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Pemco Insurance Co. v. Schlea9/24/1991
--REF-->92 Wash. 2d at 26. The injury must result from the type of motoring risk that the parties intended to cover by the automobile policy. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Centennial Ins. Co., 14 Wash. App. 541, 543, 543 P.2d 645 (1975), review denied, 87 Wash. 2d 1003 (1976).
Here, Evans used the vehicle to transport Schlea. However, there is not a sufficient causal connection between this use and Schlea's injuries to invoke coverage because her injuries did not result from the natural and reasonable use of the vehicle. Kidnapping, assault, and rape are not motoring risks against which the parties intended to insure. Further, the vehicle did not contribute toward her assault and rape; it was the mere "situs" of Evans' violent acts. Thus, criterion 1 was not satisfied. Accord, Edwards v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 399 N.W.2d 95 (Minn. Ct. App. 1986), review denied (Minn. Mar. 13, 1987); Currera v. Loyd, 531 So. 2d 544 (La. Ct. App. 1988); see also Spisak v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 329 Pa. Super. 483, 478 A.2d 891 (1984). Criterion 4 was not satisfied because Evans could have accomplished the deeds without an automobile. Thus, the injuries in this case did not arise out of the "use" of the vehicle as contemplated by the parties.
We reverse.
Disposition
Holding that the victim's injuries did not arise out of the "use" of the insured vehicle, the court reverses the judgment and grants judgment in favor of the insurer.
Alexander, J. (dissenting)
I dissent. I disagree with the majority when it says that Evans did not "use" the vehicle to commit the kidnapping and rape. While using a vehicle as a means of transporting a victim and as a place to commit a rape is not either a "reasonable" or "traditional"
use of an automobile, it is, in my judgment, a use nonetheless.
In order for an accident to result from the use of a vehicle, this court need only find that there is a causal connection between the use of a vehicle and the resulting accident. Such a connection exists if the vehicle contributed in any way to produce the injury . Transamerica Ins. Group v. United P. Ins. Co., 92 Wash. 2d 21, 593 P.2d 156 (1979). If Evans had been in an accident in the same car while he was transporting Schlea to the scene of the rape, would the majority say that this was not an occurrence resulting from the use of a motor vehicle? I think not. To me, there is little difference between that scenario and the present where the vehicle was used to perpetrate these crimes which resulted in injury to Schlea. The simple fact is that Schlea was injured as a result of Evans' use of the automobile to kidnap and rape her.
In concluding that Schlea's injuries did not arise out of the "use" of an automobile, the majority makes the point that Evans could have accomplished his misdeeds without the use of an automobile. It concludes, therefore, that he was not engaged in a transaction essential to the use of the vehicle. Again, I disagree. Plainly, Evans used the vehicle as an essential part of his activity. One could argue that any injury occurring from the use of an automobile could be caused by other means, but that should not prevent us from observing that the injury to Schlea resulted from Evans' use of the automobile. I would affirm the trial court's denial of summary judgment to PEMCO.
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