United Eastern District of Michigan; Docket No. 82-70381
Judge Ralph M. Freeman; Unpublished
Official Federal Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Entitlement to PIP Benefits: Arising Out of / Causation Requirement [§3105(1)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this written memorandum Opinion, Judge Freeman held that a policy of automobile liability insurance issued by Allstate to Motor City Cab Company did not provide liability coverage where a passenger of the taxi company was raped by the taxi driver. The incident in question occurred when the woman passenger was not able to pay her cab fare. The cab driver activated a door locking mechanism, drove her .to a private residence where he honked the horn and flashed his lights for several minutes until several men came out of the home and took the woman inside where she was raped. Based upon the reasoning in Kangas v Aetna Casualty Company, the Court ruled that the incident in question did not "arise out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle." On the contrary, the use of the cab was merely incidental and fortuitous and the injury was not foreseeably identifiable with its normal use. Therefore, no liability coverage was available.
