Michigan Government Vehicle Accident Attorney

The vehicle that hit you had a city seal on the door, a light bar on the roof, or a county road commission number on the plow blade. Maybe you were a passenger on a SMART bus when the driver slammed the brakes. Now you are hearing that the government cannot be sued.

That is not true in Michigan, but the rules differ from an ordinary crash, and some notice deadlines are as short as 60 days. Auto accident attorneys at Vahdat Weisman Law represent people hurt in crashes with police cars, fire trucks, public buses, school buses, snowplows, and city and county vehicles. Call (734) 469-4994 for a free consultation. No attorney fee unless we recover for you.

Can You Sue the Government After a Car Crash?

Yes, when the driver was a government employee, and the vehicle belonged to the government. Michigan’s governmental immunity law carves out vehicle crashes. Agencies “shall be liable for bodily injury and property damage resulting from the negligent operation” of a motor vehicle the agency owns, by any of its officers, agents, or employees (MCL 691.1405).

“Governmental agency” covers the State of Michigan and its departments, public universities, cities, villages, townships, counties, county road commissions, school districts, community college districts, and transportation authorities such as SMART (MCL 691.1401(a), (e), (g)).

Three parts of that exception matter most:

The agency has to own the vehicle. Many cities hire private trash haulers, and many ambulances are privately run. If a private company owns the vehicle, immunity does not apply, and the claim proceeds like any other crash.

The vehicle has to be “in operation.” The Michigan Supreme Court reads that word to mean driving the vehicle and activities directly associated with driving (Chandler v Muskegon County, 467 Mich 315 (2002)). Backing a garbage truck down a street is driving. Loading and unloading passengers is part of the “operation” of a bus (Martin v Rapid Inter-Urban Transit Partnership, 480 Mich 936 (2007)).

It has to be a “motor vehicle.” The Court reads that phrase narrowly as “an automobile, truck, bus, or similar motor-driven conveyance,” and held that a city forklift did not qualify (Stanton v City of Battle Creek, 466 Mich 611 (2002)). Cruisers, fire engines, buses, and plow trucks fit that definition.

What You Can Recover, and What You Cannot

If the exception applies, you can recover losses flowing from your physical injury, including economic losses such as lost wages beyond what no-fault pays and noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering (Hannay v. Department of Transportation, 497 Mich 45 (2014)). Hannay also held these claims remain subject to no-fault limits.

Pain and suffering requires death, a “serious impairment of body function,” or permanent serious disfigurement (MCL 500.3135(1)); our page on the serious impairment threshold explains that standard. Medical expenses and wage loss above your PIP coverage level can be claimed from the at-fault side (MCL 500.3135(3)(c)).

A spouse’s loss-of-consortium claim is not recoverable under the vehicle exception because it is not a bodily injury to the person bringing it (Wesche v Mecosta County Road Commission, 480 Mich 75 (2008)).

Damage to your car is separate.

A Police Car Hit Me While It Was Responding to a Call

When responding to an emergency call or chasing a suspect, the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle may proceed through a red light or stop sign after slowing as needed for safe operation and may exceed the speed limit as long as life and property are not endangered (MCL 257.603(3)).

Those privileges come with conditions:

• The vehicle generally has to sound an audible signal when reasonably necessary and display flashing red or blue lights visible from 500 feet (MCL 257.603(4)). Police have a narrow exception for a silent run where silence is required (MCL 257.603(5)).
• The privileges do not apply on the return trip from an emergency call (MCL 257.603(2)).
• The driver still has “the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of persons using the highway” (MCL 257.653(2)), and the speed exemption does not protect against “a reckless disregard of the safety of others” (MCL 257.632).

Whether the emergency was real, whether the lights and siren were on, and whether the driver slowed are factual questions. The agency you are claiming against holds the dash camera video and dispatch logs, so request them early in writing.

What If Police Were Chasing Someone Else?

Pursuit crashes follow a stricter rule. The Michigan Supreme Court held that a city was not liable to people hurt in a crash at the end of a chase where the police cars did not hit the fleeing car or physically force it off the road or into another vehicle or object, and that the decision to pursue is not itself negligent operation (Robinson v. City of Detroit, 462 Mich 439 (2000)). The Court also held that police owe a duty to innocent passengers in the fleeing car but no duty to passengers who are themselves wrongdoers. What the police vehicle physically did is the central fact.

Can You Sue the Officer or Driver Personally?

Usually the claim runs against the agency. A public employee acting within the scope of his or her authority is immune unless the conduct amounts to gross negligence that is “the proximate cause” of the injury (MCL 691.1407(2)). Gross negligence means “conduct so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury results” (MCL 691.1407(8)(a)).

“The proximate cause” means “the one most immediate, efficient, and direct cause preceding an injury,” not just one of several causes (Robinson). A personal claim against a driver is usually brought alongside the claim against the agency, not instead of it.

Is There a Special Deadline? Often More Than One

The general three-year deadline for injury lawsuits still applies (MCL 600.5805(2)), but depending on who owns the vehicle, a shorter notice clock may run first.

State vehicles (Michigan State Police, MDOT trucks and plows, public university vehicles and buses): for personal injury or property damage, a written claim or notice of intent must be filed with the clerk of the Michigan Court of Claims within 6 months after the crash, signed and verified before an officer authorized to administer oaths (MCL 600.6431(2), (4)). That rule applies no matter which court the case is filed in (Christie v Wayne State University, 511 Mich 39 (2023)). The lawsuit itself must come within three years (MCL 600.6452(1)). In a death case, the wrongful death saving provision can extend that notice period (Estate of Hana St. Juliana v. State Police, No. 370427 (Mich Ct App, July 17, 2025)).

SMART buses: written notice of a claim for injury to persons or property must be served on the authority no later than 60 days from the crash (MCL 124.419). A no-fault application is not notice of an injury lawsuit, the authority’s own knowledge of the crash does not count, and no showing of harm to SMART is required for dismissal (Atkins v Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, 492 Mich 707 (2012), opinion).

City, county, township and school district vehicles: the 120-day notice in MCL 691.1404 is written for defective-road claims, not vehicle crashes.

Federal vehicles (U.S. Postal Service trucks, military and federal agency vehicles): you must present a written claim to the federal agency within two years, and you have six months to sue after the agency mails a final denial (28 USC 2401(b)). You cannot sue the federal driver personally for an on-the-job crash; the United States is substituted as the defendant (28 USC 2679(b), (d)).

Until you know who owns the vehicle, assume the shortest deadline applies.

I Was Hurt on a Bus. Who Pays My Medical Bills?

No-fault still applies. Personal injury protection (PIP) covers your medical bills and wage loss, and priority rules decide which insurer pays.

If you have a Michigan auto policy, or live with a spouse or relative who does, that policy usually pays first (MCL 500.3114(1)). Passengers on a school bus or on “a bus operating under a government-sponsored transportation program” generally claim from their own household policy, and the bus’s insurer pays only if no other policy applies (MCL 500.3114(2)(a), (c)). By contrast, the bus driver generally claims from the bus’s insurer. SMART’s 60-day notice does not apply to your PIP claim (Atkins), but PIP has its own one-year notice rule under MCL 500.3145.

If you were walking or biking when a city vehicle hit you and no one in your household has a policy, you claim through the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MCL 500.3115). Our bus accident, pedestrian accident, and PIP benefits disputes pages cover those claims in more detail.

Snowplows and Road Crews

A county or MDOT plow truck is a motor vehicle, and the vehicle exception applies to its negligent operation, as with any other government truck. Vehicles actually engaged in work on the road surface are exempt from some rules of the road while working, but not while traveling to or from the job (MCL 257.603(6)). A crash caused by an unplowed or broken road is different; road conditions fall under the highway exception and its own notice rules, explained on our pothole and road defect page.

Why Choose Vahdat Weisman Law?

Government vehicle cases turn on quickly identifying the vehicle’s owner, serving the right notice on the right agency in the form the statute requires, and obtaining records the agency controls. We handle the no-fault claim at the same time, so we address your medical bills while we build your injury claim.

From our Livonia office, we represent injured people and their families throughout Michigan. Founding partners Kara E. Weisman and Jordan S. Vahdat have each been honored as Super Lawyers Rising Stars. Our attorneys are members of the State Bar of Michigan and active in the Michigan Association for Justice. We advance case costs, we work in English and Spanish, and we are available 24/7.

Frequently Asked Questions

• A city garbage truck backed into my car. Who do I file against? Find out who owns the truck. If the city owns it and a city employee was driving, MCL 691.1405 applies, and backing up is operating the truck. If your city uses a private hauler, the claim is against that company under ordinary rules.
• The police officer said the crash was my fault because his lights were on. Is that the end of it? Flashing lights alone do not settle fault. The exemptions depend on an actual emergency run, an audible signal when reasonably necessary, and slowing before a red light; the officer still owes due regard for others on the road (MCL 257.603, MCL 257.653(2)).
• My husband was hurt by a county truck. Can I bring my own claim? Not for loss of consortium under the vehicle exception (Wesche, 480 Mich 75). His own claim can include economic losses and, if he meets the no-fault threshold, pain and suffering.

About the Author

Jordan S. Vahdat is a founding partner of Vahdat Weisman Law in Livonia and handles negligence, premises liability, auto accident, and insurance dispute cases. He has been admitted to all Michigan state courts since 2014, practices in the Eastern District of Michigan, and has served as a case evaluator for the Washtenaw Circuit Trial Court and the 15th District Court since 2020. He is fluent in Spanish.

Talk to a Michigan Government Vehicle Accident Lawyer

If a police car, public bus, plow, or city truck hit you, call Vahdat Weisman Law at (734) 469-4994 or contact us online for a free consultation. Available 24/7, serving all of Michigan, with Spanish-speaking staff.

Dedicated to Justice. Devoted to You. Winning for Your Future.

Reviewed by Jordan S. Vahdat, Vahdat Weisman Law. Last reviewed October 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future success.