Electric Scooter Injuries Recoverable Under Uninsured Motorist Insurance Coverage

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion finding a pedestrian’s injuries suffered in an electric scooter crash were recoverable under the pedestrian’s uninsured motorist insurance coverage. In State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. DiPego, Michelle DiPego (Michelle), who resides in Muncie, Indiana, suffered injuries while travelling in Baltimore, Maryland when a scooter rider negligently crashed into her and then fled the scene. Michelle had uninsured motorist insurance coverage with State Farm and submitted a claim, which State Farm denied, arguing the scooter was not a “land motor vehicle” under Michelle’s insurance policy with State Farm. Michelle sued State Farm seeking, among other things, a declaration that State Farm owed Michelle coverage under her uninsured coverage. The trial court found in favor of Michelle, and State Farm appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Under Indiana law, insurance companies must offer uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) insurance coverages to policy holders to provide a minimum level of compensation if they suffer injuries by someone with no insurance (uninsured motorists) or inadequate insurance coverage (underinsured motorists). Ind. Code § 27-7-5-2; Kearschner v. Am. Fam. Mut. Ins. Co., S.I., 192 N.E.3d 946, 954 (Ind. Ct. App. 2022).  The purpose of UM and UIM coverage is to promote the recovery of damages by innocent victims of auto accidents when the at-fault party either has no insurance coverage or limited insurance coverage. See 192 N.E.3d at 954. 

Under Michelle’s State Farm insurance policy, State Farm promised that it would “pay compensatory damages… for bodily injury… an insured is legally entitled to recover from the owner or driver of an uninsured motor vehicle,” provided that “the bodily injury… [was]… sustained by an insured… and… caused by an accident that involves the operation, maintenance, or use of an uninsured motor vehicle as a motor vehicle.” In Michelle’s insurance policy with State Farm, an uninsured motor vehicle was defined as “a land motor vehicle” the “ownership, maintenance, and use of which is… not insured… for liability at the time of the accident,” or which, with respect to bodily injury damages, “the owner and driver of which remain unknown and which causes bodily injury to the insured.”

On appeal, the Indiana Court of Appeals noted that insurance contracts are interpreted the same as any other contract, with courts giving contractual terms their plain and ordinary meaning. While “land motor vehicle” was not defined in the State Farm insurance policy, the parties agreed, as did the Court, that “land motor vehicle” unambiguously means a “motor vehicle” designed to operate on “land.” And there was no apparent dispute that “land” means “the solid part of the surface of the earth,” as defined by Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. However, the parties disputed the meaning of “motor vehicle” and whether “motor vehicle” includes electric scooters. 

State Farm argued for the definition of “motor vehicle” under Indiana’s Motor Vehicle Code, which excludes electric foot scooters. Under the Code, “motor vehicle” means “a vehicle that is self-propelled” and does not include “a farm tractor, an implement of agriculture designed to be operated primarily in a farm field or on farm premises, an electric bicycle, an electric foot scooter, or an electric personal assistive mobility device.” Ind. Code § 9-13-2-105(a). However, the Court of Appeals referenced Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, which defines “motor vehicle” as “an automotive [or self-propelled] vehicle not operated on rails,” the American Heritage Online Dictionary, which defines “motor vehicle” as “[a] self-propelled conveyance with wheels and a motor, such as a car or truck, for use on roads,” and Black’s Law Dictionary, which defines “motor vehicle” as “[a] wheeled conveyance that does not run on rails and is self-propelled, [especially] one powered by an internal-combustion engine, a battery or fuel-cell, or a combination of these.” 

The Court, noting that courts are to interpret insurance policies “from the perspective of an ordinary policyholder of average intelligence,” concluded the general dictionary definitions controlled and the scooter was a “land motor vehicle” under the term’s plain and ordinary meaning. While State Farm also argued that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the scooter was “uninsured,” the Court of Appeals found State Farm waived that issue because it did not raise it in the trial court. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals affirmed the entry of partial summary judgment in Michelle’s favor, entitling her to uninsured coverage from State Farm for the injuries she suffered in the electric scooter crash. 

You can read the full opinion here.