The Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRL) created the “limited tort” option in this commonwealth, which limits a person who elects for that option from recovering non-economic damages, with certain exceptions. One exception is that the MVFRL allows a claimant to recover economic damages where they are deemed to have suffered a “serious injury.” The “serious injury” exception now requires defense attorneys to evaluate whether the limited tort claimant’s injuries are so serious that they will be able to recover non-economic damages, and whether a dispositive motion on the issue is warranted. This article attempts to identify factual patterns that have led Pennsylvania courts to decide dispositive motions on the issue of “serious injury” in favor of the defense.

The term “serious injury” is defined by 75 Pa.C.S. § 1702 as “a personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement.” This leaves three categories of personal injuries that can enable a limited tort claimant to collect non-economic damages. Analyses of death and serious disfigurement do not appear to be heavily litigated within the commonwealth, and this article therefore focuses on facts giving rise to a successful dispositive motion determining that a claimant has not suffered a “serious impairment.”

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