Bill Text: MI SB0733 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Torts; governmental immunity; liability for injuries to a pedestrian on road right-of-way; modify. Amends sec. 2 of 1964 PA 170 (MCL 691.1402) & adds sec. 2b.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-08 - Referred To Committee On Local Government And Elections [SB0733 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2013-SB0733-Introduced.html

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SENATE BILL No. 733

 

 

January 8, 2014, Introduced by Senators KOWALL and JONES and referred to the Committee on Local Government and Elections.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1964 PA 170, entitled

 

"An act to make uniform the liability of municipal corporations,

political subdivisions, and the state, its agencies and

departments, officers, employees, and volunteers thereof, and

members of certain boards, councils, and task forces when engaged

in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function, for

injuries to property and persons; to define and limit this

liability; to define and limit the liability of the state when

engaged in a proprietary function; to authorize the purchase of

liability insurance to protect against loss arising out of this

liability; to provide for defending certain claims made against

public officers, employees, and volunteers and for paying damages

sought or awarded against them; to provide for the legal defense of

public officers, employees, and volunteers; to provide for

reimbursement of public officers and employees for certain legal

expenses; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,"

 

by amending section 2 (MCL 691.1402), as amended by 2012 PA 50, and

 

by adding section 2b.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 2. (1) Each A governmental agency having that has

 

jurisdiction over a highway shall maintain the highway in

 

reasonable repair so that it is reasonably safe and convenient for

 

public vehicular travel. A person who sustains bodily injury or

 

damage to his or her property by reason of failure of a

 

governmental agency to keep a highway under its jurisdiction in

 

reasonable repair and in a condition reasonably safe and fit for

 

travel may recover the damages suffered by him or her from the

 

governmental agency. The liability, procedure, and remedy as to

 

county roads under the jurisdiction of a county road commission

 

shall be are as provided in section 21 of chapter IV of 1909 PA

 

283, MCL 224.21. Except as provided in section 2a, the duty of a

 

governmental agency to repair and maintain highways, a highway, and

 

the liability for that duty, extends only to the improved portion

 

of the highway designed for vehicular travel and does not include

 

sidewalks, trailways, crosswalks, or any other installation outside

 

of the improved portion of the highway designed for vehicular

 

travel. The liability of a governmental agency under this section

 

for injury to or the death of a pedestrian or other person who is

 

not traveling in or on a motor vehicle on the improved portion of

 

the highway designed for vehicular travel, or for damage to the

 

person's property, is subject to section 2b. A judgment against the

 

this state based on a claim arising under this section from acts or

 

omissions of the state transportation department is payable only

 

from restricted funds appropriated to the state transportation

 

department or funds provided by its insurer.

 

     (2) A municipal corporation has no duty to repair or maintain,

 

and is not liable for injuries or damages arising from, a portion

 

of a county or state highway.

 

     (3) If the state transportation department contracts with

 

another governmental agency to perform work on a state trunk line

 

highway, an action brought under this section for tort liability

 

arising out of the performance of that the work shall be brought

 

only against the state transportation department under the same

 

circumstances and to the same extent as if the work had been

 

performed by employees of the state transportation department. The

 

state transportation department has the same defenses to the action

 

as it would have had if the work had been performed by its own

 

employees. If an action described in this subsection could have

 

been maintained against the state transportation department, it

 

shall not be maintained against the governmental agency that

 

performed the work for the state transportation department. The

 

governmental agency also has the same defenses that could have been

 

asserted by the state transportation department had the action been

 

brought against the state transportation department.

 

     (4) The contractual undertaking of a governmental agency to

 

maintain a state trunk line highway confers contractual rights only

 

on the state transportation department and does not confer third

 

party beneficiary or other contractual rights in any other person

 

to recover damages to person or property from that the governmental

 

agency. This subsection does not relieve the state transportation

 

department of liability it may have, under this section, regarding

 

that the highway.

 

     (5) The duty imposed by this section on a governmental agency

 

is limited by sections 81131 and 82124 of the natural resources and

 

environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.81131 and

 

324.82124.

 

     Sec. 2b. (1) A governmental agency is not liable under section

 

2 for injury to or the death of a pedestrian or other person who

 

was not traveling in or on a motor vehicle on the improved portion

 

of the highway designed for vehicular travel, or for damage to the

 

person's property, unless the plaintiff proves that at least 30

 

days before the occurrence of the injury, death, or damage, the

 

governmental agency knew or, in the exercise of reasonable

 

diligence, should have known of the existence of the defect in the

 

highway.

 

     (2) In a civil action against a governmental agency alleging

 

liability under section 2 for injury, death, or damage described in

 

subsection (1), the governmental agency is presumed to have

 

maintained the highway in reasonable repair. This presumption may

 

only be rebutted by evidence of facts showing that a proximate

 

cause of the injury, death, or damage was 1 or both of the

 

following:

 

     (a) A vertical discontinuity defect of 2 inches or more in the

 

highway.

 

     (b) A dangerous condition in the highway itself of a

 

particular character other than solely a vertical discontinuity.

 

     (3) Whether a presumption under subsection (2) has been

 

rebutted is a question of law for the court.