No-Fault Act Applies in Trailer Accident Involving Parked Vehicle; Plaintiff’s Claims Limited to Non-Economic Damages
A construction site accident occurred in which plaintiff was injured while assisting defendant in removing a piece of heavy equipment from a semi/flatbed trailer combination. Plaintiff alleged that his injuries resulted from the defendant’s negligence in operating the trailer while the plaintiff was on the trailer’s tilt deck. The parties agreed that the plaintiff suffered a serious impairment of body function under MCL 500.3135(1), and that the security required by section 3101(1) was in effect.
Defendants, including the flatbed operator and its employee, filed two dispositive motions with the trial court. Defendant argued that plaintiff’s claims were subject to the No-Fault Act, which limited the defendants’ liability. One motion was based on MCL 500.3135(2)(b). The second motion for partial summary disposition related to plaintiff’s ability to recover economic damages. The trial court issued two separate motions denying defendants’ dispositive motions. Defendants appealed the decisions on the motions for partial summary disposition.
Plaintiff argued on appeal that the No-Fault Act did not apply because the injury was caused by the equipment that fell on him rather than the defendant’s operation of the trailer. The appellate court found no genuine issue of material fact and that the No-Fault Act did apply. The appellate court concluded that the plaintiff’s injuries arose out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle under MCL 500.3135 and that the No-Fault Act applies to the lawsuit. Section 3135 is titled: Tort liability for noneconomic loss; exceptions; cause of action for damages; "serious impairment of body function" defined.
The appellate court cited the Michigan Supreme Court’s three-step framework for the coverage of injuries related to parked motor vehicles from the case Kemp v Farm Bureau Gen Ins Co of Michigan, 500 Mich 245, 253; 901 NW2d 534 (2017). In the instant case, the appellate court determined that plaintiff’s injury could be considered “foreseeably identifiable with the normal use of a vehicle.”
The appellate court reversed the trial court’s denial of the dispositive motions and remanded for entry of an order granting the motion.
The case is Balsamo v Corrigan et al., unpublished order of the Michigan Court of Appeals. Released August 19, 2021, No. 354137 in Oakland Circuit Court, LC No. 2019-170980-NO.
Click on the link to read the appellate court ruling.
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