Takata v. STATE FARM MUT. AUTO. INS. CO.

176 P.3d 415, 217 Or. App. 454
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJanuary 23, 2008
Docket050808108 A133661
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 176 P.3d 415 (Takata v. STATE FARM MUT. AUTO. INS. CO.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Takata v. STATE FARM MUT. AUTO. INS. CO., 176 P.3d 415, 217 Or. App. 454 (Or. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

176 P.3d 415 (2008)
217 Or. App. 454

Lynn TAKATA, Plaintiff—Respondent,
v.
STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign company, Defendant—Appellant.

No. 050808108; A133661.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted August 17, 2007.
Decided January 23, 2008.

R. Daniel Lindahl, Portland, argued the cause for appellant. With him on the briefs were John R. Bachofner and Bullivant Houser Bailey, PC.

Karl G. Anuta, Portland, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was David S. Foster.

Before HASELTON, Presiding Judge, and ARMSTRONG and ROSENBLUM, Judges.

HASELTON, P.J.

Defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, appeals from a judgment, following the allowance of summary judgment, in an insurance coverage dispute. The trial court determined that defendant was liable, under an auto insurance policy, for medical expenses and lost earnings that plaintiff incurred as a result of being struck by a bicycle as she crossed a road from her car to her residence. Defendant contends that, in allowing plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and denying its cross-motion, the trial court erroneously determined that plaintiffs injuries "result[ed] * * * from the use" of her vehicle, ORS 742.520(2)(a). The parties also dispute whether plaintiff was alternatively entitled to coverage because her injuries resulted from her "occupancy" of the vehicle. Id. Applying the analyses prescribed in Carrigan v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 326 Or. 97, 949 *416 P.2d 705 (1997), and Marcilionis v. Farmers Ins. Co., 318 Or. 640, 871 P.2d 470 (1994), we reverse.

The material facts are undisputed—and, indeed, stipulated; On May 5, 2005, the date of the accident, plaintiff was a named insured under a motor vehicle policy issued by defendant. The insurance policy contained terms and conditions for personal injury protection ("PIP") coverage that were no less favorable than, and consistent with, those provided in ORS 742.520.[1] As is relevant in this case, ORS 742.520(2) provides, in part:

"Personal injury protection benefits apply to a person's injury * * * resulting:
"(a) * * * from the use, occupancy or maintenance of any motor vehicle[.]"

On the evening of May 5, plaintiff had just arrived home from work and parked her car on the side of a two-lane road, Broadway Street, across the street from her house. After shutting off the car and setting the parking brake, plaintiff removed a load of work-related items from the back seat— while leaving other work-related items and her purse or tote bag in the car—and locked the car. Plaintiff then crossed the street, descended a set of stairs to her home, and opened the front door. Putting down the load she had taken from the car, plaintiff put her dog on its leash and took it with her back up the stairs and then across the street to her car.

Plaintiff unlocked the doors and moved some of her personal items from the front seat to the hatchback of the car. Plaintiff "assessed" other items she would need to unload, intending to come back later, but she did not take anything from the car, or put anything into the car, at that time. Plaintiff then closed and locked the car again. She turned and began to cross the street back to her house. When plaintiff was approximately three-quarters of the way across the two-lane road, she was struck by a cyclist riding down the hill. As a result of the collision, plaintiff was injured.

After the accident, plaintiff sought to recover her medical expenses and lost income, and filed a claim for PIP benefits under her automobile insurance policy with defendant. Defendant denied the claim on the basis that the accident was not the result of plaintiffs "use" or "occupancy" of her car and, thus, fell outside of the coverage prescribed in ORS 742.520(2).

Plaintiff then brought this action, seeking a judgment obligating defendant to pay the claim pursuant to the PIP coverage provided by statute. The parties stipulated to the facts in the case, agreeing that insurance coverage hinged on whether plaintiff's injuries resulted from her "use" or "occupancy" of the car, for purposes of ORS 742.520(2). Both sides moved for summary judgment. The trial court concluded that plaintiffs injuries had resulted from her use of the car:

"Th[e] facts show that the injury resulted from the use of the vehicle; plaintiff's injury was a consequence resulting from plaintiffs use of the vehicle to transport and store items. It is immaterial that plaintiff had let the dog relieve itself on the way back to the car, or that she had the dog with her at the car, or that she might have continued to take the dog on a walk. It is also immaterial that plaintiff placed no items in the car or removed any items from the car upon her return, or whether she intended to return to the car again; her moving of the bag from the front seat to the hatchback was sufficient to constitute use of the vehicle, especially considering the preceding unloading of certain items from the vehicle."

Consequently, the court granted summary judgment for plaintiff, and denied defendant's cross-motion, without deciding whether plaintiff's injury alternatively resulted from her "occupancy" of the vehicle.

On appeal, the issue is whether plaintiff was injured as a result of either her "use" or her "occupancy" of her car. As this is a case that hinges on the meaning of ORS *417 742.520(2), we begin our analysis with the text and context of the statutory language. PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or. 606, 859 P.2d 1143 (1993). We begin, as do the parties, with the question of "use."

ORS 742.520(2) provides PIP coverage for injuries "resulting * * * from the use * * * of any motor vehicle." Although the statute does not define "resulting" or "use," the Supreme Court has analyzed and construed that statutory text in Carrigan, 326 Or. 97, 949 P.2d 705. That construction represents an "authoritative interpretation of the statute," which controls our analysis. Mastriano v. Board of Parole, 342 Or. 684, 693, 159 P.3d 1151 (2007).

In Carrigan, the insured car owner sought to recover PIP benefits for injuries he suffered as a result of a carjacking. 326 Or. at 99-100, 949 P.2d 705.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
176 P.3d 415, 217 Or. App. 454, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/takata-v-state-farm-mut-auto-ins-co-orctapp-2008.