State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. VanHoessen

Plaintiffs-appellants, State Farm Mutual Insurance Company and Suzanne Kellagher, State Farm’s insured, filed suit against defendant-appellee, Nowell H. VanHoessen, for damages incurred as a result of an automobile accident between Kellagher and VanHoessen. Subsequently, VanHoessen filed a counterclaim seeking to recover his own damages.

Evidence presented at a bench trial showed that on January 14, 1994, at approximately 10:00 a.m., both Kellagher and VanHoessen were traveling south on State Route 27, north of Struble Road. That stretch of State Route 27 is a divided highway with two lanes…