This case addresses the scope of insurance coverage under Delaware’s personal injury protection (PIP) statute.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Matthew Kelty Falls from a Tree While Cutting Branches
On August 3, 2008, Plaintiff-Appellant Matthew Kelty was at John and Shirley Lovegrove’s residence helping the Loveg-roves cut branches from the top of a tree. Kelty climbed into the tree, positioned himself among the branches, and used a chainsaw to cut branches off the tree. Because the tree stood near a power line, Kelty and the Lovegroves needed a way to ensure that the trimmed branches would fall away from the power line after being cut. Their solution was to tie one end of a rope to the targeted branch and the other end to the trailer hitch on John’s truck. John sat in the truck and accelerated in order to pull the rope taut, while Kelty cut the branch. When a branch fell, the rope would pull it away from the power line. Shirley, who was standing nearby, would then drag the branch away.
As one might expect, this plan went awry. Kelty claims that while he was cutting a branch, John rapidly accelerated, causing the rope to snap.
Kelty sued John, whose automobile insurer, Defendant-Appellee State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, settled the claim under the bodily injury liability coverage in the policy. Kelty also sought benefits based on John’s PIP coverage under the same policy. State Farm denied Kelty’s PIP claim.
After State Farm denied Kelty s PIP claim, Kelty sued State Farm in Superior Court. State Farm moved for summary judgment under Superior Court Civil Rule 56, arguing that Kelty was not entitled to PIP benefits under 21 Del. C. § 2118. The Superior Court judge applied the three-part test
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review a Superior Court judge’s decision to grant summary judgment de novo.
III. ANALYSIS
A. 21 Del. C. § 2118’s Structure
The proper scope of Delaware’s PIP statute is a question of statutory interpretation. When interpreting a statute, we attempt to determine and give effect to the General Assembiys intent.
The General Assembly requires owners of Delaware-registered motor vehicles to obtain certain “minimum insurance coverage” before using their vehicles. The relevant statute, 21 Del. C. § 2118, recognizes four types of insurance coverage: (1) indemnification for damages arising from legal liability, (2) no-fault “special damages” compensation for injured persons (PIP coverage), compensation for property damage, and (4) compensation for damage to the insured vehicle.
B. The Klug Test’s Development and Extension to Section 2118(a)(2)
Another statute, 18 Del. C. § 3902, requires liability insurance policies to provide uninsured and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage for injuries and property damage “resulting from the ownership, maintenance or use of [an] uninsured or hit-and-run motor vehicle.”
We extended Klug to PIP claims in Sanchez v. American Independent Insurance Co.
When interpreting the PIP statute, Section 2118(a)(2), Sanchez incorrectly cited Section 2118(a)(1), the indemnity from legal liability statute. The PIP statute does not contain the words “arising out of ownership, maintenance or use of the vehicle.”
Even though Sanchez relied on an inapplicable statutory provision applied to policy language to extend Klug to the PIP statute, we need not discard the entire Klug test. That test provides a useful framework for analyzing PIP claims to the extent that the test is consistent with Section 2118(a)(2). Therefore, we now analyze whether the Klug test is consistent with Section 2118(a)(2)’s requirement that a person be “injured in an accident involving [the insured] motor vehicle.”
The first Klug prong — “whether the vehicle was an ‘active accessory’ in causing the injury”
Klug’s second prong — “whether there was an act of independent significance that broke the causal link between use of the vehicle and the injuries inflicted”
C. Did Kelty Satisfy Klug’s First and Second Prongs?
Therefore, to determine whether Kelty’s “accident involv[ed]” John’s truck,
The test first requires us to determine “whether the vehicle was an ‘active accessory in causing the injury,” which means “something less than proximate cause in the tort sense and something more than the vehicle being the mere situs of the injury.”
King’s second prong requires us to determine “whether there was an act of independent significance that broke the causal link between use of the vehicle and the injuries inflicted.”
We rest our conclusion solely on the PIP statute’s language, not on public policy grounds. State Farm has raised compelling arguments against providing coverage in this case, but we are judges, not legislators, and cannot substitute our opinions for those of the General Assembly. Requiring that a vehicle be used for transportation purposes may be sound policy, but the General Assembly is more appropriately equipped to weigh the pros and cons of imposing such a requirement. Therefore, unless and until the General Assembly provides us with a supportive statutory
IV. CONCLUSION
For these reasons, we REVERSE the Superior Court’s grant of summary judgment and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Notes
.PIP insurance is part of Delaware’s "no-fault” insurance scheme. Gray v. Allstate Ins. Co.,
. Sanchez v. Am. Indep. Ins. Co.,
. These facts are taken from the record on appeal and from the trial judge’s Opinion, Kelty v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.,
. The parties dispute whether the truck caused the rope to snap.
. Kelty v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.,
. Sanchez,
. Kelty,
. E. Sav. Bank, FSB v. CACH, LLC,
. Id. (citing Williams,
. Sussex Cnty. Dep’t of Elections v. Sussex Cnty. Republican Comm.,
. Progressive N. Ins. Co. v. Mohr,
. Id. at 495-96.
. Id. at 496.
. 21 Del. C. § 2118(a); see also Mohr,
. 21 Del. C. § 2118(a)(1) (emphasis added).
. Id. § 2118(a)(2)(a), (c) (emphasis added).
. 18 Del. C. § 3902(a).
. Nationwide Gen. Ins. Co. v. Royal,
. Id. (citing Klug,
. Sanchez v. Am. Indep. Ins. Co.,
. Sanchez,
. Id. (emphasis added).
. See 21 Del. C. § 2118(a)(2); see also Sierra v. Allstate Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co.,
. 21 Del. C. § 2118(a)(2)(c). Sections 2118(a)(2)(d) and (e) further describe the scope of PIP coverage. See Progressive N. Ins. Co. v. Mohr,
. 21 Del. C. § 2118(f), (g).
. Id. § 2118(a)(2)(c) (emphasis added).
. Nationwide Gen. Ins. Co. v. Royal,
. Id. at 132 (quoting Klug,
. Superior Court case law interpreting Section 2118(a)(2) requires a plaintiff to show "that the injury occurred by virtue of the inherent nature of using the motor vehicle.” Gray v. Allstate Ins. Co.,
. Royal,
. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Buckingham,
. Doroshow, Pasquale, Krawitz & Bhaya v. Nanticoke Mem. Hosp., Inc.,
. Royal,
. 21 Del. C. § 2118(a)(2)(c).
. While stare decisis would ordinarily compel our adherence to a settled legal question, the Klug test's transportation prong lacks a statutory basis. That constitutes a “clear manifestation of error,” which compels us to readdress the question. See White v. Liberty Ins. Corp.,
. Our modification of the Klug test is limited to the PIP statute and we do not address those cases applying the three-prong Klug test to other statutes. See, e.g., Royal,
. Although the State Farm policy provided coverage for "bodily injury to an insured caused by accident resulting from the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle,” the policy cannot provide less coverage than the statute requires. See Progressive N. Ins. Co. v. Mohr,
. Royal,
. Sanchez v. Am. Indep. Ins. Co.,
. Campbell v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.,
. Id.
. Id.
. Id.
. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Buckingham,
. We recognize that the parties dispute the rope's condition and whether the rope would have snapped regardless of the truck’s acceleration. However, this factual dispute cannot be resolved at the summary judgment stage. See Merrill v. Crothall-Am., Inc.,
. Nationwide Gen. Ins. Co. v. Royal,
. Buckingham,
. Id. at 1114-15 (citations omitted).
. Because we reverse the trial judge’s grant of summary judgment, we do not reach Kelty’s alternative contention that State Farm’s automobile liability insurance policy settlement precluded it from denying PIP benefits stemming from the same accident.
