Court Opinion

ID: 9549050
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:12:31.523415+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:19:46.056603
License: Public Domain

QUINN, Justice,
dissenting in part:
Although I agree with the majority’s imposition of the burden of proof on the insureds to show that a violation of a safety regulation was not the cause of the accident and loss, I believe the case should be returned to the trial court in order to afford the insureds an opportunity to satisfy this burden. When the parties stipulated that “[tjhere is no evidence as to what caused the accident or how it could have been prevented,” they were somewhat laboring in the dark as to the burden of proof on causation, and understandably so, because, although there was law from other jurisdictions on both sides of the issue, this court had not previously determined whether the burden of proof on causation should fall on the insurer or the insured. Considerations of basic fairness, in my view, dictate that, rather than affirming the judgment in favor of the insurer, the judgment should be vacated and the cause remanded to the trial court for a new trial in accordance with the legal standards of causation set forth in the majority opinion.