Court Opinion

ID: 9732217
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:12:16.117579+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:13.149702
License: Public Domain

MONTEMURO, Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
Although I would concur in the majority’s treatment of the procedural issue, I would strongly dissent as to the substantive matters in this case. As is correctly pointed out, “The task of interpreting a contract is generally performed by a Court rather than by a jury.” Standard Venetian Blind Co. v. American Empire Insurance Co., 503 Pa. 300, 304, 469 A.2d 563, 566 (1983). Here, in regard to the single crucial question in the case, that is whether *480appellee Stuck had a reasonable belief in his own entitlement to drive the vehicle, the trial Court specifically instructed the jury to undertake this function. (N.T. 24) Because the instruction directly contradicts Pennsylvania law, this portion may not be isolated from the remainder of the charge as it irremediably taints the whole, and fails to offer proper guidance to the jury in its deliberations.
Further, this contract of automobile insurance does not contemplate coverage for the deliberate perpetration of an illegality, as is clear from the reasonableness requirement. Had appellant’s policy merely referred to the insurability of permissive users as did the agreement in Federal Kemper Insurance Co. v. Neary, 366 Pa.Super. 135, 530 A.2d 929 (1987), there would be no difficulty in finding coverage for Stuck. See Kelly, P.D., Blashfield Automobile Law and Practice, Vol. 8, § 321.5 (1987). However, the clause here under examination speaks of reasonable belief, a phrase which implies the exercise of sound judgment. Insofar as the test for such a belief is concerned, it “takes into account a variety of circumstances, including the borrower’s age, personality, and social milieu, and the effect of such attendant influences on his judgment and mind as may be credibly discerned from the proofs.” Miller v. U.S.F. & G. Co., 28 D. & C.3d 389 (1983).
At the time of the accident Brian Stuck was 23 years old and a high school graduate. He admitted, both in deposition and at trial, to knowledge that it was illegal to operate a motor vehicle without a license, and that his prior driving experience had been limited. Although, given all these factors, it is remotely possible that Stuck thought himself “entitled,” that is, empowered by permission of the owner to operate the car simply by virtue of having been handed the keys, that conclusion involves more wishful thinking than reasonableness. Such judgment as it demonstrates is neither sound nor rational since it endows the (putative) teenage owner of an automobile with the authority to permit an activity, driving without a license, which the state clearly and specifically forbids.
*481The majority also finds that there is ambiguity in the concept of entitlement sufficient to require an express exclusion of unlicensed drivers from coverage. From the dictionary definitions and usage of the word in the policy, I would find no lack of clarity. Moreover, within the context of this case, the specifics of entitlement matter less than Stuck’s knowledge that he was prohibited by law from operating any automobile. We therefore arrive where we began, with the question of reasonableness.
I would reverse.