280 N.W. 653 | Minn. | 1938
In No. 31,667 plaintiff sued Giacomo, owner of the car in which she was riding, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in an automobile accident on March 18, 1934. She obtained judgment of $12,922.75. (See Lundstrom v. Giacomo,
"The Company shall not be liable and no liability or obligation of any kind shall attach to the Company for losses or damage; * * * (E) Caused while the said automobile is being driven or operated by any person whatsoever either under the influence of liquor or drugs or violating any law or ordinance as to age or driving license; * * *"
Mario Collyard was driving Giacomo's car at the time of the collision. Collyard had applied for but had not received a chauffeur's license for 1934. He had not applied for, nor received, from the commissioner of highways, the "driver's license" required of all drivers on and after March 1, 1934, by L. 1933, c. 352, § 2, 3 Mason Minn. St. 1936 Supp. § 2720-124. When plaintiff garnished appellant to enforce her judgment, appellant denied liability on the ground that Collyard was not "a licensed chauffeur as required by law, and was therefore driving in violation of the terms and conditions of the policy." Appellant set up the further defense that plaintiff was estopped from litigating that issue because of a judgment of the district court denying Giacomo recovery for the damage to his car under the collision clause of a policy which contained the same exclusion clause relative to driving license. The court below made findings of fact and conclusions of law that the exclusion clause did not relieve appellant from liability on the policy and ordered judgment for plaintiff for $10,000, the amount of coverage.
Giacomo appeals from an adverse judgment in the case in which he was plaintiff, and the insurer from an order denying its motion for new trial in the case in which it was garnishee.
1. The statement in In re Metropolitan L. Ins. Co. v. Conway,
Policies of automobile liability insurance containing exclusion clauses in precisely the same language as that involved in the instant case have been held not to cover the excluded risks. In State Farm Mut. A. Ins. Co. v. Coughran,
The policy does not cover this accident because it occurred while the automobile was operated by Collyard in violation of the law as to driving license.
2. It is claimed, however, that there is ambiguity as to the law referred to in the policy, arising from the fact that the policy was issued in May, 1932, and the statutes then in force required only the license in connection with the registration of an automobile for purposes of taxation, and a chauffeur's license, neither of which is applicable to this case, and that the driver's license law passed in April, 1933, did not become effective until March 1, 1934. It is argued that the parties had in mind the laws in force at the time the policy was issued and risks to which such laws applied, and not laws to be subsequently enacted by which other risks might be excluded from coverage. The rule is invoked that the construction should be in favor of the insured and against the insurer. This rule is a salutary one. The basis of the rule is that the language of policies is selected by the insurer and for its benefit, and if there is any ambiguity as to the meaning of the terms employed by the insurer it should be resolved against it and in favor of the insured. This is especially true as to conditions involving a forfeiture. 3 Dunnell, Minn. Dig. (2 ed.) §§ 4659, 4830. The policy in question is not ambiguous, State Farm Mut. A. Ins. Co. v. Coughran; State Farm Mut. A. Ins. Co. v. Belshe; Holland Sup. Corp. v. State Farm Mut. A. Ins. Co. supra; nor does it provide for a forfeiture, In re Metropolitan L. Ins. Co. v. Conway, supra. The exclusion comprehends violation of "any law" as to age or driving license. Referring *190
as it does, not to past or present acts, but to future acts of driving, it is prospective in operation. Although this point has not been passed on in any case called to our attention, it is stated in numerous authorities that such a clause refers to the law in force at the time of the accident, Bitzer v. Southern Surety Co.
3. Plaintiffs sought to escape the effect of the driver's license law upon the ground that the director of the driver's license bureau had suspended the enforcement of the law until after the date of the accident. The suspension was without statutory authority and of course of no legal effect. An executive or administrative officer cannot relieve parties from complying with a law or ordinance. Riser v. Smith,
4. No causal connection between the accident and the failure of the driver to have a driver's license need be shown. The exclusion is based on contract, which excludes this risk without regard to causal connection. Where, as here, the policy by its terms excludes *191
a risk from the insurance, it is not necessary, to make the exclusion effective, to show causal connection between the loss and the excluded risk. Holland Sup. Corp. v. State Farm Mut. A. Ins. Co.; State Farm Mut. A. Ins. Co. v. Belshe; and Crahan v. Automobile Underwriters, Inc. supra. In Humphrey v. Polski; Wendt v. Wallace; Berry Chevrolet Co. v. Automobile Ins. Co.; and Engebretson v. Austvold, all supra, in holding that the exclusion was operative by its own terms, no reference was made to causal connection. To hold that the exclusion is operative only in the event there is causal connection between the accident and the ground of exclusion in effect is to make the policy cover an excluded risk and then to exclude it only when the causal connection is shown. This would enlarge the policy by including a risk which the parties themselves have excluded. This is illustrated by In re Metropolitan L. Ins. Co. v. Conway,
Many cases have been cited to sustain the position of plaintiffs. Only two of them are in point, McGee v. Globe Ind. Co.
5. There is no reason for holding the exclusion to be unreasonable and void. Identical and similar exclusion clauses have been upheld in the cases which have been cited. The exclusion clause denies coverage to driving which the statutes prohibit. The policy merely adopted a distinction observed in the statutes. The legislature by statute declares the public policy of the state. Since the exclusion clause coincides with statutory prohibitions on driving, we cannot say that it is contrary to public policy or otherwise unreasonable. Messersmith v. American Fidelity Co.
It is urged that the exclusion is upon unsubstantial grounds in that a driver's license is issued as a matter of course upon application. Without intimating that the argument suggests a basis for holding the exclusion clause invalid, the grounds stated are without foundation. Under the statutes, the right to drive a motor vehicle upon public highways is dependent on having a license which the driver must have in his possession, and which is revocable upon grounds of unfitness. The statute provides that a driver's license may be canceled and thus the right to drive taken away upon conviction of the licensee of manslaughter resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle, driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs, any crime punishable as a felony under the motor vehicle law of the state, or any other felony in the commission of which a motor vehicle is used, conviction or forfeiture of bail upon three charges of reckless driving, all within the period of 12 months, and conviction of the driver of a motor vehicle involved in an accident resulting in death or injury of another person, upon a charge of failing to stop and disclose *193
his identity at the scene of the accident. 3 Mason Minn. St. 1936 Supp. §§ 2720-123 to 2720-141. A case of revocation was before us in Halverson v. Elsberg,
6. Since there is no coverage, the insurer is not liable in either action. It is liable neither as a defendant nor as garnishee. Humphrey v. Polski and Zabonick v. Ralston,supra.
Compulsory insurance to provide compensation to persons injured because of fault in the operation of motor vehicles requires legislative action. In the absence of such action, we must take insurance policies as the parties have made them. See 5 Am. Jur. pp. 796-797, §§ 519, 520.
In No. 31,518 the judgment is affirmed.
In No. 31,667 the order is reversed.