 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Varda v. Acuity6/1/2005
discusses whether a riding mower is a motorized land conveyance for the purposes of a liability policy, Acuity points to several cases in other jurisdictions that have reached similar conclusions. We find the Iowa Supreme Court's logic particularly persuasive. Gracey v. Heritage Mut. Ins. Co., 518 N.W.2d 372, 374 (Iowa 1994). In Gracey, a young boy injured a friend while he was using his uncle's riding mower to cut his grandparents' lawn. Id. at 373. Interpreting language almost identical to that in the Acuity policy here, the court concluded that the exclusion for "motorized land conveyances" applied unambiguously to riding lawn mowers. Id. at 374. As further support for its conclusion, the court noted that if the accident had occurred at the insured location, where coverage would have been expected, an exception for vehicles used to service the insured's property would have operated to provide coverage. Id.
Like the policy in Gracey,the Quellas' Acuity policy includes an exception to the exclusion for motorized land conveyances for vehicles "not subject to motor vehicle registration ... sed to service an insured's residence." The Acuity policy would thus also have provided coverage if Quella had been mowing his own lawn when an accident happened. But there would be no need for an exception that restored coverage for riding lawn mowers that service the insured's residence unless the motorized land conveyance exclusion applied to the larger class of riding mowers.
Riding Mowers and Vehicles Designed for Recreational Use
Varda argues alternatively that, if the exclusion is unambiguous, it does not apply because of the exception for vehicles "designed for recreational use off public roads, not subject to motor vehicle registration and not owned by the insured." (Emphasis added). We agree with Varda that a riding mower is designed for use off-road and is not subject to motor vehicle registration. We do not agree that it is designed, in the ordinary meaning of the words, for "recreational use." Rather a riding mower is designed to perform the task of mowing.
According to the relevant dictionary definitions, the noun "recreate" means "to renew or enliven ... to refresh after wearying toil," and "recreation" is "a means of getting diversion or entertainment." WEBSTER'S,supra at 1899. We recognize that individuals can find pleasure in many activities, including cutting grass. But that does not mean that all activities from which we derive pleasure involve objects "designed for recreational use." To extend the meaning of this exception so far would, in the trial court's words, "defy common sense as well as ordinary understanding and usage." We thus reject Varda's argument.
The Independent Concurrent Cause Rule
Varda argues lastly that her injury was caused not by the operation of the riding mower, but by the operation of the mower's cutting deck. Therefore, she contends, the cutting deck was an independent concurrent cause of the accident. Acuity responds that the cutting deck could not have caused the injury without being a component part of the riding mower. We agree with Acuity.
When an insurance policy expressly insures against loss caused by one risk, but excludes loss caused by another risk, coverage is extended to a loss caused by the insured risk even though the excluded risk is a contributory cause. Lawver v. Boling, 71 Wis. 2d 408, 422, 238 N.W.2d 514 (1976). An independent concurrent cause must provide the basis for a claim in and of itself, and must not require the occurrence of the excluded risk to make it actionable. Smith v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 192 Wis. 2d 322, 332, 531 N.W.2d 376 (Ct. App. 1995).
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|