In Walton v. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. (88 NY2d 211 [1996]) it was undisputed that the plaintiff's injuries were caused by the failure of a device known as a "levelator" -- the plaintiff loaded merchandise from the truck onto the levelator, and then used the levelator to lower the merchandise to the level of the loading dock. The plaintiff tripped while on the levelator. Because plaintiff's injury was caused by an instrumentality other than the insured vehicle, liability for the losses sustained was properly addressed outside the area of No-Fault motor vehicle insurance. The Court had interpreted the expression "use or operation" of a motor vehicle in a case seeking first-party no-fault benefits under Insurance Law 5103 (a) (1). In Walton, the Court stated that "first-party benefits are available only if the injury sustained arose out of the use or operation of the motor vehicle" (id. at 215), and that, while Insurance Law 5103 does not define "use or operation," "no-fault benefits are unavailable when a party is injured by an instrumentality other than the vehicle itself" (id.). That is, "the vehicle must be a proximate cause of the injury" (id.). The court stated that "its purposes were to remove the vast majority of claims arising from vehicular accidents from the sphere of common-law tort litigation, and to establish a quick, sure and efficient system for obtaining compensation for economic loss suffered as a result of such accidents".