Mich. Comp. Laws » Michigan Compiled Laws / Chapter 691 / Act 170 of 1964
Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 691.1405 (2026)

Government owned vehicles; liability for negligent operation.

✓ current as of July 2026
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GOVERNMENTAL LIABILITY FOR NEGLIGENCE


Act 170 of 1964


691.1405 Government owned vehicles; liability for negligent operation.

Sec. 5.

    Governmental agencies shall be liable for bodily injury and property damage resulting from the negligent operation by any officer, agent, or employee of the governmental agency, of a motor vehicle of which the governmental agency is owner, as defined in Act No. 300 of the Public Acts of 1949, as amended, being sections 257.1 to 257.923 of the Compiled Laws of 1948.

History: 1964, Act 170, Eff. July 1, 1965

PopularName Notes:

Governmental Immunity Act
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 311 cases (90 in the last 5 years), 1969–2026 · leading case: Allen v. Bloomfield Hills Sch. Dist., 760 N.W.2d 811 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).
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Allen v. Bloomfield Hills Sch. Dist., 760 N.W.2d 811 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 36× “" We agree with the trial court that a plaintiff seeking to avoid governmental immunity from tort liability through the motor vehicle exception, MCL 691.1405, must establish a "bodily injury.”
Wesche v. Mecosta Cnty. Road Comm'n, 746 N.W.2d 847 (Mich. 2008). · cites it 25× “We granted leave to appeal in these two cases to determine whether the motor-vehicle exception to governmental immunity, MCL 691.1405, authorizes a claim for loss of consortium against a governmental agency.”
Stanton v. City of Battle Creek, 647 N.W.2d 508 (Mich. 2002). · cites it 15× “§ 691.1405. We hold that it is not, and, therefore, we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial court's order granting summary disposition in favor of defendants.”
Heather Lynn Hannay v. Dep't of Transp., 497 Mich. 45 (Mich. 2014). · cites it 12× “, commonly referred to as the motor vehicle exception to governmental immunity, MCL 691.1405. The statute provides, in relevant part, that “[g]overnmental agencies shall be *51 liable for bodily injury .”
Regan v. Washtenaw Cnty. Bd. of Cnty. Road Commissioners, 667 N.W.2d 57 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 32× “1405 provides that "[g]overnmental agencies shall be liable for bodily injury and property damage resulting from the negligent operation by any officer, agent, or employee of the governmental agency, of a motor vehicle of which the governmental agency is owner.”
Robinson v. City of Detroit, 613 N.W.2d 307 (Mich. 2000). · cites it 10× “This statute provides in relevant part as follows: Governmental agencies shall be liable for bodily injury and property damage resulting from the negligent operation by any officer, agent, or employee of the governmental agency, of a motor vehicle of which the governmental…”
Rogers v. City of Detroit, 579 N.W.2d 840 (Mich. 1998). · cites it 23× “996(105) states in pertinent part: Governmental agencies shall be liable for bodily injury and property damage resulting from the negligent operation by any officer, agent, or employee of the governmental agency, of a motor vehicle of *843 which the governmental agency is owner.”
Regan v. Washtenaw Cty. Bd. of Rd. Com'rs, 641 N.W.2d 285 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 28× “MCL 691.1405 provides an exception to the general rule of governmental immunity in cases involving the negligent operation of a government-owned vehicle by an officer, agent, or employee of a governmental agency: Governmental agencies shall be liable for bodily injury and…”
Wesche v. Mecosta Cnty. Road Comm'n, 705 N.W.2d 136 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 15× “In this automobile negligence action, defendant Mecosta County Road Commission appeals as of right the trial court’s ruling that a Gradall hydraulic excavator is a motor vehicle for the purposes of the motor vehicle exception to governmental immunity found in MCL 691.1405.…”
Chandler v. Muskegon Cnty., 652 N.W.2d 224 (Mich. 2002). · cites it 10× “§ 691.1405. Therefore, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.”
Seldon v. Suburban Mobility Auth. for Reg'l Transp., 824 N.W.2d 318 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 8× “We hold that because SMART had no duty to secure plaintiff in her wheelchair or inform her of the availability of a shoulder restraint, the failure to inform plaintiff did not constitute the operation of a motor vehicle under MCL 691.1405, which states the motor vehicle…”
Ewing v. City of Detroit, 651 N.W.2d 780 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 23× “On May 2, 1995, our Supreme Court entered an order vacating that portion of this Court's order reversing the trial court's order granting summary disposition to defendants.”
Show all 311 citing cases →
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 691.1405(5) — 1 case
EBI-Detroit, Inc. v. City of Detroit, 279 F. App'x 340 (6th Cir. 2008).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.