Court Opinion

ID: 9650126
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 15:25:28.330462+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:18.539622
License: Public Domain

JOHNSON, Judge,
dissenting.
I am unable to conclude that Mary Ethel Frain was an “occupant” of Mrs. Losinger’s vehicle at the time of the accident. Therefore, she is not entitled to benefits under the policy issued by Keystone Insurance Company (Keystone). For this reason, I must respectfully dissent.
The Keystone policy in effect at the time of the accident provided that it would pay an “insured” “reasonable expenses incurred for necessary medical and funeral services (first party benefits) because of bodily injury[.]” The policy defined “insured” as follows:
*4731. You or any “family member”....
2. Any other person while “occupying” “your covered auto[J”
Further, the policy defined “occupying” as “in, upon, getting in, on, out or off.”
Keystone contends that Frain was not occupying the vehicle at the time she sustained her injuries. Thus, Keystone argues that Frain is not entitled to benefits under the Keystone policy. I agree.
In Utica Mutual Insurance Co. v. Contrisciane, 504 Pa. 328, 336, 473 A.2d 1005, 1009 (1984), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a person will be considered to be “occupying” a vehicle if that person can satisfy the following four criteria:
(1) there is a causal relation or connection between the injury and the use of the insured vehicle;
(2) the person asserting coverage must be in a reasonably close geographic proximity to the insured vehicle, although the person need not be áctually touching it;
(3) the person must be vehicle oriented rather than highway or sidewalk oriented at the time; and
(4) the person must also be engaged in a transaction essential to the use of the vehicle at the time.
After applying these criteria, I am unable to find that Frain was vehicle oriented at the time she sustained her injuries. Frain had turned from the Losinger vehicle and was fleeing to avoid injury from the approaching tractor trailer. Therefore, Frain was not vehicle oriented at the time of the accident.
I am also unable to find that Frain was engaged in a transaction essential to the use of the Losinger vehicle. I am unable to understand how a passenger running for her life away from a vehicle relates in any manner to the owner’s use of the car.
Because I have determined that Frain was neither vehicle oriented nor engaged in a transaction essential to the use of the Losinger vehicle, I cannot conclude that Frain was an *474“occupant” of the Losinger vehicle at the time she sustained her injuries.
Accordingly, I dissent. I would affirm the trial court’s order which granted summary judgment in favor of Keystone and against Frain.