Daus v. Marble

In Daus v. Marble, 270 N.J.Super. 241, 251, 636 A.2d 1091 (App.Div.1994), the Court addressed whether a forklift vehicle was a "motorized land conveyance" within the meaning of plaintiff's insurance policy. Daus relied upon Websters's New Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary for the definition of a forklift. The Court found a forklift to be an example of a motorized land conveyance based upon the "commonly accepted definitions of forklift." 270 N.J.Super. at 251, 636 A.2d 1091. The use of reference books is an accepted method of ascertaining the "ordinary" meaning of terms. The Court found "no difficulty in concluding that the average policy holder should expect that a motorized vehicle designed to transport cargo driven by a human operator would be considered a motorized land conveyance." Ibid. The term "motorized land vehicle" has been held to be synonymous with automobiles, ATVs, and other types of recreational motor vehicles.