If You Are The Driver Of A Car And Hit A Box Or An Object In The Road, The Third Circuit Court Of Appeals Opines That You Are Entitled To Uninsured Motorist Benefits
The U.S. Court of Appeals Third Circuit recently ruled that a car accident caused by a box on the road which may have fallen off of a “ghost vehicle” is enough to invoke an insurance policy’s uninsured motorist coverage. The case involved a situation where a driver of a car hit a box which was sitting in the middle of a road. It was assumed that the box in the middle of the road could have only landed there by falling off a car. The uninsured motorist policy required that injuries from hitting a box “arose out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an uninsured auto”. This decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision from the Western District of Pennsylvania and Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company vs. Squires. Physical contact with an uninsured vehicle is not required for an accident to arise out of the use of an uninsured vehicle. The Court noted that Pennsylvania’s Motor Vehicle and Financial responsibility Law should be liberally construed to provide the greatest possible coverage to injured claimants and close cases should go in favor of the claimant.
