Rowe

Plaintiff appeals from judgment on the pleadings entered in favor of defendant on her complaint for declaratory relief and breach of insurance contract. The only issue on appeal is whether the trial court properly concluded that the uninsured motorist provisions of plaintiff’s policy did not afford coverage because plaintiff’s damages were not “caused by accident and [did not] arise out of the . . . use of the uninsured motor vehicle.”

Factual and Procedural Background

The complaint alleges the following: On June 28, 1986, Roger C. Rowe, plaintiff’s husband, was a customer at the Rendezvous Lounge (Lounge) in Torrance; at 1 p.m., he became ill and unable to drive; an employee of the Lounge asked two customers to take Rowe home; one customer, Gloria Hite, drove Rowe’s 1979 Cadillac, insured by defendant, with Rowe in the backseat; another customer, Theresa Deguevara, followed Hite in her own vehicle, which was uninsured; Hite and Deguevara brought Rowe to an intersection in Torrance “and negligently left him in the back of his car in a semi-conscious state, with windows closed. ... At said time and place, as a result of the aforementioned conduct, Roger C. Rowe died of…