 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Hisaw v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.6/19/2003
Appellants Glenn and Elizabeth Hisaw, husband and wife, appeal a grant of summary judgment in favor of the appellee, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm). The crux of their argument is that injuries that Mr. Hisaw suffered in the course of his duties as a volunteer firefighter are covered under the underinsured motorist provisions in either his personal automobile insurance policies or those of the Inspiration Point Volunteer Fire Department. State Farm responds that Mr. Hisaw is not covered under his own personal insurance policies, because the accident did not arise out of the operation, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle. State Farm further maintains that Mr. Hisaw is not covered under the Fire Department's policies, because Mr. Hisaw was not on the list of insured drivers on the declarations pages of the policies.
On July 2, 1996, Clarence and Margarete Stuthers were driving their Ford F150 van in Carroll County down Highway 62 between Rogers and Eureka Springs. Mr. Stuthers had had too much to drink, and a breath test would later reveal a blood-alcohol level of .213%, which was over twice the legal limit. As a result, he lost control of his van and went off the road. The van eventually came to rest off the road on a steep, rocky slope among a stand of trees. The nose of the van was facing downhill at an angle.
Appellant Glenn Hisaw, who was at the time the Fire Chief of the Inspiration Point Volunteer Fire Department, was on his way to the Fire Department when he received a radio call about the accident. He drove to the scene in his own pickup truck and arrived to find the wrecked van and a nurse who had happened on the scene. Mr. Hisaw and the nurse administered first aid to Mr. and Mrs. Stuthers and then waited for emergency personnel. A filed police report puts the time of the Stuthers accident at 5:30 p.m. However, Mr. Hisaw testified in his deposition that he thought it was "2:00 or 3:00, something like that."
A paramedic team arrived, and Mr. Hisaw was present when the team removed Mr. and Mrs. Stuthers from the van. The paramedics strapped Mr. and Mrs. Stuthers to portable stretchers for their removal. Because the front driver's door was wedged shut by trees, the paramedics had to remove Mr. Stuthers through the back middle door located on the passenger side of the van.
Mr. Hisaw escorted the Stutherses to the waiting paramedic vehicle. At some point, a wrecker, additional personnel from the Fire Department, and State Trooper Tim Taylor arrived on the scene. The consensus of the group was that the van could not be moved immediately because its gasoline tank had ruptured, and it was feared that a spark from moving the van might cause a fire. In the meantime, Mr. Hisaw and Trooper Taylor conferred and determined that they would need both Mr. Stuther's driver's license number and the registration information from the van. Trooper Taylor went to collect the former from Mr. Stuther, and Mr. Hisaw went to obtain the latter from the van.
The registration information was located on the van's floor between the driver's and passenger's seat. As he was leaning in the van through the middle back door and taking down the information on a notepad, the door swung shut due to force of gravity and hit Mr. Hisaw in the back, causing injuries to his neck and spine. Mr. Hisaw finished recording the information. The Fire Department sprayed flame-retardant foam underneath the vehicle to make it safe to move, and the van was eventually removed safely from the area.
Mr. Hisaw sued Mr. Stuthers for negligence and prayed for compensatory damages in the amount of $1,000,000 and punitive damages of $1,000,000. Mrs. Hisaw also a
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Arkansas DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|