Court Opinion

ID: 9527678
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:32:43.117477+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:26:02.555732
License: Public Domain

Judge RULAND
dissenting.
Because I conclude that the trial court was correct in its application of the law in this case, I respectfully dissent.
The issue whether insurance coverage is available for an accident involving the opera*619tion and use of a motor vehicle has arisen in a number of different contexts. Resolution of this issue requires the court first to determine whether the motor vehicle was in “use” as that term is interpreted under the policy and then to decide whether that use was causally related to the accident. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. McMichael, 906 P.2d 92 (Colo.1995).
With reference to the first issue, the Aetna court reaffirmed that “use” of the motor vehicle has a broader meaning than operation of the vehicle for transportation purposes. And, the vehicle need not even be occupied at the time of the accident. Thus, for example, the use may involve parking the vehicle as a barricade in a construction area as in Aetna or it may involve parking the vehicle in order to sell refreshments. Trinity Universal Insurance Co. v. Hall, 690 P.2d 227 (Colo.1984). In sum, as noted by the majority, unless the vehicle’s use at the time of the accident “is foreign to its inherent purpose,” insurance coverage may be available. Kohl v. Union Insurance Co., 731 P.2d 134 (Colo.1986).
Here, I agree with the trial court that the use of a vehicle includes parking it in a specific location in order to gain prompt access to a high school. See Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. McMichael, supra; see also Kolkin v. American Family Insurance Co., 347 N.W.2d 538 (Minn.App.1984)(involving a stalled vehicle parked so that it protruded into the roadway).
Specifically, the vehicle in this ease was parked in a cross-hatched area of a parking lot in order for the owners to attend and later return home from a graduation ceremony. And, to hold, as the majority opinion implies, that a motor vehicle is no longer in use if it is parked and unoccupied unduly limits insurance coverage for accidents caused by the manner in which the vehicle has been parked in any public thoroughfare or area.
With reference to whether the vehicle’s use is causally related to the claimant’s injury, in Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. McMichael, supra, 906 P.2d at 103, the court stated:
In Kohl, we explained that in order to establish the requisite causal relationship between the use of the vehicle and the injury, the claimant must show that the accident would not have occurred but for the vehicle’s use.... Although the use of ‘but for’ terminology suggests that the use ' of the vehicle must be the cause of the injuries, we have utilized a more liberal interpretation in our cases. We have not required that the vehicle be moving at the time of the accident or that the vehicle be the sole cause of the accident. In fact, we have interpreted the test as requiring the plaintiff to show only that the injury originated in, grew out of, or flowed from the' use of a vehicle.... Thus, the causation test does not require that the insured vehicle itself be the source of the injury, only that the use be integrally related to the claimant’s activities and the injury at the time of the accident.
Here, the motor vehicle was parked in a cross-hatched area of a parking lot such that it obscured the lighting used to illuminate a speed bump for pedestrians and other vehicles using the parking lot. Under these circumstances, in my view, this use of the vehicle is, as a matter of law, integrally related to the accident. Stated otherwise, the accident necessarily grew out of, or flowed from, the parking of the vehicle in this particular manner.
Contrary to the view of the majority, I do not read State Automobile & Casualty Underwriters v. Beeson, 183 Colo. 284, 516 P.2d 623 (1973) as applicable to the facts here. In Beeson, the manner in which the car was parked had no causal relationship with the unfortunate accident. Such is not the case here.
Accordingly, I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.