Legal Question in Personal Injury in Pennsylvania

Limited Tort in Pennsylvania

In July 1998, my wife was parked at a stop sign and rear ended by a guy,who she said had the smell of alcohol on his breath.She was hurt and treated by a doctor.Our insurance company informed us that we had limited tort and could not sue.We learned that our insurance company was the other guy's insurance company.We challenged , the insurance company fought us and they won.We were not allowed to bring up the smell of liquor because the local police didn't give him a sobriety test. It was implied that we were suing for the money...and this creep was a 'victim'. He got off. That was last March (2000).Yesterday, he slammed into another stopped car, only this time he killed a pregnant woman (27)and her mother (54). He made NO ATTEMPT TO STOP...there were NO SKID MARKS.If the courts had done their job in my wife's case, he would have lost his license and might not have been on the road yeaterday.Does my wife have any recourse? Can she sue the town (not testing for alcohol) or the insurance company for negligence? Is there anything she can do or? Our lawyer, a friend, did a good job...but there were some mistakes made. I don't think we could ask him to continue the litigation.


Asked on 10/19/00, 5:07 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Re: Limited Tort in Pennsylvania

What you describe certainly is a tragedy but it does not sound like negligence. Your lawyer would be able to give you an opinion because he knows the complete facts.

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Answered on 11/15/00, 10:25 am
Richard Teitell Richard K. Teitell, Esquire, P.C.

Re: Limited Tort in Pennsylvania

It sounds like your wife's case was already fully litigated. Therefore she is unable to re-open the case against the other driver. Also, there is no valid claim against the police for failure to administer a sobriety test. This is a very unfortunate incident. If you haven't already done so, please try to change your insurance policy tort selection to "full tort". You are a first hand witness that the small amount of dollars you saved is not worth giving up your rights to sue. Limited tort really provides almost no protection for you and your family.

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Answered on 11/15/00, 10:26 pm


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