Wayne County Circuit Court; Docket No. 77-705-811-AV; Unpublished
Judge Roland L. Olzark; Written Opinion
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Entitlement to PIP Benefits: Arising Out of / Causation Requirement [§3105(1)]
Exclusion for Vehicles Considered Parked [§3106(1)]
Causal Connection Requirement [§3106]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Legislative Purpose and Intent
CASE SUMMARY:
In a written opinion Judge Olzark held that a plaintiff who sustained gunshot wounds by an unidentified assailant while plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle which was preparing to drive away from a curb was not entitled to PIP benefits pursuant to §3105 and §3106(e) of the no-fault statute. Even though the plaintiff was "occupying" a parked vehicle under §3106(e), his injury did not arise out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle under §3105 of the act.
In construing the language in §3105, Judge Olzark relied on Kangas v Aetna, 64 Mich App 1 (1975), and held that there must be a casual connection between the injuries sustained and the ownership, maintenance or use of the automobile and which casual connection is more than incidental, fortuitous or but for. The injury must be foreseeably identifiable with the normal use, maintenance and ownership of the vehicle.
In this case, the plaintiff’s presence in the vehicle when he was shot was "fortuitous and incidental to the use of the vehicle and had no connection with the assaults, even though plaintiff may have been able to escape more readily had he been in some place other than a motor vehicle.
