Washtenaw County Circuit Court; Docket No. 77-1892-NI; Unpublished
Judge Edward D. Deake
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Disqualification for Nonresidents [§3113(c)]
General / Miscellaneous [§3135]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Legislative Purpose and Intent
CASE SUMMARY:
In a written Opinion, Judge Deake held that the tort liability bar contained in §3135 of the no-fault statute, when read in conjunction with the PIP disqualification provisions of §3113(c), was unconstitutional as applied to this nonresident plaintiff. Accordingly, plaintiff was permitted to sue in tort for full economic and noneconomic losses and defendant (a Michigan injured motorist) was not entitled to the affirmative defense of tort immunity under the no-fault statute.
Plaintiff in this case was an Ohio resident and was in Michigan for a period of less than 30 days when he was involved in a rear end collision with the defendant. Plaintiff was not required to maintain Michigan no-fault insurance on his vehicle because he was in the state for less than 30 days. As a result of the accident, plaintiff sustained medical damages, wage losses, and property damage. Under §3113(c) plaintiff was precluded from recovering personal protection insurance benefits because he was not a resident of the state, was an occupant of a motor vehicle not registered in Michigan, and was not insured by a foreign insurer who filed a certification in compliance with §3163. In addition, under §3135, plaintiff could not sue in tort for economic losses incurred during the first three years or for noneconomic losses below the threshold. Thus, plaintiff was effectively denied any remedy for recovery.
Judge Deake held that this statutory scheme violates both due process and equal protection guarantees of the Michigan and federal constitutions. The result of Judge Deake's Opinion is that the out of state plaintiff would be entitled to pursue his claim as a pre-no-fault lawsuit and thus entitled to recover for all property damages, wage losses, medical expenses and pain and suffering without the necessity of proving a threshold injury.
[Author's Comment: Judge Deake's opinion is essentially identical to the opinion by Circuit Judge John H. Piercey in Cook v DeBaar (item number 211) which was cited with approval by Judge Deake in the above Opinion.]
