I am again dismayed at the lack of respect for the rights of individuals and the inadequate dispensing of justice displayed by our New Jersey Supreme Court in the recent decision by Justice LaVecchia, joined by Chief Justice Rabner and Justice Solomon, in Joshua Haines v. Jacob W. Taft, A 13/14-17, September Term 2017, disregarded the original policy of New Jersey’s “no fault” law, which was to make certain that the medical bills of New Jersey citizens injured in car accidents were paid, regardless of fault, through one’s own carrier (hence the name “no fault”). The concern was to have medical treatment available to those injured and the bills paid no matter who was at fault. To the extent that bills were in excess of PIP policy limits, the bills would be “boardable” in a claim against an at-fault driver—no longer under Haines.

The “no fault” law has evolved in such a way that to call it “no fault” now makes no sense—deductible and copay are the responsibility of the injured party, regardless of fault, and the options for choosing the amount of coverage for medical payments through PIP often results in exhaustion of benefits, resulting in unpaid medical bills for the injured party. If the injured party is at fault, the remedy is for the injured party to pay the bills. If the injured party is not at fault and the victim of someone else’s negligence, the injured party is left in the same position as the injured party who is at fault, as a result of this perversion of the “no fault” law espoused by Justice LaVecchia in Haines.