This case involved an uninsured motorist claim stemming from a rollover incident that occurred on August 29, 2004. The incident occurred as one of the claimants was driving her parent’s Chevy Blazer with two passengers from her home in Roseville to Waterworld on the Cal Expo grounds. The claimant was traveling southbound on Business 80 in the slow lane when she passed the Marconi on-ramp at about 55-60mph. At that time, one of the passengers noticed a white van coming onto the freeway at the Marconi on-ramp. The claimant driver looked to her right and swerved left to avoid the impact. The vehicle rolled over several times and came to rest in the #3 lane.
The claimant driver stated that she did not know whether her vehicle came in contact with the adverse vehicle. One passenger testified that she saw the vehicles come into contact and felt an abrupt change in the direction of the vehicle she was in as a result of that contact. Another passenger claimed that she heard contact between the two vehicles.
The California Highway Patrol investigated the incident and noted that there was no paint transfer on the claimant’s vehicle. Also, an independent witness saw the incident and testified that the vehicles came very close to each other but no contact was made.
As a result of the incident the claimants sustained over $35,000.00 in medical expenses. They did not assert a wage loss.
The offer before the arbitration hearing was $0. The demand was for the policy limits of $50,000.00. The arbitrator found that there was no contact between the vehicles and therefore denied the claim.