IN A TRIAL SUBJECT TO INSURANCE LAW 5102 THE TERM “SERIOUS INJURY” NOT “INJURY” SHOULD BE USED ON THE VERDICT SHEET (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department noted that the term “serious injury” not “injury” should be used on a verdict sheet in a case involving Insurance Law 5102:
… [W]e … note that the first question on the verdict sheet — i.e., “[w]as the accident . . . a substantial factor in causing an injury to [plaintiff]?” — invites the very problem we addressed in Brown v Ng (163 AD3d 1464, 1465 [4th Dept 2018]), where we noted that an interrogatory asking whether the plaintiff sustained an “injury” fails to address the appropriate legal issue, which is whether the plaintiff sustained a serious injury within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102 (d). The first question on the verdict sheet was unnecessary here inasmuch as the second and third questions asked the jury to determine whether plaintiff sustained a serious injury under the relevant categories that was causally related to the accident. McCulloch v New York Cent. Mut. Ins. Co., 2019 NY Slip Op 06254, Fourth Dept 8-22-19