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United Services Automobile Association v. Keith6/5/1998
On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the Third District of Texas
In these cross-appeals, the court of appeals described this case as one in which it "explore the outer boundaries of the bystander cause of action in Texas." 953 S.W.2d 365. Because the court of appeals exceeded those boundaries when it held that a cause of action may exist under the facts presented here, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and render judgment for United States Automobile Association (USAA).
The facts are not in dispute. Dianna Keith's daughter, Lyndsay Keith, was a passenger in a car that swerved out of control and hit a tree. The owner of the vehicle was uninsured or underinsured. The accident occurred approximately one block from the Keith residence where Dianna Keith was asleep at the time of the crash. Shortly after the accident, Adam Hahn, a friend of Lyndsay's who had been following the car in which she was a passenger, drove to the Keith residence and awoke Dianna Keith. From the summary judgment evidence, it appears that Hahn was in shock and was only able to tell her that his urgency had "something to do with Lyndsay." Hahn rushed Dianna Keith to the accident scene, where the wrecked car was still smoking and a tail-light was blinking. Keith could not see her daughter, but she could hear her inside the wreckage making "scary noises and crying out."
After Lyndsay was removed from the car, Dianna Keith accompanied her daughter in the ambulance to a location where a helicopter took Lyndsay to the hospital. Keith later arrived at the hospital and waited while her daughter was in the operating room. She was informed around 3:20 a.m. that Lyndsay had died.
Dianna Keith was insured by USAA. She presented claims under her uninsured/underinsured motorist policy as the representative of Lyndsay's estate, as a beneficiary under the Texas Wrongful Death Statute, and for her own injuries as a bystander. USAA settled the estate's claims for $20,000 but denied Dianna Keith's bystander recovery claim. Keith filed suit on a bystander theory of recovery and elected not to pursue her wrongful death claim. Both parties moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted summary judgment for Dianna Keith, but the court of appeals reversed and remanded, concluding that there was a fact issue. Each party filed a petition for review in this Court.
Texas has adopted the bystander elements that the California Supreme Court identified in Dillon v. Legg, 441 P.2d 912, 920 (Cal. 1968). See Freeman v. City of Pasadena, 744 S.W.2d 923, 923-24 (Tex. 1988); see also Edinburg Hosp. Auth. v. Treviño, 941 S.W.2d 76, 80 (Tex. 1997); Boyles v. Kerr, 855 S.W.2d 593, 597-98 (Tex. 1993); Reagan v. Vaughn, 804 S.W.2d 463, 467 (Tex. 1990). To recover as a bystander, a plaintiff is required to establish that:
(1) The plaintiff was located near the scene of the accident, as contrasted with one who was a distance away from it;
(2) The plaintiff suffered shock as a result of a direct emotional impact upon the plaintiff from a sensory and contemporaneous observance of the accident, as contrasted with learning of the accident from others after its occurrence; and
(3) The plaintiff and the victim were closely related, as contrasted with an absence of any relationship or the presence of only a distant relationship.
See Freeman, 744 S.W.2d at 923-24.
The court of appeals correctly recognized that the existence of a bystander cause of action depends on whether the plaintiff can prove these three elements. However, the court of appeals erroneously concluded that although there was "little dispute concerning the op
Page 1 2 Texas Personal Injury Attorneys
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