The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that auto insurance does not cover emotional distress to those who witness accidents.

The issue came up when the plaintiff in the Taylor v. Mucci case claimed that she suffered emotional distress from seeing the bodily injuries to her son, who was struck by a car the defendant was driving.

The defendant's auto insurance coverage included liability limits of $100,000 for each person, and $300,000 for each accident, for bodily injury, and the claims on behalf of the actual victim were settled at the maximum per-person limit of $100,000. His mother, however, claimed that her emotional distress constituted bodily injury that was separate and distinct from the injuries to her son.

The Connecticut court disagreed, with the ruling stating that, "[T]he plaintiff's claim for bystander emotional distress does not constitute a bodily injury within the meaning of the policy. ... [T]here was no 'physical or corporeal' injury."

In addition, the court noted that there was no precedent for the inclusion of emotional distress without accompanying physical harm within the scope of "bodily injury."