Citizens Insurance Co. of America v. Tuttle

294 N.W.2d 224, 96 Mich. App. 763, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2613
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 21, 1980
DocketDocket 78-4737
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 294 N.W.2d 224 (Citizens Insurance Co. of America v. Tuttle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Citizens Insurance Co. of America v. Tuttle, 294 N.W.2d 224, 96 Mich. App. 763, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2613 (Mich. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinions

Beasley, J.

This is another case of first impression under Michigan no-fault insurance law and, in particular, MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135. The question posed is the interpretation to be given to the phrase "tort liability arising from the ownership, maintenance or use within this state of a motor vehicle * * * is abolished”, in the light of the peculiar fact situation presented in the instant case.

Plaintiff Edgar Schaedig was driving a tractor [765]*765and trailer owned by Zaiger Beverage Company on US Highway 2 in Schoolcraft County when he collided with defendant’s cow, which was running at large on the highway. The truck-trailer unit jackknifed, ran into a ditch and suffered extensive damage.

Citizens Insurance Company of America, the insurer of the truck, paid for the damage to the truck and became subrogated to that claim of the Zaiger Beverage Company. Citizens filed suit to recover the amount paid, and both Schaedig and Zaiger were allowed to join the suit to recover lost wages and additional costs respectively. Plaintiffs’ claims were based on defendant’s allowing the cow to run at large on the highway in violation of MCL 433.11 et seq.; MSA 18.789(1) et seq., and, also, that he was negligent in not fencing in and restraining the cow.

Defendant brought a motion for summary judgment pursuant to GCR 1963, 117.2(1), alleging that plaintiffs’ cause of action was barred by the no-fault act, MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135. The trial judge granted the motion and awarded summary judgment to defendant. Plaintiffs appeál as of right.

MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135 provides:

"Sec. 3135. (1) A person remains subject to tort liability for noneconomic loss caused by his ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle only if the injured person has suffered death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement.

"(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, tort liability arising from the ownership, maintenance or use within this state of a motor vehicle with respect to which the security required by subsections (3) and (4) of section 3101 was in effect is abolished except as to:

"(a) Intentionally caused harm to persons or property. Even though a person knows that harm to persons or [766]*766property is substantially certain to be caused by his act or omission, he does not cause or suffer such harm intentionally if he acts or refrains from acting for the purpose of averting injury to any person, including himself, or for the purpose of averting damage to tangible property.

"(b) Damages for noneconomic loss as provided and limited in subsection (1).

"(c) Damages for allowable expenses, work loss and survivor’s loss as defined in sections 3107 to 3110 in excess of the daily, monthly and 3 year limitations contained in those sections. The party liable for damages is entitled to an exemption reducing his liability by the amount of taxes that would have been payable on account. of income the injured person would have received if he had not been injured.” (Footnotes omitted.)

On appeal, plaintiffs argue that if defendánt’s tort did not arise from his use of a motor vehicle, defendant’s liability is not abolished by Virtue of §3135. Defendant counters, arguing that any tifne a motor vehicle is involved in an accident, tort liability is abolished by this section, and the vehicle owner must look to his own insurance company for coverage.

T'bus, the issue is to what extent the Legislature intended to abolish tort liability under MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135. If we determine that the Legislature intended that, aside from the enumerated exceptions, toft liability is to be precluded whenever an automobile is involved in any Way, even if the cause of the accident could in no way be attributed to the vehicle, we must affirm the ruling of the trial court. We determine that the Legislature did so intend and affirm.

In Shavers v Attorney General,1 the Michigan [767]*767Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the no-fault insurance act with respect to the abolition of tort liability for property damage, enumerating four legislative goals which would be served by the no-fault plan:

"First, with the shift from liability to collision insurance resulting from the abolition of tort liability, there would be a new emphasis on the value and repairability of the insured’s own motor vehicle; rates would be calculated on the basis of repair costs for that vehicle, rather than, as in liability insurance, on the potential damage to a vehicle of unknown value.

"Second, an additional anticipated effect of relating premium costs to the insured’s car was that this system would create incentives for safer cars.

"Third, the abolition of tort liability eliminates the necessity for accident investigations, because a determination of fault is irrelevant to the payment of compensation. The elimination of such investigations, it was hoped, would result in the decreased administrative costs and resultant savings on insurance premiums.

"Finally, by shifting from a liability to a no-fault system which emphasizes the risk to be insured, not the exposure to some unknown third party, the Legislature anticipated that group insurance would become feasible. Group insurance has been shown to be far less expensive to administer and more likely to result in lower costs. Furthermore, this potential for group insurance may draw large life and group insurance underwriters into the automobile insurance field, resulting in beneficial competition.” (Footnotes omitted.)

Since a legitimate state interest was involved, the statute’s constitutionality was upheld against a due process attack. The court also rejected a claim that the statute unconstitutionally denied equal protection, using the following language which is instructive in analyzing . the problem posed in the instant case:

[768]*768"The different treatment of moving vehicles and tangible property and properly parked vehicles is related to the second conceptual difficulty relating to the use of fault in a no-fault act. Common sense would indicate, and actuarial studies have shown, that in accidents involving motor vehicles and tangible property, the motor vehicle is usually at fault. Consequently, the act makes the motorist strictly liable for the damage he does to tangible property and requires him to purchase insurance for such damage58

"The system, however, functions without regard to fault. That is, there is no determination in each accident of who was at fault. Thus, the appellation 'no-fault’ is a misnomer only if one concentrates on the-initial legislative allocation of responsibility. However, if one looks at the operational effect of the act, it remains a system of insurance without fault.”

In the quoted dictum, the Shavers Court appears to have rejected the "fault investigation” requirement even in the case where a stray animal may occasion the damage. Thus, the insurer of the driver of an automobile who does damage to property would be strictly liable for the damage regardless of who was at fault.

Plaintiffs also argue that the language of § 3135 seems to indicate otherwise. MCL 500.3135(1); MSA 24.13135(1) speaks of "tort liability * * * caused by his ownership> maintenance or use of a motor vehicle”.

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Citizens Insurance Co. of America v. Tuttle
294 N.W.2d 224 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1980)

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Bluebook (online)
294 N.W.2d 224, 96 Mich. App. 763, 1980 Mich. App. LEXIS 2613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/citizens-insurance-co-of-america-v-tuttle-michctapp-1980.