Just when you think you’ve seen and heard it all…

A Missouri woman had unprotected sexual relations in a car, and from that intercourse she was infected with a sexually transmitted disease: human papillomavirus (HPV). She sued the car insurance company for the “injuries” incurred in the vehicle. GEICO denied her claim so she took it to court. In the Western District of Missouri’s Court of Appeals, the ruling went against the insurance company and affirmed that GEICO did owe the “victim” $5.2 million in damages.

GEICO is appealing the case, and it will be settled in federal court later this week, but its position is perfectly reasonable. The company says, “The vehicle’s covered use did not cause [the victim’s] alleged injuries; instead, her injuries arose from an intervening cause — namely, her failure to prevent transmission of STDs by having unprotected sex.”

The appeals court ruling seems pretty astonishing. How could a car insurance company possibly be liable for the actions of two individuals using the car in such a manner? The car was merely the housing of the act, not the perpetrator. A person might as well sue a home insurer because he or she caught an STD inside the residence.

This is the society and world in which we live. People aren’t culpable; the tools are. And anyone who makes or insures that tool is also liable. It’s the ultimate denial of moral responsibility and a gross miscarriage of justice. But it’s something that news watchers are seeing again and again with other issues.

Take, for example, guns. There has been a spate of lawsuits against gun manufacturers after the most recent high-profile shooting atrocities perpetrated in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. Grieving people are seeking recompense for precious lives lost and are possibly being manipulated by leftist activists and politicians who have always been angling to take away guns.

Another example of the blame-shifting from a person to an object is the Waukesha killer’s defense. It was the car’s fault, not the man who ran over those people celebrating at a Christmas parade. At least that’s what the leftist media coverage implied.

One can understand the need for retribution for the deaths of those teachers and precious children in Texas, or those men and women simply grocery shopping in New York. One could even rationalize the motherly affection in the Waukesha killer’s case. Those left behind in the wake of the violence need something to blame. But this lessening of the culpability of individuals for crimes committed will never solve the problem or deter criminals from acting that way in the future.

An insurance company being found liable for an STD incurred in consensual automobile lovemaking is petty, frivolous, and sets a dangerous precedent. We will hopefully have an update on this case later this week with common sense being restored.