155 So. 168 | Miss. | 1934
Appellant's decedent was engaged, at the time of his death, in the business of moving small houses, for which purpose he was using a vehicular contrivance which, for want of a better name, we may call a trailer. It consisted of six strong wheels operating upon large axles, and the device was of such character that a small house could be loaded upon it, and the house could be moved along the public highways by attaching two tractors as the *507 motive power. While operating this contrivance with a house loaded upon it, appellant's decedent was run over by the trailer and was killed. The accident happened while the decedent was walking on a public highway and alongside the said trailer.
Appellant's decedent was insured by an accident policy which insured against injury "in consequence of being struck, run down or run over by a moving automobile while the insured is walking on or across a public highway." The question is, whether the contrivance above briefly described was an automobile within the meaning of the policy contract. In Hart v. Accident Ins. Co.,
Appellant argues that to include the case here before us as coming within the term would not be to overstrain the term, because the insurer knew at the time the policy was issued, as the argument asserts, that the insured was engaged in this business, and was using the vehicular contrivance above described, and that the parties should therefore be held to have contemplated the device as within the protection of the policy. Leaving aside other difficulties in sustaining that contention, the evidence *508 fails to disclose that the decedent was using or had begun to use the contrivance at the time the policy was issued. The application for the policy is exhibited in the record, and we note the following answers made by the decedent in his application: "What is your occupation? Real estate dealer. What is your work in connection with automobiles, trucks or other vehicles? None."
Affirmed.