Opinion ID: 1152460
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Was there an accident?

Text: Dairyland and Phoenix take the position that Britt's injuries resulted from an intentional attack, not an accident, and that the incident is therefore outside the scope of coverage of the uninsured motorist policies. Although some jurisdictions have taken such a view of the term accident, see, e.g., Lindstrom v. Hanover Ins. Co., 138 N.J. 242, 649 A.2d 1272, 1276 (1994), a greater number of jurisdictions have held that, in analyzing whether a particular incident is an accident for purposes of uninsured motorist coverage, the courts should view the incident from the injured party's perspective. Thus if the event causing the injury is unintended and unexpected from the injured party's viewpoint, the injury is deemed to have occurred as a result of an accident. See, e.g., State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. McMillan, 900 P.2d 1243, 1246-49 (Colo.Ct.App.1994), cert. granted, (July 31, 1995); Redden v. Doe, 357 So.2d 632, 634 (La.Ct.App.1978); State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Coon, 46 Mich.App. 503, 208 N.W.2d 532, 533-34 (Mich.Ct.App. 1973); Davis v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 264 Or. 547, 507 P.2d 9, 10, 13 (1973) (en banc) (applying Michigan law); 8C John A. Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice § 5092.55, at 392 (1981). We find the latter view to be more consistent with the public policies underlying our legislature's enactment of an uninsured motorist statute. Cf. Romero v. Dairyland Ins. Co., 111 N.M. 154, 156, 803 P.2d 243, 245 (1990) (holding that the uninsured motorist statute is to be liberally interpreted in order to implement its remedial purpose). Accordingly, we adopt it today. Because from Britt's viewpoint the stabbing injuries he sustained were an unexpected and unintended result of the automobile accident, the trial court correctly concluded that Britt's injuries arose out of an accident as that term is used in the uninsured motorist endorsements.