Michigan Laws 324.82124 – Ordinances; duty to maintain highway; immunity from liability; “gross negligence” defined
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
(1) Any municipality may pass an ordinance regulating the operation of snowmobiles if the ordinance meets substantially the minimum requirements of this part. A local unit of government may not adopt an ordinance that:
(a) Imposes a fee for a license.
Terms Used In Michigan Laws 324.82124
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- local unit: means a municipality or county. See Michigan Laws 324.301
- Municipality: means a city, village, or township. See Michigan Laws 324.301
- Operator: means any individual who operates a snowmobile. See Michigan Laws 324.82101
- Person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 324.301
- Snowmobile: means any motor-driven vehicle that is designed for travel primarily on snow or ice and that utilizes sled-type runners or skis, an endless belt tread, or any combination of these or other similar means of contact with the surface upon which it is operated, but is not a vehicle that must be registered under the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257. See Michigan Laws 324.82101
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
- Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
(b) Specifies accessory equipment to be carried on the snowmobile.
(c) Requires a snowmobile operator to possess a motor vehicle driver license.
(d) Restricts operation of a snowmobile on the frozen surface of public waters or on lands owned by or under the control of the state except pursuant to section 82125.
(2) A board of county road commissioners, a county board of commissioners, and a county have no duty to maintain any highway under their jurisdiction in a condition reasonably safe and convenient for the operation of snowmobiles.
(3) Beginning on October 19, 1993, a board of county road commissioners, a county board of commissioners, and a county are immune from tort liability for injuries or damages sustained by any person arising in any way out of the operation or use of a snowmobile on maintained or unmaintained highways, shoulders, and rights-of-way over which the board of county road commissioners, the county board of commissioners, or the county has jurisdiction. The immunity provided by this subsection does not apply to actions which constitute gross negligence. Gross negligence is defined as conduct so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury results.