About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


69 Mo. L. Rev. 235 (2004)
Accidental Death Insurance Coverage of Drunk Drivers

handle is hein.journals/molr69 and id is 245 raw text is: Notes Accidental Death Insurance Coverage of Drunk Drivers Gaddy v. Hartford Life Insurance Co.' I. INTRODUCTION Drunk driving causes the deaths of thousands of Americans each year.2 The drunk driver is often among those killed. This raises the question of whether the beneficiaries of an insured killed as a result of his own drunk driving can claim the proceeds of an accidental death and dismemberment insurance policy. The answer to this question depends on whether the drunk driver's death is considered an accident for first-party insurance coverage purposes. State and federal courts have largely split on this question. In Gaddy v. Hartford Life Insurance Co., the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, applying Missouri law, concluded that such a death is not an accident.' I. FACTS AND HOLDING Charles Gaddy was killed in an automobile accident on June 27, 1998.4 He was returning home from a grocery store when he lost control of his vehicle and drove off the road, overcorrected, and collided with an oncoming car.5 Both Gaddy and the other driver died at the scene.6 The Missouri State Highway Patrol tested blood drawn from Gaddy and determined that he was intoxicated at the time of the accident.7 His blood alcohol content measured 0.21 percent, 1. 218 F. Supp. 2d 1123 (E.D. Mo. 2002). 2. See NAT'L CENTER FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, NAT'L HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMIN., TRAFFIC SAFETY FACTS 2002: ALCOHOL, at iii (2002), available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSFAnn/TSF2002Final.pdf. A study found that in 2002, 17,419 people were killed in automobile crashes involving alcohol. This represented forty-one percent of those killed in all automobile crashes that year. Id. 3. Gaddy, 218 F. Supp. 2d at 1128. 4. Id. at 1125. 5. Id. 6. Id. 7. Id. at 1126.