(Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from an article in the June 2023 edition of the NJSBA Insurance Law Section Newsletter. Members can read the full edition here.)
In a unique case stemming from two separate accidents occurring one-half hour apart, the Appellate Division recently held that the decedent’s failure to insure his vehicle did not bar his claim for personal injuries resulting from a second accident a half-hour after the first accident as he attempted to retrieve a cell phone from his disabled vehicle.
The decedent, Najim Memudu, was operating his vehicle when he was involved in an accident with defendant Hameed. Memudu was not injured in that first impact. However, his vehicle was disabled and approximately a half-hour later, a second vehicle driven by defendant Gonzalez struck Memudu’s vehicle while Memudu was searching for his cell phone, causing Memudu’s death.
At the time of the accident, Memudu’s vehicle was uninsured. Therefore, the issue was whether the statutory bar to recovering for those “operating” uninsured vehicles at the time of an accident invoked to bar decedent’s claim in its entirety. The trial Court held that the decedent’s claim as a result of the second impact was not barred and the Appellate Division affirmed.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5(a), any person who at the time of an auto accident is required but fails to maintain medical expense benefits coverage has no cause of action for economic or non-economic loss sustained as a result of an accident while operating the uninsured automobile. The Appellate Division noted that the case turned on the issue of whether the decedent was fatally injured “while operating” his uninsured vehicle. The Court concluded that he was not because his vehicle was inoperable prior to the second and fatal accident and considerable time passed between the two accidents. Therefore, the Appellate Division held that the decedent’s estate could pursue a claim as a result of the second accident in spite of the fact that the decedent’s vehicle was uninsured at the time of both accidents.