Under the Automobile Insurance Act, "automobile" includes "a trolley bus and a self-propelled vehicle, and the trailers, accessories and equipment of automobiles, but does not include railway rolling stock that runs on rails or watercraft or aircraft".

Under the Highway Traffic Act, a "vehicle" means "a device in, upon or by which a person or thing may be transported or drawn upon a highway, but does not include devices used exclusively upon fixed rails". A "motor vehicle" means "a vehicle propelled, driven or controlled otherwise than by muscular power, other than a trailer or a vehicle running upon fixed rails". That legislation also provides that: "A person shall not operate, or, being the owner, allow another person to operate, a motor vehicle on a highway unless there is in force in respect of the motor vehicle a policy of insurance."

Off-road vehicles, such as "all-terrain vehicles" and "motorized snow vehicles", are separately defined under the Motorized Snow Vehicles and All-Terrain Vehicles Act . An "all-terrain vehicle" means "a wheeled or tracked motorized vehicle, excluding a 2 wheeled vehicle, designed or adapted for off-road use". A "motorized snow vehicle" means "a tracked vehicle, commonly known as a snowmobile, where the driver sits astride a seat and which is designed for operation over snow covered land and ice". A "vehicle" means "all motorized vehicles designed and constructed for travel on or immediately over land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, and other natural terrain, including four-wheel drive or low-pressure-tire powered vehicles, low-pressure-tire motorcycles and related two-wheel vehicles, snowmobiles, amphibious machines, ground effect or air-cushioned vehicles, but does not include a motor vehicle." Finally, for insurance purposes, a "vehicle" under the Motorized Snow Vehicles and All-Terrain Vehicles Regulations , means "a 2, 3 or 4 wheeled type vehicle designed to be operated with the driver seated astride a seat and commonly known as a trail bike or all-terrain vehicle."

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Segovia
Cox & Palmer
St. John's