Court Opinion

ID: 9769835
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 15:03:03.352716+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:08.465288
License: Public Domain

GRAVES, Justice,
concurring.
I join in the majority opinion and also file this concurring opinion. The majority opinion correctly interprets KRS 186A.010. Any other interpretation would insulate and protect irresponsible buyers who disobey the law by placing an undue and unfair burden on sellers who obey the law. The duty of properly registering the title of a motor vehicle is the obligation of the purchaser when the seller has provided all documents required by the transferring statute, KRS 186A.215. The responsible seller who complies with every requirement of the transferring statute should not be placed at the mercy of the *40irresponsible buyer who fails to comply with the statute.
Also, the majority opinion precludes an adverse economic impact on all sellers of automobiles. For example, if a vehicle is sold, paid for, and delivered after the county offices are closed on a Friday, the title transfer cannot take place until the following Monday because the government offices are closed and the state computers are down for the weekend. Therefore, the buyer is operating the vehicle, still insured by the seller, for several days. This creates a myriad of unforeseeable risks from which a prudent seller can only be completely protected by selling vehicles exclusively while the appropriate government offices are open. This would certainly place Kentucky automobile sellers at a competitive disadvantage with sellers in bordeiing states who do not have comparable burdens.
While it would achieve a good and wholesome result to provide insurance coverage for injured innocent third parties when an automobile purchaser has failed to procure insurance, providing this coverage at the expense of the seller merely because the buyer has not obeyed the law would reward irresponsibility. It is the prerogative of the legislature to write a statute achieving the result desired by the minority.
COOPER and JOHNSTONE, JJ., join in this concurring opinion.