Licari v. Elliott

The Plaintiff, injured in a motor vehicle accident in February 1979, was diagnosed with a concussion, acute cervical sprain, acute dorsal lumbar sprain and a contusion of the chest and returned home later that day. Two days later he consulted with his physician and was admitted to the hospital for tests, which showed no damage. He was released and 24 days after the accident, he returned to his job as a taxi driver, resuming work with only minor limitations. The Plaintiff testified that he could not do various household chores and that he had occasional transitory headaches and dizzy spells which aspirin relieved. The Defendant then moved to dismiss, claiming the Plaintiff failed to establish that this injury met any of the threshold requirements of serious injury as defined by the Insurance Law. The court submitted the case to the jury on the theories that, in order to recover, the Plaintiff must have (1) suffered an injury which prevented him from performing all his daily act ivities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the accident or (2) that as a result of the accident he sustained a significant limitation of use of a body function or system. The jury found for the Plaintiff. The Appellate Division reversed and dismissed the complaint, holding that the Plaintiff had failed, as a matter of law, to prove a serious injury under either definition.