Reed

In this case we hold that injuries suffered by an intoxicated woman who was struck by a car as she walked home from a bar did not arise out of her husband’s use of his insured vehicle within the meaning of his automobile liability insurance policy, even though he took the keys to that vehicle from her and left her at the bar without transportation. We hold that the independent acts of the woman herself and the driver who struck her broke any causal connection between the husband’s use of his vehicle and her injuries.

Facts and Procedural History

The facts are undisputed. In August 1983, appellants Leonard Reed and Beverly Reed were husband and wife and lived in Clayton. Mrs. Reed, who was an episodic alcoholic, had not had a driver’s license since 1980. Upon arriving home on the day in question, Mr. Reed learned that his wife had driven one of their vehicles to a local restaurant and bar, the Pioneer Inn. He went to the restaurant and found his wife there, intoxicated and upset. Because he was angry and upset himself and did not want her to drive, he took the car keys from her and left. Later that evening, as Mrs. Reed was walking along Clayton Road, she was hit by a…