Opinion
November 7, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Tanenbaum, J.).
Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, with one bill of costs to the appellants appearing separately and filing separate briefs, the motions are granted, and the complaint is dismissed.
The plaintiffs failed to establish that the plaintiff Leonard F. Stallone sustained a "serious injury" within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102 (d). The only recent medical evidence submitted by the plaintiffs in opposition to the motions for summary judgment, an affidavit attested to by Dr. Frank Oliveto, revealed that Mr. Stallone sustained a sprain to the cervical spine with an unspecified degree of restriction of cervical motion. This affidavit was insufficient to establish that Stallone suffered either "permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system" or "significant limitation of use of a body function or system" (Insurance Law § 5102 [d]; see, Tipping-Cestari v. Kilhenny, 174 A.D.2d 663, 664). The mere use of the words "permanent" and "significant limitation" in the affidavit, which in this case was tailored to meet the statutory requirement, is insufficient to establish "serious injury" (see, Gaddy v. Eyler, 79 N.Y.2d 955; Lopez v. Senatore, 65 N.Y.2d 1017, 1019). Mangano, P.J., Lawrence, Krausman and Goldstein, JJ., concur.