Opinion ID: 1570678
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Vaknin's Degree of Physical Control.

Text: Plaintiffs argue in the alternative that, if actual physical control is the determining factor in deciding whether Vaknin was an operator of the motor vehicle, he exercised that degree of control when he seized the wheel of the vehicle. Based on this premise, they urge that the jury's finding that he did not have control is not supported by substantial evidence. Plaintiffs rely in part on the decision of the Washington court in North Pacific Insurance Co. v. Christensen, 143 Wash.2d 43, 17 P.3d 596 (2001). There, a passenger seized control of the wheel of a motor vehicle that the driver was properly operating and through that action diverted the course of travel across the centerline causing a collision. The Washington court in the Christensen case concluded that, [w]hen Chase suddenly grabbed the steering wheel, he became the operator of the vehicle in which he had been a passenger. Although Christensen was sitting in the driver's seat, he became powerless to control the car. Chase assumed control of the steering mechanism long enough to cause a collision and resulting injuries. Christensen, 17 P.3d at 599 (footnote omitted). Assuming without deciding that one who seizes the steering wheel of a motor vehicle and thereby causes an injury-producing accident may be considered to be an operator for uninsured-motorist purposes, we are satisfied that this is not the case if the seizing of the wheel is an effort to prevent an accident caused by faulty operation of the vehicle by the person who has been exercising the driving function. As we concluded in the prior division of this opinion, the type of uninsured liability that triggers uninsured-motorist coverage is operational fault causing the injury for which recovery of benefits is claimed. In the present case, Vaknin's operator status was submitted to the jury in the face of a strong argument that he was not the operator as a matter of law based on the undisputed evidence. Assuming that the evidence of wheel grabbing presented a jury question on his status, the jury's verdict resolves the issue. To overturn that verdict, plaintiffs would have to show that Vaknin was the operator as a matter of law, and that was clearly not the case.