DIANE CAMERON V AUTO CLUB INSUR ASSN
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
DIANE CAMERON and JAMES CAMERON, coGuardians of the Estate of DANIEL CAMERON,
FOR PUBLICATION
July 13, 2004
9:20 a.m.
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v
No. 248315
Washtenaw Circuit Court
LC No. 02-000549-NF
AUTO CLUB INSURANCE ASSOCIATION,
Defendant-Appellant.
Official Reported Version
Before: Fitzgerald, P.J., and Bandstra and Schuette, JJ.
FITZGERALD, P.J. (concurring.)
Before the 1993 amendment of MCL 600.5851(1), courts consistently held that the
general saving provision of the Revised Judicature Act applied to all causes of action created by
Michigan statutes, even when the statute creating the right contained its own limitations period.
Thus, courts held that the one-year statute of limitations in MCL 500.3145(1) of the no-fault act
is subject to the minority provision of § 5851(1), giving a minor one year of grace after
termination of the disability of minority in which to commence an action. See, e.g., Rawlins v
Aetna Cas & Surety Co, 92 Mich App 268, 271; 284 NW2d 782 (1979).
MCL 600.5851(1) was amended in 1993 and the wording was changed from "an action"
to "an action under this act." I reluctantly concur with the majority's conclusion that, since the
effective date of the 1993 amendment, the general saving provision does not apply to actions
commenced under the no-fault act because the legal analysis is supported by the well-established
rules of statutory construction. However, I do not believe that the Legislature intended this result
and, therefore, I urge the Legislature to amend § 5851(1). Minors or insane persons are under
the same disability whether their actions are under the RJA or the no-fault act. "[T]he defendant
in one case is generally in no greater need than the defendant in the other of protection from
delay in commencement of the action." See Lambert v Calhoun, 394 Mich 179, 190-191; 229
NW2d 332 (1975).
/s/ E. Thomas Fitzgerald
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