Court Opinion

ID: 9642218
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:52:28.484062+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:31:07.576528
License: Public Domain

*548WATKINS, Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the result reached by the Majority.
The Act setting forth the time periods in which a civil action may be maintained is not unconstitutional merely because it fails to make a special exception for minors. Von Colin v. Pa.R.R. Co., 367 Pa. 232, 80 A.2d 83 (1951). Furthermore any possible harm which may be suffered by a minor whose parents or guardians fail to initiate any action against a potential tortious wrongdoer within the appropriate time period may be outweighed by the chaos, uncertainty, and severe prejudice which will occur to those accused of tortious conduct, their insurance carriers, and ultimately to the insurance carriers’ ratepayers when lawsuits are permitted to be initiated decades after the occurrence of the incident giving rise thereto. Before such a sweeping change is made the question of “reserve requirements” imposed on insurance carriers and the resulting effect on insurance rates as well as many other issues must be addressed. The Legislature, and not the courts, is the proper forum for the resolution of such issues.