Barfield v. Insurance Company of North America

443 S.W.2d 482, 59 Tenn. App. 631, 1968 Tenn. App. LEXIS 370
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedDecember 6, 1968
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 443 S.W.2d 482 (Barfield v. Insurance Company of North America) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barfield v. Insurance Company of North America, 443 S.W.2d 482, 59 Tenn. App. 631, 1968 Tenn. App. LEXIS 370 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinions

PUBYEAR, J.

This case involves the right of an injured motorist to recover from his insurer under the uninsured motorists coverage provisions of a liability insurance policy.

On the 13th day of September, 1963, the complainant, I. D. Barfield, was operating an automobile traveling east on Highway 70N between Nashville and Lebanon, Tennessee, at which time the complainant was following a truck, described by complainant as a dump truck that is normally used to haul gravel.

While complainant was thus following the truck, a stone was propelled to the rear by one of the rear wheels of such truck, striking the windshield of the automobile complainant was operating, penetrating such windshield and striking complainant in the right eye, as a result of which he lost the sight of such eye.

Complainant was momentarily dazed by this injury, but he managed to steer his automobile over to the side of the highway and stop it, whereupon some person from [634]*634a nearby restaurant came to Ms aid and summoned an ambulance.

With the exception of the complainant, no person saw the truck and it was never identified by the complainant or anyone else. Neither has the driver of such truck been identified, because he did not stop at the scene of the accident.

At the time of such accident, complainant was insured under the provisions of a certain automobile liability insurance policy issued by the defendant, Insurance Company of North America, which policy contained uninsured motorists coverage providing as follows:

“To pay all sums which the insured or Ms legal representative shall be legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured automobile because of bodily injury, sickness or disease, including death resulting therefrom, hereinafter called ‘bodily injury/ sustained by the insured, caused by accident and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of such uninsured automobile; provided, for the purpose of this coverage, determination as to whether the insured or such representative is legally entitled to recover such damages, and if so the amount thereof, shall be made by agreement between the insured or such representative and the company or, if they fail to agree, by arbitration. ’ * (Page 5 Ins. policy)

Under “DEFINITIONS” the umnsured motorists provisions of the policy describe an uninsured automobile as including “a hit-and-run automobile”

Further, under the heading of “DEFINITIONS” a “hit-and-run automobile” is described as meaning “an automobile wMch causes bodily injury to an insured [635]*635arising out of physical contact of such automobile with the insured or with an automobile which the insured is occupying at the time of the accident provided:

“ (a) there cannot be ascertained the identity of either the operator or the owner of such ‘hit-and-run automobile. ’
(b) the insured or someone on his behalf shall have reported the accident within 24 hours to a police, peace or judicial officer or to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, and shall have filed with the company within 30 days thereafter a statement under oath that the insured or his legal representative has a cause or causes of action arising out of such accident for damages against, a person or persons whose identity is unascertainable, and setting forth the facts in support thereof: and
(c) at the company’s request the insured or his legal representative makes available for inspection the automobile which the insured was occupying at the time of the accident.” (Page 6 Ins. Policy)

The policy further provides that the limit of liability for injury to each person under the uninsured motorists coverage is $10,000.00.

Prom the scene of accident, the complainant was transported to a hospital in Lebanon by an ambulance driven by one Jackie Partlow. Upon arrival a,t the hospital, he was examined by a local physician.

On the day of the accident, at about 8:00 P.M. in the evening, complainant went from the hospital to the office of Doctor G-. Allen Lawrence in Nashville, Tennessee, at which time Doctor Lawrence examined and proceeded to treat the injury to his eye. Unfortunately, [636]*636however, complainant later lost the sight of his eye as result of such injury.

Complainant did not report the occurrence of this accident to any police officer, judicial or peace officer or to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, although he did report the accident to defendant by giving defendant written notice thereof about eleven days after such accident.

On February 23, 1966, complainant filed a bill in this case alleging the injury, the existence of such aforementioned insurance policy and alleging that the unidentified truck which caused the injury was not equipped with mudflaps on the rear wheels thereof as required by law. On May 5, 1966, complainant' filed an amendment to the bill alleging that said truck had a carrying capacity in excess of 3,000 pounds and was not equipped with rear mudguards, mudflaps or rear fenders as required by T.C.A. 59-928, which provides as follows:

“59-928. Mudguards on trueles. — No person shall operate upon a public highway or street any motor vehicle or combination of vehicles having a carrying capacity in excess of three thousand (3,000) pounds, which motor vehicle or combination of vehicles is not equipped with rear fenders, mudflaps or mudguards which shall be of such size as will substantially prevent the projection of rocks, dirt, water or other substances to the rear. Such fenders, flaps or guards shall be of a type approved by the commissioner of safety.
This section shall have no application to farm vehicles, or vehicles used by farmers to haul produce from farm to market, nor shall it apply to vehicles used exclusively for hauling logs.
[637]*637Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor which shall be punishable by a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than fifty dollars ($50.00).”

Complainant further alleged in such amendment to his bill that the unidentified truck was a large dump truck and was not a farm vehicle or a vehicle used by farmers to haul produce from home to market nor was it a vehicle used for hauling logs and that complainants injury resulted from negligence of the owner and/or driver of said truck violating Section 59-928 T.C.A.

To the bill, as amended, the defendant first filed a demurrer, which demurrer was overruled, and the defendant thereafter filed an answer alleging that it had no knowledge of the facts alleged in the bill, with the exception of the issuance of the insurance policy, which was admitted.

In such answer, the defendant further denied that T.’C.A. 59-928 was applicable, denied that the complainant lost the vision of his eye and denied that the complainant complied with any of the provisions of the insurance policy relative to any claim thereunder.

In said answer, the defendant also affirmatively alleged that the complainant was not entitled to recover under the insurance policy for the following reasons:

1.

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Bluebook (online)
443 S.W.2d 482, 59 Tenn. App. 631, 1968 Tenn. App. LEXIS 370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barfield-v-insurance-company-of-north-america-tennctapp-1968.