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No. 127901
| Michael Grimes and Tamara Grimes, |
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Gary W. Caravas |
Plaintiffs-Appellees, |
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vs (Appeal from Ct of Appeals)
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(Court of Claims) |
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| Michigan Department of Transportation, |
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Vincent J. Leone |
| Defendant-Appellant. |
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| ______________________________________ |
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Plaintiffs-Appellees' Brief on Appeal>>
Defendant-Appellant's Brief on Appeal>>
Background
Alan Thisse was traveling north on I-75 when his vehicle left the roadway and moved onto the shoulder. The shoulder was comprised of both a paved area and a gravel portion. Thisse claimed that an uneven drop between the paved and gravel sections of the shoulder caused him to lose control of his vehicle; he crossed three lanes of the highway, striking the vehicle in which Michael and Tamara Grimes were traveling. Michael Grimes' injuries left him a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down. The Grimeses sued Thisse and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). One of the plaintiffs' claims rests on the theory that MDOT was liable for Michael Grimes' injuries; the plaintiffs contend that MDOT failed to maintain the gravel shoulder so that it remained level with the paved shoulder that runs alongside it. MDOT responded that it was protected from liability by governmental immunity. The Court of Claims disagreed and ruled in the plaintiffs' favor. The court found that the expressway was designed with a shoulder that was intended for vehicular travel. Thus, the highway exception to governmental immunity, set forth in MCL 691.1402(1), permitted the case to go forward, the court found. The Court of Appeals affirmed the Court of Claims' ruling in an unpublished per curiam opinion. MDOT appeals.
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