Auto No Fault Insurance No Longer Applies to Process of Closing Your Car Door

Personal Injury Law

Auto no-fault insurance no longer applies to the process of closing your car door


Facts & Ruling by Court:

An adult was placing personal items into her motor vehicle which was parked.  She had reached into the passenger side of the vehicle with its door open.  In one fluid motion, she stood back up to regain her upright balance and stepped away from the car while also shutting the door with her hand.  It was at this point that she slipped and fell on a patch of ice beneath her feet and suffered bodily injury requiring medical care.  The no-fault law provides coverage when a person is “entering” or “alighting” from a parked motor vehicle [MCL 500.3106(1)(c)].  The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the injured person was not “alighting” from her motor vehicle because, it reasoned, she was in no way reliant upon the vehicle itself to maintain her balance.  The Court said she had already alighted and that closing a car door is not part of the alighting process.

 

What this means for injured persons:

 

This is new law created by the Court.  Closing the door used to be considered a part of the alighting process since the no-fault act was enacted in 1973.  Now it is not.  Therefore, in fact patterns identical to this case, injured persons are no longer covered by their auto no-fault insurance which they must purchase as mandated by law.  Instead, coverage for their medical care falls to any other accident or health coverage applicable (e.g., BC/BSM, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) or private pay.

 

What this means for Medical Service Providers:

 

In fact patterns identical to this case, medical providers can no longer pursue auto no-fault coverage in cases just like this.  Instead, they must submit their claims to the patient’s applicable health coverage.

 

You can read this Opinion here.

 Authored by L. Page Graves