For good or ill, ReliaStar itself has defined an "accident" differently. Under its policy in this case, an accident is "an unexpected and sudden event which the insured does not foresee." Surely it is beyond question that the fatal accident that night in West Virginia was sudden, unexpected and unforeseen.
That was not enough for the 4th Circuit. The test, said Judge Wilkinson, citing a case in his circuit eight years ago, is tougher. It is "whether a reasonable person, with background and characteristics similar to the insured, would have viewed the injury as highly likely to occur as a result of the insured's intentional conduct." Opinions in federal courts in Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Alabama, Michigan, Florida and Tennessee are to the same effect: "All drivers know, or should know, the dire consequences of drunk driving." A death under these circumstances "is not an 'accident' because that result is reasonably foreseeable." It follows inexorably that the $86,000 death benefit will not be paid.
Wilkinson expressed sympathy for the widow: "We in no sense intend to make light of the loss that she has suffered." The court was simply confirming as a matter of law that the insurance company's ruling was a reasonable one under the policy.
"The undisputed facts," said the court, "go a long way toward establishing that Eckelberry's death was not 'accidental.' The insured's conduct went beyond the careless and imprudent. Under the circumstances here, we think it was reasonable for ReliaStar to conclude that because the insured 'put himself in a position in which he should have known that serious injury or death could occur,' his death was not 'unexpected.'"
Judge Wilkinson's opinion in the 4th Circuit runs in opposition to an opinion just two years ago in the 8th Circuit in King v. Hartford Life and Accident Insurance. The 9th Circuit also has indicated that "accidental" deaths may be covered under ERISA. It's an issue that merits Supreme Court review.