## Facts

- Francis McKenzie owned a pickup truck insured under Michigan no-fault coverage issued by Auto Club Insurance Association (ACIA).
- McKenzie went on a hunting trip and slept overnight in a camper/trailer attached to the back of his pickup.
- The camper contained a propane-fueled forced-air heater.
- Carbon monoxide leaked from the heater into the camper while McKenzie and a companion slept.
- Both men were overcome by fumes, found, hospitalized, and recovered.
- McKenzie sought personal injury protection (PIP) benefits, asserting his injury arose from the ownership, operation, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle “as a motor vehicle.”

## Issues

1. Whether carbon monoxide poisoning suffered while sleeping in a stationary camper/trailer attached to a pickup “arose out of the ... use of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle” under MCL 500.3105(1).
2. Whether a vehicle’s status as the site of an injury is sufficient for PIP coverage when the activity at the time is lodging rather than transportation.

## Decision

- The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals.
- The Court held the injury did not arise out of the use of a motor vehicle “as a motor vehicle” because it was not closely related to the vehicle’s transportational function.
- The Court remanded for entry of summary disposition in favor of ACIA, denying PIP benefits.
- The Court treated the coverage question as one of law because the material facts were undisputed.

## Legal Principles

- Under MCL 500.3105(1), an injury arises out of the use of a motor vehicle “as a motor vehicle” only when it is closely related to the vehicle’s transportational function.
- The statutory phrase “as a motor vehicle” limits coverage to uses characteristic of motor vehicles, excluding non-transportational uses such as housing or lodging.
- The presence of an injured person in or on a vehicle is insufficient if the vehicle is merely the locale of the injury and the causal mechanism is unrelated to transportation.
- When underlying facts are undisputed, whether an injury arises from the use of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle is a question of law for the court.
- Lower-court analyses extending PIP coverage to camper-related injuries without a transportational nexus are inconsistent with the transportational-function limitation.

## Conclusion

Because McKenzie was using the attached camper as sleeping quarters and the injury was caused by carbon monoxide from a heater rather than any transportation-related use of the pickup or camper, the injury did not arise out of the use of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle under MCL 500.3105(1), and PIP benefits were unavailable.


McKenzie v. Auto Club Ins. Ass’n, 458 Mich. 214, 580 N.W.2d 424 (Mich. 1998)