Timothy F. Rayne, Esquire

Pennsylvania's Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law provides that persons purchasing automobile insurance must make a choice of tort options – either limited tort or full tort. Although there are financial savings involved with selecting limited tort, there are also consequences involving your legal rights and those of your family.

Full Tort Versus Limited Tort
Full tort is an election you make on your auto insurance policy that allows you and the other persons covered by your policy to seek compensation for economic and non-economic damages sustained in a motor vehicle accident that was the fault of another driver.

Economic damages would include lost wages and car repair bills. Non-economic damages are intangible and include compensation for pain and suffering and emotional distress.

A Limited tort election on your auto insurance policy allows you and other persons covered by your policy to recover economic damages but generally precludes the recovery of non-economic damages except in the case of a "serious injury."

Defining Serious Injury
The Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law defines "serious injury" as a "personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of a bodily function, or permanent serious disfigurement." Although the term "death" has a clear definition and determining what constitutes "permanent serious disfigurement" is not too difficult, the Pennsylvania courts have struggled with the issue of what qualifies as a "serious impairment of a bodily function."

The courts have ruled that the following factors must be considered:

1. The extent of the impairment;
2. The particular bodily function impaired;
3. The duration of the impairment; and
4. The treatment necessary to correct or alleviate the impairment.

To date, the courts have been extremely reluctant to find that a "serious impairment of a bodily function" exists.

Even injuries that linger on painfully for months have not qualified. Accordingly, it is difficult to pursue a claim for non-economic damages under limited tort absent injuries which are both disabling and long-lasting.

When can an individual with limited tort sue for non-economic damages?
Under the following circumstances, a person who has selected limited tort is still able to recover non-economic damages without proving a "serious injury":

1. If the driver at fault was driving under the influence and is convicted or accepts Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD);
2. If the driver at fault was operating a vehicle registered in another state;
3. If the driver at fault intended to injure himself or another person; or
4. If the driver at fault was not insured as required by the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law.

Conclusion
Ultimately, choosing a tort option is a personal decision that is best made by each individual. But it is important to fully understand and appreciate the consequences of each available option in the event of a serious accident or litigation.

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