Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 207189; Unpublished
Judges O'Connell, Talbot, and Zahra; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Disqualification for Uninsured Owners or Registrants of Involved Motor Vehicles or Motorcycles [§3113(b)]
Determination of Involved Vehicle [§3113]
Exclusion for Vehicles Considered Parked [§3106(1)]
Exception for Unreasonably Parked Vehicles [§3106(1)(a)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous unpublished per curiam Opinion, the Court of Appeals held that plaintiffs entitlement to no-fault benefits where he was pinned between his own uninsured vehicle and another uninsured motor vehicle which he was attempting to jump start, depended upon whether or not plaintiffs vehicle was parked in such a way as to cause unreasonable risk of the bodily injury which occurred, as set forth in section 3106(1 )(a). Determination of this issue was an issue for the trial court, and because the trial court had not specifically addressed this issue, the matter was remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
Plaintiff was injured when he was attempting to jump start a van owned by Williams that was stalled in the left southbound lane of Washington Avenue in Battle Creek. The van was uninsured. Plaintiff had stopped his uninsured car so that it was parked directly in front of and facing the disabled van, with a three foot space between the vehicles, and then attempted to jump start the van. Before plaintiff could jump start the van, another vehicle struck the van from behind, pinning plaintiff between his own vehicle and the van.
The only vehicle with any insurance was the striking vehicle, which was insured by Auto Club. Auto Club denied plaintiffs claim for PIP benefits under section 3113(b), which provides:
"A person is not entitled to be paid personal protection insurance benefits for accidental bodily injury if at the time of the accident any of the following circumstances existed:
(b) The person was the owner or registrant of a motor vehicle or motorcycle involved in the accident with respect to which the security required by section 3101 or 3103 was not in effect."
It was undisputed that plaintiffs vehicle was not insured at the time of the accident. The parties disagreed as to whether plaintiffs vehicle was "involved" in the accident.
Defendant relied on Troutman v Detroit Auto Inter-Insurance Exchange, 117 Mich App 3 76 (1982), which held that the plaintiffs uninsured vehicle was involved in the accident that caused the plaintiff to be pinned between his vehicle and the vehicle he was attempting to jump start. Troutman reached its decision in reliance on the Court of Appeals decision in Heard v State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Company, 93 Mich App 50 (1979) (Heard I"). However, the Supreme Court reversed that decision and held that "a parked vehicle is not involved in the accident unless one of the exceptions to the parked vehicle provision (3106) is applicable."
Because the trial court herein did not consider whether plaintiffs car was reasonably parked pursuant to section 3106, the matter was remanded to the trial court for further consideration of whether plaintiffs car was "reasonably parked" at the time plaintiff sustained injury. This issue, the court deemed was an issue of law for the trial court to determine, because the material facts are undisputed.
