RICHARD D. CESARINI, AND SCHOOL BOARD OF PINELLAS COUNTY, APPELLANTS,
v.
AMERICAN DRUGGIST INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE
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Court affirmed summary judgment that general liability insurance did not cover injuries from a school bus accident, holding that the policy exclusion for bodily injury arising from vehicle use or maintenance clearly applied regardless of the school board's separate negligence in hiring and supervision.
A general liability insurance policy exclusion for bodily injury arising from the use or maintenance of a vehicle applies to injuries caused by a vehicle accident, even when the insured's negligent hiring and supervision contributed to the accident.
[1] A general liability insurance policy exclusion for bodily injury arising from the use or maintenance of a vehicle applies based on the use to which the vehicle was being…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA school bus driven by a school board mechanic struck a pedestrian while en route to the maintenance garage. The school board was insured under a gene…
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PER CURIAM.
We affirm the final summary judgment which determined that there was no general liability insurance coverage for a personal injury from an accident caused by a school bus which struck plaintiff while driven by a school board mechanic en route to the maintenance garage. The parties agree that the policy excluded from coverage “bodily injury ... arising out of the ... maintenance, operation, [or] use” of the bus.
Appellant, plaintiff below, argues that there was a showing that the Board negligently hired and supervised the driver who was unfit to drive and that the Board’s negligence in that respect was the independent, originating act in a chain of events culminating in the driver’s negligence in striking plaintiff. Appellant argues that the exclusion is ambiguous because it does not address this type of circumstance in which joint acts of negligence (those of the Board and the driver) combined to cause injury. We disagree. The terms of the exclusion, in our view and that of the trial court, clearly applied to injury arising from the use or maintenance of the vehicle. The use to which the vehicle was being put at the time of the injury governs the applicability of the exclusion. See Gargano v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 384 So. 2d 220 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Atkins v. Belle-fonte Insurance Co., 342 So. 2d 837 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977).
Affirmed.
RYDER, C.J., LEHAN, J., and BOARD-MAN, EDWARD F., (Ret.) J., concur.
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Westmoreland v. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co., 704 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)…se as held by the trial court. Certainly our opinion in Dalrymple v. Ihnen Pool Service & Supply, Inc., 498 So. 2d 646 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), does not even mention such a rule. Our opinion merely explained: “In Cesarini v. American Druggist Ins. Co., 463 So. 2d 451 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), the court upheld summary judgment in favor of an insurance company on a cause of action for negligent hiring and supervision of an employee who, while driving a vehicle owned by the insured, was involved in an accident resulting…
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Am. Sur. & Cas. Co. v. Lake Jackson Pizza, Inc., 788 So. 2d 1096 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)…hicle in the act which caused the injury, and all injuries arising out of such use are expressly excluded by the policy terms.” A result contrary to that of Smith and Westmoreland was also reached in Cesarini v. American Druggist Insurance Company, 463 So. 2d 451 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), in which the plaintiff was struck by a school bus driven by a school board mechanic en route to the maintenance garage. The insurance policy at issue excluded from coverage bodily injury arising out of the maintenance, operation…
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Muzzio v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 799 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)…Muzzios alone have appealed that ruling. This court has been hesitant to require coverage from both an automobile liability insurance policy and a general liability insurance policy for this type of accident. See Cesarini v. Am. Druggist Ins. Co., 463 So. 2d 451 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). Florida law has generally recognized that duplicate coverage for an automobile accident injury covered by an automobile policy is not ordinarily available simply by alleging the separate tort of negligent hiring, supervision, and…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Atkins v. Bellefonte Ins. Co., 342 So. 2d 837 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
- Gargano v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 384 So. 2d 220 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)