the law, and by his wilfully exposing himself to unnecessary danger.

The plaintiff's evidence, as the bill of exceptions showed, tended to prove that at the race Seaver was driving a mare and sulky; that one Gilmore was driving a horse and sulky in competition alongside; that the track was 'in form like the link of a chain,' in other words was an oval track; and that soon after leaving the judge's stand, Seaver having the inside track, and his mare and Gilmore's horse being nearly abreast, Seaver's mare broke and fell back, and that Gilmore's horse got a little abead; that Gilmore thereupon reined in towards the inside track, apparently to get the inside track—his team being then about half its length ahead of Seaver's mare—that Seaver's mare at that moment regained her speed, and, gaining on the other horse, the sulkies came into collision. That the wheel of Seaver passed over the near wheel of Gilmore, and that Seaver instantly jumped from his sulky, and struck upon the grass-ground off the track, upon his feet, uninjured, some two or three feet from his sulky, and entirely free from it; that if he had remained standing where he struck, he would have received no injury; that he instantly spoke to his mare, and that the mare slackened her speed, and that Seaver started to catch her, and, with that purpose, ran a distance of some twenty feet by her side, trying to get hold of the reins to stop her; that the reins were hanging loosely across the axletree of the carriage; that when Seaver ran the distance as aforesaid, and while thus running with one hand either ahold of or grasping for the reins, the mare turned in upon the grass-ground and towards Seaver, throwing him down, when in some way he became entangled in the reins, and was dragged along a few feet until his head struck a stone with great force; that Seaver was immediately taken up insensible and carried into the house, and that he died the next morning from the injury.

The plaintiff's evidence further tended to show that by the rules of the trotting course Gilmore had not the right to attempt to take the inside track until he had passed Seaver a distance equal to the whole length of Seaver's team.

The defendant gave in evidence section nine of chapter cxix of the General Statutes of Vermont, which was as follows:

'All racing, running, trotting, or pacing of any horse or horse kind for any bet or wager of money or other valuable thing, or for any purse or stake made, is hereby declared a misdemeanor, and the parties, contrivers, aiders and abettors thereof, shall pay a fine not exceeding $500.'

The court charged as follows:

'That, for the purposes of this trial, the jury were to regard the trotting race in which the insured was engaged when he jumped from his sulky and was killed, as a breach of the law within the meaning of the conditions of the policy.

'That the jury were, therefore, to inquire whether the death of the insured was occasioned by the breach of the law; that this was a question for the jury.

'That if the jury should find that Seaver was killed by the race itself, by an ordinary accident of the race, so that the race was the proximate cause of the death, the plaintiff could not recover; but if the jury should find that Gilmore turned his horse intentionally and tortiously, with the purpose of winning the race at all hazards, whether he should crowd Seaver from the track or not, then that the conduct of Gilmore and not the race would be the proximate cause of the death, and the plaintiff would be entitled to recover.

'That the plaintiff's evidence showed that Gilmore, turning in as he did, was in violation of the rules of the race; that a man was usually to be taken as intending the natural and necessary consequences of his own acts. And that if the jury were of opinion that Gilmore drove, as he did tortiously, and with the intention of winning the race in any event, even though in his so doing he should crowd Seaver from the track and upset him, and that such driving caused the death of Seaver, then the jury should find for the plaintiff.

'That if the death of the insured was caused by the wilful exposure of himself to an unnecessary danger or peril within the meaning of the other clause in the policy relied on by the defendants, the plaintiff would not be entitled to recover.

'That upon this part of the case, it was to be considered, however, that the language of this clause must be taken most strongly against the defendant, because used in their policy, and for the purpose of inducing parties to take policies;

'And that it was further to be considered how ordinary people in the part of the country where the insured reside, in view of the state of things then existing, the frequency of such races, and the way in which such matches are usually regulated, would naturally understand such language, whether as precluding such driving or not.

'That the jury should also consider the nature of the business of the insured, as set forth in the application, and therefore known to the defendant,—that of livery-stable keeper, which, of course, embraced the management and driving of horses.

'That the question was not what construction would be given to the language at Hartford, where the defendants' company was located, but, in view of all the circumstances and conditions above alluded to, whether intelligent, fair-minded people in the vicinity of the insured where the contract was made, would regard it as excluding the driving of such a race, and, if not, that the case would not come within the proviso of that clause in the policy, and the plaintiff would, so far as that is concerned, be entitled to recover.'

The jury found a general verdict for the plaintiff, and found, in addition, in answer to questions specially submitted, a special finding thus:

'That when the sulky of Seaver came into collision with the sulky of Gilmore, Seaver jumped to the ground and was entirely clear from the sulky, harness, and reins, upright and uninjured, and spoke to his horse to stop, and then started forward to get hold of the lines to stop him, and in that attempt was killed.'

The company excepted to the charge of the court, and, judgment going for the plaintiff, it brought the case here.

Mr. E. J. Phelps, for the insurance company, plaintiff in error:

1. The death of the assured was caused by the race. No new event intervened. The plain terms of the policy are not to be evaded by metaphysical subtlety.

The distinction adopted by the court below between an accident resulting from the race, and an accident resulting from the carelessness of the driver at the race, cannot be maintained. An accident is never the necessary consequence of a race; some incident or other must intervene to produce it; the misconduct of the driver, a defect in the vehicle, the harness, or the track, a fright or stumbling of the horse. In all these cases, might it be argued with the same propriety, that the injury was not caused by the race, but by the intervening incident that immediately occasioned it. If such were its interpretation no death could ever be caused by a breach of the law. Recklessness and unfairness in driving are natural incidents in such a contest, frequently occurring, and reasonably to be expected. They are perhaps the principal source of danger. The court will not investigate whether a transaction that was criminal throughout, was conducted according to the rules established for its management by those engaged in it. The case of Insurance Company v. Tweed¹ is decisive to show that the race was the cause of the death.

2. The jury should have been instructed that the driving of the race of the assured was a wilful exposure of himself to 'an unnecessary danger or peril,' within the meaning of the terms of the policy; and the instruction given was erroneous. The voluntary engagement of the assured in an illegal act of a dangerous character will be conceded. He lost his life by the danger thus incurred. The term 'necessary' should doubtless receive a reasonable rather than a literal definition. But not even upon the most liberal construction can it be maintained, that an act which is criminal, is reasonably necessary; or that the peril thereby incurred under the circumstances of this case was not an apparent peril, obvious to the common sense, and shown by the common experience of mankind. The evidence on this point raised no question proper to be submitted to a jury. The construction of the policy upon the conceded facts was for the court and not for the jury. But if any question should have been submitted at all, the rule laid down by the court was wrong. Under the rule laid down, evidence to prove the opinion entertained on the subject by 'fair-minded and intelligent' citizens, would necessarily become admissible. And the opinion of the majority would determine the point.

Messrs. G. F. Edmunds and H. H. Powers, contra:

1. The object of life insurance...