Kennelly-Murray v. Megill

The opinion of the court was delivered by

FISHER, J.A.D.

In this verbal threshold matter, we hold, among other things, that by narrowing one of the bodily injury categories contained in the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act of 1988 (AICRA), N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8—that is, by replacing the pre-existing “fractures” category with a “displaced fractures” category — the Legislature did not intend to bar claims based upon only “non-displaced fractures.” Instead, we conclude that the Legislature intended to relegate such a claim to AICRA’s catch-all category that requires proof of “a permanent injury…