Car Insurance

Don Swedo received quite a bit of flack over his proposal to lease a former gas station at the corner of Ramon Road and Indian Canyon Drive for a motorcycle rental business. Then someone suggested that the president of Harley Davidson Motorcycle Rentals & Tours open his business at the Palm Springs International Airport, where there “was always a lot of noise.”

Last week Swedo made his case before the airport commission where he found a ready reception from its members who were, perhaps, titillated by the prospect of renting a space that had been vacant for most of nine years - a baggage claim area on the south side of the terminal.

With Swedo present, the commissioners approved leasing him space to be used as a service counter, maintenance lot, and storage for an annual rental of $25,322 or $2,110 monthly.

Swedo allayed commission concerns that swarms of snarling Harleys would inundate the airport. He indicated that usually not more than eight rental cycles would be kept on the taxiway on a regular basis. He did mention that about 15 bikers were to meet in Palm Springs last Friday to make a trek to Idyllwild.

There would be bikes to rent and bikes to sell (the price of some Harleys now runs up to $20,000.). The firm charges a $1,000 security deposit for each bike rental, and each has a $3 million liability coverage.

The city, as a part of its lease deal, could ask for 10 percent of all motorcycle rentals. The city had been in negotiation with Swedo well in advance of the April 18th meeting.

A woman who was injured when the motorcycle on which she was riding blew a rear tire is not entitled to uninsured motorist coverage, the Court of Special Appeals has affirmed.Dana Shafer provided uncontested evidence that the blowout was caused by a piece of rusted sheet metal from an unidentified vehicle, and that neither she nor the motorcycle’s owner/operator, Clarence Koontz, was negligent.However, she failed to present any facts that would allow for a reasonable conclusion that whoever or whatever caused the metal to be in the roadway did so as a result of a negligent act, Judge Arrie W.

Davis wrote for the court.In sum, [Shafer] has produced evidence to establish that the piece of metal was probably dislodged from a motor vehicle and that the rusted condition may well have caused it to dislodge, the court concluded, but there has been no showing of knowledge of the existence of the deteriorated state of the vehicle part and the attendant duty to correct it.The decision affirms a grant of summary judgment for two insurance companies. Nationwide Insurance Co. covered Shafer, while Interstate Automobile Insurance Co. covered Koontz.Shafer, who was badly injured in the September 2001 accident, sought $100,000 in uninsured motorist coverage from the insurers. She filed suit in Washington County Circuit Court when her claims were denied.To prevail, she had to show that her injuries were due to the negligence of an unknown vehicle owner or operator. The void in [Shafer’s] theory is the absence of any evidence of the negligent act or course of negligent conduct which resulted in the dislodgement of a metal piece in the roadway, Davis wrote.Shafer drew analogies to negligence cases involving business invitees, but the court found the comparison less than apt.[A]lthough the owner or operator has an obligation to inspect and maintain his/her motor vehicle, the ability to discern that a metal piece of a vehicle has rusted through to an extent that it will become dislodged is an event which cannot be as easily anticipated as the potential for injury to an invitee and, indeed, is an event which may never occur, Davis wrote. This is particularly true if the rusted part of the vehicle is not subject to detection during normal use or maintenance.For example, if the rusted section were from the vehicle’s underbody, the operator would have had no opportunity to observe the deteriorating condition, except of course, during routine maintenance or repair, and there is no evidence from which it can be determined whether and when there was such an opportunity to inspect, the court noted.UnpersuadedThe decision also declined to follow several out-of-state cases cited by Shafer. Two of those cases were unreported as well being from out of state, the court noted. Two other cases relied on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, in which an inference of negligence can be drawn from the occurrence itself. Shafer, however, expressly rejects res ipsa loquitur as a basis for recovery, Davis wrote.We hold that [Shafer] failed to present questions of material fact or facts from which reasonable inferences could be drawn that a negligent act caused the metal to be in the roadway, the court concluded.WHAT THE COURT HELDCase:Dana Shafer v. Interstate Automobile Ins. Co. et al., CSA No. 279, Sept. Term 2005. Reported. Opinion by Davis, J. Filed Dec. 23, 2005.Issue:Did the lower court err in awarding summary judgment on an uninsured motorist claim, where the insured claimed her injuries were caused by a piece of corroded sheet metal from an unidentified vehicle?Holding:No; affirmed. Evidence that corrosion may have caused the metal to come off an unidentified vehicle does not establish that the vehicle’s owner was on notice of the deterioration or had a duty to correct it.Counsel:Dennis F. O’Brien for appellant; James M. Connolly and Christine S. Britton for appellees.To prevail, she had to show that her injuries were due to the negligence of an unknown vehicle owner or operator.