Superior Court of Connecticut Denied Motion to Strike Where Decedent’s Estate Sought Uninsured Motorist Benefits

This matter involved an accident where the decedent was struck after attempting to render aid to motorists involved in a multi-car collision. 

An unknown operator struck a median and several vehicles ahead of the plaintiff and the decedent. The decedent instructed the plaintiff to pull over to the side of the road. The decedent and the plaintiff were husband and wife. When the decedent attempted to cross the highway, he was struck by another vehicle and suffered fatal injuries. 

Liberty Mutual argued the conduct of the unknown operator who caused the initial accident the plaintiff and the decedent stopped for was too attenuated. Therefore, a jury would be forced to speculate and employ conjecture to find a proximate cause between the first accident that caused the decedent to exit his vehicle and the second accident that resulted in his death. 

The court distinguished precedent relied upon by Liberty Mutual, finding the plaintiff had sufficiently plead that the decedent would not have exited his vehicle but for the first accident, and, therefore, a jury would not have to speculate to find proximate cause between the two events. 

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