Supreme Court Building
The Iowa Supreme Court rules on the definition of an accident in a central Iowa insurance case.
An SUV traveling on Highway 5 near Hartford on April 29th of 2011 crossed highway and struck the trailer of a semi just before 5 A.M. Seconds after the collision, a motorcyclist ran into the damaged SUV. The driver of the SUV, John Crivaro, died in the accident.
Truck driver Marlin Just, and motorcyclist, Travis Hughes, both sued Crivaro’s insurance company for damages. The Farmers Insurance Company said Crivaro’s policy has damage cap of $500,000 for each accident. Hughes and Just sued saying there were two separate accidents.
The Supreme Court ruling says — while there were multiple vehicles involved — there was a minimal time between when the SUV struck the semi and the motorcyle struck the SUV, and it upheld the district court ruling that there was only one accident.
Here’s the full ruling: Accident ruling PDF