Bourgon v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 7-70
| Decision Date | 06 October 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 7-70,7-70 |
| Citation | 128 Vt. 593,270 A.2d 151 |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
| Parties | Lionel BOURGON, Administrator of the Estate of Gaetan Louis Bourgon v. FARM BUREAU MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY. |
Latham & Eastman, Burlington, for plaintiff.
Wick, Dinse & Allen, Burlington, for defendant.
Before HOLDEN, C. J., and SHANGRAW, BARNEY, SMITH and KEYSER, JJ.
The insured drowned when the 'bushbuggy' he was driving on the frozen surface of Lake Dunmore went through the ice. The plaintiff, administrator of his estate, is seeking recovery of the death benefit, payable under a certain automobile liability insurance policy issued by the defendant insurance company, now doing business as the Concord General Mutual Insurance Company.
The defendant's refusal to pay is based on its view of the measure of coverage as determined by the following two policy provisions:
The vehicle referred to as a 'bush-buggy' was actually a stripped-down Volkswagen. According to the findings, there remained of the original automobile the chassis, wheels and tires, steering column and wheel, front seats and seat belts, engine and fuel tank. It had no lights, windshield or fenders, and nothing in front of the two seats except a steering column supported by a bracket. It was not registered and could not pass the Vermont motor vehicle inspection requirements. It was not ordinarily operated on the highways, but in woodland areas, and was towed from place to place over the highway.
The findings also point out that this vehicle had at one time been registered and operated as an ordinary automobile, before the removal of body parts. The trial court found it to be definable as a 'land motor vehicle' not operated on rails or treads, originally designed for highway use, although in...
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Okemo Mountain, Inc. v. Town of Ludlow
...discrimination or restriction, except reasonable regulation in interest of general public); cf. Bourgon v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 128 Vt. 593, 595, 270 A.2d 151, 153 (1970) (frozen surface of Lake Dunmore qualifies as public road, because it is open to general circulation, although Beca......
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State v. Trucott
..."a way laid out under authority of law." Examined in its entirety, § 4(13) is extremely broad. Thus, in Bourgon v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., 128 Vt. 593, 270 A.2d 151 (1970), a case that construes what is now § 4(13), this Court held that: "As a place 'open temporarily or permanentl......
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State v. Eckhardt, 95-484
...public. Trucott, 145 Vt. at 283, 487 A.2d at 155. Thus, we have held that the surface of a frozen lake, Bourgon v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 128 Vt. 593, 595, 270 A.2d 151, 153 (1970), the "pull-off" area of a public highway, Trucott, 145 Vt. at 283-84, 487 A.2d at 155, and a large restaur......
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Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Daniels
...in similar circumstances held for coverage, although not all involved UM provisions. The oldest case is Bourgon v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co., 128 Vt. 593, 270 A.2d 151 (Sup.Ct.1970), which did not involve an uninsured motorist. There plaintiff was the administrator of the insured's estate w......