7.7.1 Collision With Animals

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

Exclusions to UM coverage in insurance policies for injuries caused by off-road vehicles are valid when the injury occurs off the public highway. In Chase v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.,^[106] the court held that State Farm's contractual exclusion of off-road accidents involving off-road vehicles was not in derogation of Arizona's financial responsibility laws.

Recognizing that, on its face, A.R.S. Sec. 20-259.01 does not state that coverage is limited to accidents occurring on public roads, the court in Chase observed that the legislature's primary concern in the general area of automobile insurance was the protection of motorists using public highways.^[107] The court further observed that Arizona courts had previously described the uninsured motorist statute as being for the protection of motorists on the public highways.^[108] The court in Chase, therefore, found the analysis of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Autry v. Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance Co.^[109] to be persuasive:

Construing "uninsured motor vehicle" in light of the foregoing, we must conclude that the term is intended to include motor vehicles which should be insured under the Act but are not, and motor vehicles which, though not subject to compulsory insurance under the Act, are at some time operated on the public highways. Only in these instances is the uninsured motorists provision serving its intended purpose of complementing the original Act and furthering the financial protection accorded thereby to persons injured by motor vehicles on the public highways. This purpose would not be served by interpreting the uninsured motorists provision so as to cover accidents involving motor vehicles not subject to compulsory insurance and which occur on private property. Such an interpretation would result in absolute financial protection against injury by motor vehicle, a concept neither contemplated nor intended by the original Act.^[110]

The court in Chase concluded that coverage for the operation of an off-road vehicle involved in an accident off the public highway is neither required nor prohibited by Arizona's Uninsured Motorist Act; off-road exclusions are, therefore, a matter of contract between the parties.^[111]

Off-road exclusions typically have two requirements: (1) the "vehicle" involved must be designed for use principally off public roads; and (2) the accident must have occurred on a public roadway. Application of this type of exclusion is fact-intensive and will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Although a vehicle may be sold for off-road use, this fact is not dispositive on the question of whether it is designed for use principally off public roads. For example, in Thompson v. Government Employees...