Wilson v. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District

161 P.3d 933, 343 Or. 1, 2007 Ore. LEXIS 549
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJune 7, 2007
Docket0301-00495; CA A125823; SC S52741
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 161 P.3d 933 (Wilson v. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District, 161 P.3d 933, 343 Or. 1, 2007 Ore. LEXIS 549 (Or. 2007).

Opinion

DURHAM, J.

This is an action for damages due to personal injury. Plaintiff was a passenger on a bus operated by defendant Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District (TriMet). Plaintiff claims that he suffered injuries when a “phantom vehicle” (a legal term that we discuss below) caused the bus in which he was riding to brake sharply, resulting in his injury. The trial court granted summary judgment for TriMet, and the Court of Appeals affirmed without opinion. Wilson v. Tri-County Metro. Trans. Dist., 200 Or App 291, 114 P3d 1157 (2005). On review, we conclude that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment. Thus, we reverse the lower court decisions and remand to the circuit court for further proceedings.

TriMet contends that the trial court properly granted summary judgment because plaintiff failed to report the accident to the police within 72 hours. The police reporting requirement appears in ORS 742.504(2)(g)(C), which is a part of a model uninsured motorist coverage statute. As a self-insurer, TriMet adopted an ordinance that provided uninsured motorist coverage, but it did so by referring to the uninsured motorist coverage statutes by legal citations rather than through express terms that would notify a reader of the conditions and limits of coverage. Plaintiff contends that the 72-hour police reporting requirement that appears in the statutory scheme is not enforceable against him because TriMet’s ordinance contains no wording describing that requirement. Moreover, plaintiff argues, TriMet’s ordinance contains a notification of claim procedure, but that procedure does not disclose any police reporting requirement. The issue before the court is whether the statutory police reporting requirement is enforceable against plaintiff despite the nondisclosure of that requirement in TriMet’s ordinance.

Before addressing the facts, we summarize the relevant statutes and TriMet ordinance provisions that govern plaintiffs claim. TriMet is a municipal corporation created under ORS 267.010 to 267.390 to provide mass transportation services to the public, in part through the operation of buses. Oregon’s Financial Responsibility Law, ORS 806.010 to 806.300, requires all owners or operators of motor vehicles, [4]*4including TriMet, to meet statutory financial responsibility requirements for motor vehicle accidents either by obtaining a liability insurance policy or by “[b]ecoming self-insured as provided under ORS 806.130.” ORS 806.060. In Haynes v. Tri-County Metro., 337 Or 659, 661-62, 103 P3d 101 (2004), this court summarized the manner in which TriMet has chosen to satisfy the Financial Responsibility Law by becoming self-insured for liability to passengers injured while traveling on TriMet’s buses, including injuries caused by an uninsured motorist:

“The Financial Responsibility Law requires the owner of any motor vehicle to be able to ‘respond in damages’ for liability from accidents arising out of the operation of that motor vehicle. ORS 806.060(1). As an alternative to purchasing insurance to cover such liability, an owner may ‘self-insure’ by meeting certain statutory criteria and obtaining a certificate of self-insurance from the Oregon Department of Transportation. See ORS 806.130 - 806.140 (describing requirements to obtain self-insurance and certificates of self-insurance). To qualify as a self-insurer under ORS 806.150, the owner must ‘agree to pay the same amounts with respect to an accident occurring while the certificate is in force that an insurer would be obligated to pay under a motor vehicle liability policy, including uninsured motorist coverage * * *.’ ORS 806.130(3) (emphasis added).
“TriMet chose to self-insure and, as described in greater detail below, adopted an ordinance in which it agreed to compensate its passengers for injuries caused by uninsured motorists in accordance with the provisions of ORS 742.500 to 742.510. The TriMet ordinance also established a claims procedure for TriMet passengers injured on TriMet vehicles.”

ORS 278.215(2) requires defendant, as a self-insurer, to provide the same uninsured motorist coverage that the law requires of every motor vehicle liability insurance policy. That statute provides:

“Any local public body * * * which establishes a self-insurance program under ORS 30.282 for or on account of the operation of motor vehicles within the local public body’s control, shall provide the uninsured motorist coverage required under ORS 742.500 to 742.504 * *

[5]*5ORS 806.130(3) provides that a self-insurer must “[a]gree to pay the same amounts * * * that an insurer would be obligated to pay under a motor vehicle liability insurance policy, including uninsured motorist coverage * *

The TriMet ordinance mentioned in Haynes is the means by which TriMet sought to fulfill its statutory obligation under ORS 278.215(2), ORS 806.130(3), and ORS 742.504 to provide uninsured motorist coverage to its passengers. Because the uninsured motorist coverage statute, ORS 742.504, and TriMet’s ordinance form the foundation for our disposition of this case, we set them out in detail.

ORS 742.504 “set[s] out a comprehensive model UM/UIM [uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist] policy * * Vega v. Farmers Ins. Co., 323 Or 291, 302, 918 P2d 95 (1996). ORS 742.504 provides, in part:

“Every policy required to provide the coverage specified in ORS

Related

Wilson v. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District
228 P.3d 1225 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2010)
Wilson v. TRI-COUNTY METRO. TRANSP. DIST.
161 P.3d 933 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
161 P.3d 933, 343 Or. 1, 2007 Ore. LEXIS 549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-tri-county-metropolitan-transportation-district-or-2007.