Man can sue for exacerbation of his previous injuries

Luke Arntz's car struck two of Mark Laper's cows that were wandering loose in the road in Montcalm County.  The Defendants sought to dismiss his claim, arguing that he had not proved any real injury because by June of 2007, he was walking 8 miles a day, had stoped taking his medications and had returned to his pre-accident level of pain and disability.  The trial judge apparently misunderstood the Defendants' argument and ruled that since Arntz was "back to normal" within two months of the injury, he could not prove that any of his problems were related to the April, 2005, collision.  The higher court reversed and sent the case back to the trial court for trial.  It pointed out that even if Defendants' evidence established beyond dispute that Arntz was fine within two years, this finding would not exclude his right to prove that he suffered pain and disability in the interim. 

Since Laper's liability arose out of failing to confine his animals and not "out of the use, ownership and maintenance of a motor vehicle," he was not entitled to the "serioum impairment" threshold defense in the no fault statute.