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Caviglia v. Royal Tours of America2/19/2004
ured driver the right to sue for economic damages has not deterred people from driving without insurance. The panel further surmised that a person who did not obtain insurance when faced with the denial of a right to sue for economic damages would not likely be persuaded to obtain insurance when faced with the denial of the right to sue for non-economic damages.
We do not find any proof in the record to support those conclusions. There are an estimated 600,000 New Jersey drivers who operate their vehicles without insurance. Department of Banking and Insurance, Order No. A02-130 (Sept. 6, 2002). We cannot say that that number would not be greater without laws aimed at coercing compliance with our mandatory insurance laws. Moreover, a reasonable person engaging in a cost-benefit analysis might well be persuaded that the loss of the right to sue for non-economic damages is too great a risk to bear for not obtaining insurance. The Legislature may rely on rational intuition and simple logic in determining what laws will advance the public interest.
Judging whether a statute is effective is a matter for policymakers. Hutton Park Gardens v. Town Council of West Orange, 68 N.J. 543, 565 (1975); State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. State, 124 N.J. 32, 45 (1991). We do not pass judgment on the wisdom of a law or render an opinion on whether it represents sound social policy. State Farm, supra, 124 N.J. at 45. That is the prerogative of our elected representatives. We must confine our review to the constitutionality of the statute.
In 1976, in Rybeck v. Rybeck, supra, the trial court turned aside a constitutional challenge to the No Fault Act that was grounded in the argument that the act failed to achieve the success that had been promised by its proponents. 141 N.J. Super. at 493. Judge Richard Cohen addressing the limits of judicial power when passing on the constitutionality of legislation, stated:
The Constitution does not forbid enactments of ill-fated legislation. It does not authorize retrospective judicial review of the sincerity of the proponents' presentation or the accuracy of the legislative fact-finding. An act is not invalid because it does not work very well. At the time of enactment the No Fault Act was reasonably seen as a sensible remedy for a set of real problems. That is sufficient to satisfy the constitutional requirement of due process of law. It does not matter that there may have been other methods of reform the Legislature might have chosen.
[Id. at 492-93.]
Legislatures are empowered to pass laws to meet the pressing social needs of the times, even if those laws seem to others ill-advised or later prove to be failures. Legislatures are entitled to experiment and explore means through which to advance public policy, provided there is a reasonable basis to support the legislation. Williamson v. Lee Optical of Okla. Inc., 348 U.S. 483, 487-88, 75 S. Ct. 461, 464, 99 L. Ed. 563, 572 (1955) (" he law need not be in every respect logically consistent with its aims to be constitutional. It is enough that there is an evil at hand for correction, and that it might be thought that the particular legislative measure was a rational way to correct it."); Day-Brite Lighting, Inc. v. Missouri, 342 U.S. 421, 423, 72 S. Ct. 405, 407, 96 L. Ed. 469, 472 (1952). Thus, we decline to second-guess the Legislature's common-sense reasoning that section 4.5a has the potential to produce greater compliance with compulsory insurance laws and, in turn, reduce litigation, and result in savings to insurance carriers and ultimately the consuming public.
A legislative enactment is presumed to be constitutional and the burden is on those challengi
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