Opinion ID: 1058396
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Plaintiff's Accident and Claims for Damages

Text: On September 16, 2000, the plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle owned and driven by the defendant, Stanley F. Tipton. The two had taken a pleasure trip to Cherokee, North Carolina and had used Tipton's vehicle, although the plaintiff's Mazda Millennia was fully operational and available for use. At the time of the accident, they were traveling on Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Blount County, Tennessee, and the plaintiff was asleep in the back seat of Tipton's vehicle. As Tipton negotiated his vehicle down the mountain road, an on-coming vehicle swerved into his lane of travel, causing him to drive off the side of the road to avoid a collision. Tipton's vehicle struck a tree, causing serious injuries to both Tipton and the plaintiff. As a result of these injuries, neither Tipton nor the plaintiff has any recollection of precisely how the accident occurred. However, a witness traveling behind the Tipton vehicle testified that Tipton was driving approximately twenty-five miles per hour when the unidentified (John Doe) vehicle crossed the center line into his lane of travel. The witness stated that Tipton swerved to the left, ran off the left side of the roadway and crashed into a tree. As Tipton went off the left side of the road, the John Doe vehicle continued on, nearly colliding with the witness's vehicle. The John Doe vehicle was by that time in the middle of the road, and the witness was able to veer to the right to avoid a collision without being forced completely off the roadway. According to the witness, if Tipton had swerved to the right, he would have been forced down a large embankment along that side of the road. The John Doe vehicle did not stop at the scene of the accident and has never been identified. The plaintiff suffered serious injuries in the accident and has since incurred substantial medical costs. Following the accident, the plaintiff filed suit against both Tipton and the John Doe driver, alleging negligence on the part of both drivers in proximately causing the accident. In addition, the plaintiff served process on State Auto, [1] seeking benefits under the uninsured motorist provisions of the commercial automobile insurance policy issued to her former husband, Clayton Christenberry, and his company, Christenberry Trucking and Farm, Inc. [2] Both Tipton and State Auto moved for summary judgment  Tipton on the ground that the evidence did not support the allegations of negligence on his part, and State Auto on the ground that the plaintiff was not entitled to uninsured motorist benefits because she was not an insured under the Christenberry insurance policy. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of both defendants, and the Court of Appeals subsequently affirmed. In this Court, the plaintiff has raised no argument against the grant of summary judgment for Tipton and challenges only the grant of summary judgment in favor of State Auto.