Court Opinion

ID: 9703009
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:36:44.029967+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:44.829475
License: Public Domain

POPOVICH, Judge,
concurring:
I join the Majority in its ruling on a subject (i.e., the Pennsylvania No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act) that on occasion has been labelled anything but lucid. In the case at bar, however, the law quite clearly affords “to the purchaser of insurance” access to “basic loss benefits” to compensate those victims injured in motor vehicle accidents. 40 P.S. § 1009.102(b). In Pennsylvania the law mandates that every owner of a motor vehicle registered or operated in this Commonwealth must have motor vehicle insurance. 40 P.S. § 1009.104(a).
At the outset we note the unusual facts of this case preclude David Tierney from recovering any benefits under the No-Fault Act, as correctly pointed out by the Majority, since the accident occurred outside of the Commonwealth and neither Tierney nor the vehicle in which he was injured was insured. 40 P.S. § 1009.201(b)(1) & (2). Furthermore, *310inasmuch as no other insured vehicles were involved in the accident, there is no security from which Tierney could recover under the No-Fault Act. 40 P.S. §§ 1009.204(a), 1009.108(a)(1)(E) and 1009.201(b)(1) & (2).
Consequently, Tierney “must resort to a tort action if he is to recover damages. While it is true that the No-[F]ault Act has partially abolished tort liability for motor vehicle injuries, this abolition applies only to injuries that take place in the Commonwealth. Section 301(a) of the No-[F]ault Act, 40 P.S. § 1009.301(a). Thus, [Tierney] has a tort action.” Lyngarkos v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Depart. of Trans., 57 Pa.Cmwlth. 121, 124, 426 A.2d 1195, 1198 (1981).