Court Opinion

ID: 9735152
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:03:57.995747+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:55.783765
License: Public Domain

NIGRO, Justice,
dissenting.
Since I believe the real estate exception to sovereign immunity clearly applies to the instant case, I must respectfully dissent. Unlike the majority, I see the guardrail as an obvious part of the highway and therefore, cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that the real estate exception is not triggered by the absence of a guardrail on the shoulder of the road. If, as the majority contends, the absence of a guardrail does not affect the safety of the road for travel, I question why the Commonwealth would ever place a guardrail on a highway in the first place. For example, in the instant case, it seems clear that an appropriately placed guardrail at the scene of the accident would have stopped Mr. Bell’s truck from sliding over the embankment and therefore, would have prevented the serious injuries incurred by Ms. Dean.