Introduced
by
To revise the definition of "serious impairment of body function" in the no fault auto insurance law. A person who causes such an injury may be subject to a lawsuit for “pain and suffering” damages otherwise barred by the no fault law. Under the bill the new definition would be an injury that “IN SOME WAY AND FOR SOME TIME, affected the injured person's ability” to lead his or her normal life,” rather than that the current law’s “affected the person’s GENERAL ability . . .” This would reverse recent controversial Supreme Court decisions in Kreiner v. Fischer and Straub v. Collette, which held that serious impairment must exist for an extended period. This is part of a Democratic insurance regulation package.
Referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions
