Insurance – Underinsured motorist benefits – Taxi

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Where underinsured benefits were sought by a plaintiff whose wife was found deceased as a result of acute intoxication after being driven home by a taxi service, a grant of summary judgment in the defendant insurer’s favor should be affirmed because it was not erroneous for the lower court to find the facts to be insufficient to reach the legal conclusion that the decedent’s death arose out of her use or operation of the taxi.

“Where the trial court entered summary judgment for the defendant-insurer in a declaratory judgment action regarding underinsured coverage to the plaintiff under the plaintiff’s automobile insurance policy, we hold that the grant of summary judgment was proper and affirm the court’s ruling.

“This case arises out of sad circumstances. On December 8, 2015, plaintiff’s decedent (his wife) became intoxicated at a restaurant. The restaurant’s employees called a taxi service to drive her home. The passenger fell asleep or passed out in the taxi during the ride. The taxi driver awakened the woman and assisted her into her home, where the woman declined any further assistance, medical or otherwise. The taxi driver left at the woman’s emphatic direction. Later, the woman was found deceased as a result of acute intoxication from alcohol and Diphenhydramine, an antihistamine that can cause drowsiness. …

“The motion judge ruled as follows: “An injury arises out of the use of a vehicle within the provisions of an automobile insurance policy when a causal connection is reasonably apparent between the use to which the vehicle is being put and the resulting injury. Ruggerio Ambulance Serv., Inc. v. Nat’l Grange Ins. Co., 430 Mass. 794, 797 (2000). There must be a causal connection between a motor vehicle’s use and an injury to be deemed to have arisen out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of the motor vehicle. … Here, the connection between Ms. Martin’s death and her use or operation of the taxi is too distant to be considered causally connected. Ms. Martin died from the combination of alcohol and Diphenhydramine which she consumed before entering the taxi. Therefore, the events that caused Ms. Martin’s death occurred before she entered the taxi. Furthermore, Ms. Martin died in her own home after her trip in the taxi and after she asked the driver of the taxi to leave. These facts are not sufficient to reach the legal conclusion that Ms. Martin’s death arose out of her use or operation of the taxi.” …

“… In Ruggerio, the Court held that the vehicle insurer of an ambulance that crashed on the way to a call and was thereby delayed from responding to a patient who died was not required to indemnify its policy holder for a tort claim regarding the death, as the death was too attenuated for coverage under the policy.

“In this case, the motion judge’s ruling that the causal relationship or nexus between the use to which the insured’s vehicle (the taxi) was being put and the death of the plaintiff’s decedent was too remote was not erroneous. We therefore affirm the summary judgment.”

Martin v. MAPFRE U.S.A. Corporation (Lawyers Weekly No. 13-041-25) (5 pages) (Finnerty, P.J.) (Southern District) Judgment entered by McCallum, J., in in Dedham District Court. J. Michael Conley and John T. Ford for the plaintiff; Kenneth M. Rosenberg and Amanda J. Cox for the defendant (App. Div. No. 24-ADCV-114SO) (Aug. 29, 2025).

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