HOUSE BILL No. 6042


     September 15, 1998, Introduced by Rep. Profit and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.


        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 depart-
   ments, 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 offi-
   cers and paying damages sought or awarded against them; to pro-
   vide for the legal defense of public officers and employees; to
   provide for reimbursement of public officers and employees for
   certain legal expenses; and to repeal certain acts and parts of
   acts,"

   by amending section 3 (MCL 691.1403).

               THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 1         Sec.  3. (1)  No  A governmental agency is NOT liable for

 2     injuries or damages  INJURY OR DAMAGE caused by A defective

 3     highways  HIGHWAY unless the governmental agency knew, or in the

 4    exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, of the


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 1    existence of the defect and had a reasonable time to repair the

 2    defect before the injury took place.  Knowledge of the defect and

 3    time to repair the  same shall be  DEFECT IS conclusively pre-

 4    sumed when the defect existed so as to be readily apparent to an

 5    ordinarily observant person for a period of 30 days or longer

 6    before the injury took place.

 7         (2) IN AN ACTION FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE HIGHWAY,

 8    A GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY IS NOT LIABLE FOR INJURY, DEATH, OR PROP-

 9    ERTY DAMAGE IF THE DEFECT THAT ALLEGEDLY CAUSED THE INJURY,

10    DEATH, OR PROPERTY DAMAGE WAS AN OBSTRUCTION OR DEPRESSION THAT

11    WAS HIGHER OR LOWER THAN THE ABUTTING SURFACE BY 2 INCHES OR

12    LESS.  IN AN ACTION FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE HIGHWAY, IT

13    SHALL NOT BE ARGUED, AND THE TRIER OF FACT SHALL NOT CONSIDER THE

14    FACT, THAT A HIGHWAY DEFECT WAS AN OBSTRUCTION OR DEPRESSION OF

15    MORE THAN 2 INCHES AS BEING DETERMINATIVE OF THE ISSUE AS TO

16    WHETHER THE HIGHWAY WAS IN REASONABLE REPAIR SO THAT IT WAS REA-

17    SONABLY SAFE AND CONVENIENT FOR PUBLIC TRAVEL.























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