Court Opinion

ID: 9578103
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:41:31.658473+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:22:38.464187
License: Public Domain

Currie, J.
(dissenting in part). I respectfully dissent from that part of the majority opinion which holds that the trial court properly denied the motion of Maryland Casualty Company for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and cross complaints against it.
The vehicle operated by Fries was equipped with a long boom which can be extended to a distance of 35 feet from the truck chassis. Such boom is equipped with a winch and cable, and such cable can be lowered from the outward end of the boom. By means of such cable and winch heavy objects may be lifted vertically and then moved forward, back*524ward, or to either side by moving the vehicle itself, not by swinging the boom. At the time of the accident a heavy crate suspended from the boom was being moved from one place to another on the premises of the defendant Regal Ware, Inc. Such a piece of mechanical equipment is not designed for moving objects along public highways but is only adaptable for use on private premises in moving objects short distances.
The following definitions clearly establish this vehicle to be a crane:
The Encyclopedia Americana (1958 ed.), Vol. 3, p. 157:
“Crane, a hoisting machine so constructed as to move loads both vertically and in other directions. . . . Cranes can be both operated or driven by electric, steam, Diesel, pneumatic, or hydraulic power. They can be (1) of the stationary type; (2) operated along overhead, side-wall, or ground rails limited to a plant area; or (3) mounted on a truck or caterpillar chassis or railroad car for mobility. The variety of sizes and designs is extensive. . . .” (Emphasis supplied.)
Encyclopedia Britannica (1958 ed.), Vol. 6, p. 635:
“Strictly speaking, the name alludes to the arm or jib from which the load to be moved is suspended, but it is now used in a wider sense to include the whole mechanism by which a load is raised vertically and moved horizontally.” (Emphasis supplied.)
The words, “whole mechanism” which appear in the foregoing definition of “crane” from the Encyclopedia Britannica, mean the truck portion of the vehicle together with the boom and winch.
It is highly significant that one of the counsel for the plaintiff, in his affidavit in support of the motion for inter-pleading Maryland Casualty Company, averred that “the plaintiff was injured due to a moving crane coming in con*525tact with overhead wires.” This affidavit, of course, was made before counsel was aware of the wording of the policy indorsement quoted in the majority opinion.
There cannot be the slightest doubt but that the crane was not being operated "solely for the purpose of locomotion” because it is undisputed that it was being used to move the suspended crate of machinery from one place to another.
It seems very clear to me that the Maryland Casualty Company by its indorsement had no intention of extending coverage to self-propelled machines like trench diggers or cranes when performing their ordinary special function on private premises or off the traveled portions of public highways, but only intended such coverage to apply thereto when they were being propelled upon the public highways in going from one location to another.
For the reasons herein stated, I deem it was error not to have granted Maryland Casualty Company’s motion for summary judgment.