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Commonwealth1/20/2004
accident investigations and safety studies "for the purpose of determining the causes of traffic accidents and the improvements which may help prevent similar . . . accidents or increase the overall safety of roadways and bridges." 75 Pa.C.S. § 3754(a). Subsection (b) limits the involvement of PennDOT in civil litigation over those investigations and studies and allows PennDOT to obtain candid information without fear of potential financial liability. See 75 Pa.C.S. § 3754(b). Accordingly, because both subsections relate to PennDOT's authority to conduct accident investigations and safety studies, they are in pari materia and must be construed together. See 1 Pa.C.S. § 1932; Hamilton v. Unionville-Chadds Ford Sch. Dist., 714 A.2d 1012, 1015 (Pa. 1998) (middle school discipline code and discipline section of school district's student code were in pari materia because both applied to same subject matter, even though they did not apply to the same class of persons); Rosen v. Bureau of Prof'l & Occupational Affairs, State Architects Licensure Bd., 763 A.2d 962, 965-66 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2000) (Architects Licensure Law and the Engineer, Land Surveyor and Geologist Registration Law should be read in pari materia because the primary purpose of both statutes is the same).
In reading subsections (a) and (b) together, it is clear that the privilege set forth in subsection (b) relates to the purpose set forth in subsection (a), which is to improve traffic safety by empowering PennDOT to conduct investigations and safety studies. In other words, the protections created by subsection (b) exist to serve the purposes enunciated in subsection (a). Given this statutory construct, I agree with the Superior Court that the privilege set forth in subsection (b) is limited and may be given effect only to the extent necessary to further the purpose of allowing PennDOT to obtain accurate and honest information in its efforts to increase traffic safety without fear of incurring civil liability. See
Stewart, 690 A.2d at 197 (evidentiary privileges should be applied only to the extent that they satisfy the public good). It is absolutely clear, at least in my view, that withholding facts and data from Appellee for use in the preparation of his defense against the criminal charges lodged against him does nothing to improve traffic safety. Thus, I disagree with the majority that the privilege at issue here is absolute and wholly protects PennDOT from disclosing all of the information Appellee seeks.
Like the trial court, however, I would restrict Appellee's access to the information and limit its use "only for purposes connected with the preparation and presentation of the defense" of the criminal charges against Appellee. Trial Ct. Order, 3/9/98, at 2. I would also limit PennDOT's disclosure to facts and data, and exclude all non-factual material from discovery. As now-President Judge Del Sole reasoned in his concurring and dissenting opinion below, facts and data gathered in accident investigations and safety studies do not, in and of themselves, subject PennDOT to the burdens of civil litigation. Rather, it is the opinions and conclusions formed by its employees and experts in reliance on those facts and data that expose PennDOT to potential civil liability, and therefore, it is those opinions and conclusions, rather than the facts and data themselves, that must be protected from disclosure.
PennDOT argues, however, that any disclosure, including a limited disclosure such as the one I would permit in the instant case, would have a chilling effect on PennDOT's ability to obtain candid and accurate information. This fear is simply unfounded. While I recognize the importance of allowing PennDOT to
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