Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 213698; Unpublished
Judges Hood, Sawyer, and Cavanagh; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Exclusion for Vehicles Considered Parked [§3106(1)]
Exception for Entering Into or Alighting From [§3106(1)(c)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unpublished unanimous per curiam Opinion, the Court of Appeals denied no-fault benefits to a person who sustained injury as the result of a slip and fall which occurred after the person had completed the process of alighting from the vehicle. Therefore, benefits were not available under the parked vehicle provisions of section 3106(1 )(c) which makes compensable those injuries sustained by a person "while occupying, entering into or alighting from the vehicle."
In this case, the plaintiff slipped and fell at some point after she had firmly planted both feet on the ground and had successfully removed herself from the immediate confines of the vehicle. Therefore, the alighting process had ended and the parked vehicle provisions of section 3106(1 )(c) were no longer applicable.
In this regard, the court stated in part:
"Allen's deposition testimony revealed that her slip and fall occurred at some point after she had firmly planted both feet on the ground. Because Allen's injury occurred after she had successfully removed herself from the immediate confines of the vehicle and firmly planted both feet on the ground, she was not alighting from the vehicle within the meaning of§3106 when she sustained her injuries.... Our holding is further supported by the plain and ordinary meaning of the term 'alight,' which is defined as 'to... descend from a vehicle [or] to settle or stay after descending; come to rest.'... In light of our disposition of the foregoing issue, we need not address whether Allen's injury had a causal relationship to the motor vehicle."
