Opinion ID: 2959684
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Slone Was “Getting Out Of” The Dump Truck

Text: The circuit court ruled that “[t]he parties agree that Mr. Slone . . . was not getting . . . out of the dump truck.” There was no further analysis of the factual support relied upon by the court to deny Bratton’s contention that Slone was “getting out of” the dump truck. Pursuant to assignment of error I.B., this was error. It is clear from the record that, although it was not Bratton’s primary argument for coverage under the Selective Insurance Policy, Bratton had maintained that Slone was “getting 10 out of” the dump truck. Selective Insurance contends that this issue was not “argued with any substance” before the circuit court. But in light of Bratton’s repeated contention to the circuit court that coverage was established by way of Slone “getting out of” the dump truck, the circuit court erred in holding Bratton conceded that Slone was not “getting out of” the dump truck. See Code § 8.01-384(A) (“No party, after having made an objection or motion known to the court, shall be required to make such objection or motion again in order to preserve his right to appeal, challenge, or move for reconsideration of, a ruling, order, or action of the court.”); Cashion v. Smith, 286 Va. 327, 333, 749 S.E.2d 526, 529-30 (2013) (“We have repeatedly held that once a litigant informs the circuit court of his or her legal argument, in order for a waiver to occur within the meaning of Code § 8.01-384(A), the record must affirmatively show that the party who has asserted an objection has abandoned the objection or has demonstrated by his conduct the intent to abandon that objection.” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). After the circuit court ruled that Bratton agreed that Slone had not been “getting out of” the dump truck, Bratton filed a motion for reconsideration. In relevant part, this motion identified the points in the record where Bratton had argued that Slone was covered by the Selective Insurance Policy because he was “getting out of” the dump truck. In response, the circuit court summarily denied Bratton’s motion for reconsideration. Although the court did not explicitly address the issue in its order, by its ruling, the court, without analyzing the law or the evidence, implicitly held that Slone was not “getting out of” the dump truck at the time of the accident. Pursuant to assignment of error I.A., this was error. The evidence in the record establishes that Slone was operating the dump truck on the night of the accident. The last thing anyone saw Slone do prior to the collision was unload hot asphalt from the dump truck into the front-end loader. The next time Slone was seen was when 11 he was discovered pinned between one of the drunk driver’s vehicles, the rear blade of the frontend loader, and the dump truck’s left rear tires. The record reflects that approximately less than 30 seconds elapsed between the time when Slone completed the task of unloading the asphalt and the collision. Selective Insurance correctly observes that Slone’s exact location during these 30 seconds cannot be determined beyond all doubt. But inferences drawn from the direct evidence in the record establish that Slone was still vehicle-oriented, and therefore was “getting out of” the dump truck at the time of the accident. Barry v. Tyler, 171 Va. 381, 388, 199 S.E. 496, 499 (1938) (“Inferences drawn from physical facts may be as strong as direct evidence. Such inferences amount to circumstantial evidence.”). The direct evidence establishes three events that occurred within the approximately 30 second timeframe prior to Slone’s death. First, after the asphalt was unloaded onto the front-end loader, and upon Harmon’s signal, Slone lowered the bed of the dump truck into a flat position. Second, Slone departed from the dump truck’s raised cab and, with the dump truck’s engine still running, closed the door behind him. Third, Slone went down the stairs from the raised cab to the ground, and then traversed at least 9 feet to the rear tires. The inference from these actions, considered collectively, sufficiently establishes that Slone did not have enough time to begin a new activity separate from getting out of the vehicle. Likewise, there is no evidence that would lead to a contrary inference, that is, that Slone was no longer vehicle-oriented and had begun a new activity. See Hill v. Bradley, 186 Va. 394, 396, 43 S.E.2d 29, 30 (1947) (“[W]here only one reasonable inference can be drawn from [the] circumstances, the question becomes one of law to be determined by the court.”). Thus, the evidence supports the legal conclusion that Slone was still in the process of “getting out of” the dump truck when the accident occurred. And although 12 Selective Insurance points to evidence tending to show that Slone was yelling as he neared the rear of the dump truck, and to the circuit court’s holding that the evidence failed to establish why Slone had exited the dump truck’s cab, these factual findings – which we accept as correct – do not alter our legal conclusion. The legal conclusion to be drawn from the totality of the circumstances, including the direct evidence and the inferences drawn therefrom, is that Slone was still vehicle-oriented and in the process of “getting out of” the dump truck at the time of the collision. See 59 A.L.R. 4th 149, §§ 2[a], 19[a] (“In cases where the claimant had stepped out of the vehicle and was proceeding to either end of it when injured, the courts have ruled that the claimant was alighting from the vehicle when the circumstances involved a collision between the vehicle from which he was exiting and another vehicle.”). Thus, Slone was “occupying” the dump truck, and Bratton is entitled to insurance proceeds under the Selective Insurance Policy’s coverage of the dump truck as a “covered auto.” 3