Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 185979; Published
Judges Young, Doctoroff, and Cavanagh; Unanimous; Opinion by Judge Young
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 225 Mich App 731; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Exclusion for Vehicles Considered Parked [§3106(1)]
Exception for Permanently Mounted Equipment Use [§3106(1)(b)]
Exception for Loading / Unloading [§3106(1)(b)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous published Opinion by Judge Young, the Court of Appeals held that plaintiffs injury did not satisfy the exception to the parked vehicle exclusion contained in §3106( 1 )(b), in a case where plaintiff was injured by a bungee cord he was using to secure a load on a trailer.
Plaintiff was injured while in the process of loading straw onto a trailer attached to his pickup truck. After the bales of hay had been loaded onto the trailer, plaintiff was attempting to secure the load using elastic bungee cords. As he was pulling one of the cords, the hook gave way, causing the cord to snap back and strike him in the eye. Farmers denied plaintiffs claim for no-fault benefits on the basis of §3106, the parked vehicle exclusion to the no-fault act, which precludes coverage arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of a parked vehicle. Plaintiff claimed that the parked vehicle exception set forth in §3106(l)(b) applied, thereby entitling him to make this claim. That exception provides:
"(1) accidental bodily injury does not arise out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of a parked vehicle as a motor vehicle unless any of the following occur:
(b) the injury was a direct result of physical contact with equipment permanently mounted on the vehicle, while the equipment was being operated or used, or property being lifted onto or lowered from the vehicle in the loading or unloading process. "
In denying plaintiffs claim and affirming the trial court's grant of summary disposition, the Court of Appeals stated as follows:
".. .plaintiff in this case was not injured due to contact with any equipment permanently affixed to the vehicle, nor was the injury due to contact with property which was being lifted onto or lowered from the vehicle in the loading process. . . . Rather, plaintiff's injury occurred after he had finished loading all of the straw onto the trailer and while he was securing the load with the bungee cord. Accordingly, because the exception to the parked vehicle exclusion set forth in §3106(l)(b) is inapplicable, the trial court properly granted defendant's motion for summary disposition."
