Court Opinion

ID: 9711515
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:33:34.974373+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:05.587673
License: Public Domain

Riley, C.J.
(dissenting). In Scheurman v Dep’t of Transportation, 434 Mich 619, 631; 456 NW2d 66 (1990), we interpreted § 2 of the governmental *326immunity act1 and stated the " 'improved portion of the highway designed for vehicular travel’ refers only to the traveled portion, paved or unpaved, of the roadbed actually designed for public vehicular travel.”
I agree with Justice Griffin that a plain reading of the definition of "shoulder” in the Motor Vehicle Code2 precludes the extension of the government’s duty to road shoulders pursuant to § 2. However, I also believe that the definition of "shoulder”3 in the Motor Vehicle Code is logically inconsistent and does not comport with the realities of highway driving.
There can be no doubt that, to a limited extent, shoulders are designed and used for vehicular travel. Shoulders have to accommodate vehicles in emergency situations. To reach the shoulder and come to a stop, a vehicle necessarily has to "travel” on the shoulder. Also, vehicles may have to attain a high rate of speed on road shoulders in order to ease back into trafile. Furthermore, many highways and roads, such as the highway in this case, have paved shoulders. The fact that a shoulder is paved lends support to the idea that shoulders are designed to accommodate limited vehicular travel.
Thus, I would urge the Legislature to amend the definition of "shoulder” in the Motor Vehicle Code, or create a new definition for the governmental immunity act. I ask the Legislature to recognize *327that road shoulders do accommodate vehicular travel. Though a shoulder is not a main traveled lane, the government should be responsible for maintaining a shoulder reasonably safe for its intended use. Such a definition would be consistent with this Court’s interpretation of §2 in Scheurman.

 MCL 691.1401 et seq.; MSA 3.996(101) et seq.

 MCL 257.1 et seq.; MSA 9.1801 et seq.

 MCL 257.59a; MSA 9.1859(1) provides:
"Shoulder” means that portion of the highway contiguous to the roadway generally extending the contour of the roadway, not designed for vehicular travel but maintained for the temporary accommodation of disabled or stopped vehicles otherwise permitted on the roadway. [Emphasis added.]