Shiawassee County District Court; Docket No. 9593
Judge George L. BeGole
Official Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Nature and Scope of PPI Benefits (Property Damage and Loss of Use) [§3121(1)]
Vehicles and Trailers, Including Motorcycles [§3123(1)(a)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this short written Opinion, Judge BeGole held that a vehicle which skidded on a patch of ice and left the roadway coming to rest on the west side of a highway approximately eighteen feet from the edge of the road was a vehicle which should be considered "parked", thus entitling the owner of it to recover property protection insurance benefits for collision damage caused when another vehicle struck its rear end. The only requirement is that the vehicle not be situated in such a way as to cause an unreasonable risk of damage. In the instant case, the Court held that the unoccupied vehicle was in a stationary position eighteen feet from the edge of the road and was well clear of that portion of the highway ordinarily used for travel. The Court held that the question of whether or not the vehicle was voluntarily or involuntarily left in this location was "an unnecessary exercise in semantics" as it could fairly be considered to be parked in such a manner as to not cause unreasonable risk of injury. Therefore, benefits were available under §3121 and §3123 of the no-fault statute.
