462 A.2d 836 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1983
The issue in this appeal is whether Section 201 of the Pennsylvania No-fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act
Sherry Greider, a minor and a resident of Pennsylvania, was an occupant of a vehicle owned and operated by Steven Stackhouse, also a resident of Pennsylvania, when the vehicle was involved in a one-car accident in Berlin, New Jersey, on July 5, 1978. Neither Sherry Greider nor any member of her household owned an automobile or was an insured under a policy of motor vehicle insurance. The vehicle owned and operated by Stackhouse was not an insured vehicle, and Stackhouse was not insured under any other policy of insurance. Sherry filed a claim for basic loss
Section 201 of the No-Fault Act provides:
“Right to basic loss benefits; limitation on benefits
(a) Accident within this State.—If the accident resulting in injury occurs in this Commonwealth, any victim or any survivor of a deceased victim is entitled to receive basic loss benefits in accordance with the provisions of this act.
(b) Accident outside this State.—If the accident resulting in injury occurs outside of this Commonwealth, a victim or a survivor of a deceased victim is entitled to receive basic loss benefits if such victim was or is:
(1) an insured; or
(2) the driver or other occupant of a secured vehicle.”
40 P.S. § 1009.201.
It is apparent that the No-fault Act distinguishes between injuries attributable to accidents occuring within
Appellants argue that the denial of basic loss benefits to an uninsured victim injured outside of Pennsylvania while a passenger in an uninsured vehicle violates the victim’s right to equal protection and due process. We disagree.
It is well settled that “[t]he establishment of boundaries for varied treatment is a function oft-performed by the legislature and seldom questioned by the courts. Goodman v. Kennedy, 459 Pa. 313, 326-327, 329 A.2d 224, 228-29 (1974).” Singer v. Sheppard, supra 464 Pa. at 403, 346 A.2d at 905 (footnote omitted). “ ‘[T]he Fourteenth Amendment does not deny to States the power to treat different classes of persons in different ways.’ Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71, 75, 92 S.Ct. 251, 253, 30 L.Ed.2d 225 (1971), and cases cited therein. Except where an invidious discrimination against a suspected class is at issue or a fundamental right burdened, ‘a legislative classification must be sustained unless it is “patently arbitrary” and bears no rational relationship to a legitimate governmental interest.’ Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 683, 93 S.Ct. 1764, 1768, 36 L.Ed.2d 583 (1973).” Singer v. Sheppard, supra 464 Pa. at 402, 346 A.2d at 904-905 (footnotes omitted). Moreover, “legislation need not correct a social problem in its entirety with one totally encompassing enactment. ‘Evils in the same field may be of different dimensions and proportions, requiring different remedies. Or so the legislature may think. Or the reform may take one step at a time, addressing itself to the phase of the problem which seems most acute to the legislative mind. The legislature may select one phase of one field and apply a remedy there, neglecting the others.’ ” Id., 464 Pa. at 407, 346 A.2d at 907 quoting Williamson v. Lee Optical Company, 348 U.S. 483, 489, 75 S.Ct. 461, 465, 99 L.Ed. 563 (1955) (emphasis in original). The legislative determination to limit the provisions of the Pennsylvania No-fault Act to accidents occurring in Pennsylvania and/or accidents in which the victim or vehicle is insured pursuant to the Pennsylvania No-fault Act is clearly reasonable and rationally related to the legitimate purposes of the Act. See:
Appellants have not been denied due process of law by reason of their inability to recover no-fault benefits from the Pennsylvania Assigned Claims Plan. “The Plan is a statutorily created fund designed as a safeguard for unforeseen situations in which no carrier which receives premiums is available to respond. 40 P.S. § 1009.108.” Borrell v. Continental Casualty Co., supra 310 Pa.Super. at 558, 456 A.2d at 1077 (emphasis supplied). The fund is composed of moneys collected from insurers who provide insurance within the Commonwealth and not from state treasury funds. 40 P.S. § 1009.108(b). While appellants are precluded from recovering basic loss benefits under the No-fault Act, they remain free to pursue recovery of all resulting damages in a common law tort action. 40 P.S. § 1009.301. Provisions such as are contained in the No-fault law clearly do not violate due process or equal protection principles under the federal Constitution. The challenged provisions of the No-fault Act being constitutional, the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of appellee is affirmed.
Order affirmed.
. Act of July 19, 1974, P.L. 489, No. 176, § 201, 40 P.S. § 1009.201.
. On appeal to this Court, Mrs. Ryan has not contended that the dismissal of that part of the complaint seeking work loss benefits in her own right was improper.
. We observe that such victims are not precluded from purchasing insurance providing coverage for such injuries.