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A1584
ASSEMBLY, No. 1584
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman SEAN T. KEAN
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
���� Allows law enforcement officer to immediately impound
motor vehicle operated by uninsured driver.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning motor vehicle liability insurance and
amending
P.L.1972, c.197.�
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 2 of P.L.1972,
c.197 (C.39:6B-2) is amended to read as follows:
���� 2.���
a.
� An owner or
registrant of a motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this State
who operates or causes to be operated a motor vehicle upon any public road or
highway in this State without motor vehicle liability insurance coverage
required by P.L.1972, c.197 (C.39:6B-1 et seq.), and an operator who operates
or causes a motor vehicle to be operated and who knows or should know from the
attendant circumstances that the motor vehicle is without motor vehicle
liability insurance coverage required by P.L.1972, c.197 (C.39:6B-1 et seq.)
shall be subject, for the first offense, to a fine of not less than $300 nor
more than $1,000 and a period of community service to be determined by the
court.� The court also shall suspend the person's right to operate a motor
vehicle over the highways of this State for a period of one year from the date
of conviction; provided, however, the period of license suspension may be
reduced or eliminated if the person provides the court with satisfactory proof
of motor vehicle liability insurance at the time of the hearing.� Upon
subsequent conviction, the person shall be subject to a fine of up to $5,000
and shall be subject to imprisonment for a term of 14 days and shall be ordered
by the court to perform community service for a period of 30 days, which shall
be of a form and on terms as the court shall deem appropriate under the
circumstances, and shall forfeit the person's right to operate a motor vehicle
for a period of two years from the date of the conviction, and, after the
expiration of the forfeiture, the person may make application to the Chief
Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission for a license to
operate a motor vehicle, which application may be granted at the discretion of
the chief administrator.� The chief administrator's discretion shall be based
upon an assessment of the likelihood that the individual will operate or cause
a motor vehicle to be operated in the future without the insurance coverage
required by this act.� A complaint for violation of this act may be made to a
municipal court at any time within six months after the date of the alleged
offense.
���� Failure to produce at the time
of trial an insurance identification card or an insurance policy which was in
force for the time of operation for which the offense is charged creates a
rebuttable presumption that the person was uninsured when charged with a
violation of this section.
����
b.��� A law enforcement
officer conducting a motor vehicle stop may, in the officer�s discretion, immediately
impound a motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this State if the
officer determines that the motor vehicle is operated upon any public road or
highway in this State without motor vehicle liability insurance coverage
required by P.L.1972, c.197 (C.39:6B-1 et seq.).� A motor vehicle impounded
pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall be removed to a storage
space or garage. The registrant of the motor vehicle shall be responsible for
the cost of the removal and storage of the impounded vehicle.
����
A registrant who violates
this section may claim the impounded motor vehicle by providing to the issuing
law enforcement agency an insurance identification card or other satisfactory
proof of insurance.� If the registrant fails to claim a motor vehicle impounded
pursuant to this subsection and pay the reasonable costs of removal and storage
by midnight of the 30th day following impoundment, along with a fine of $100 to
cover the administrative costs of the municipality in which the violation
occurred, and after a hearing, the municipality may sell the motor vehicle at
public auction.� The municipality shall give notice of the sale by certified
mail to the registrant of the motor vehicle and to the holder of any security
interest filed with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and by publication
in a form to be prescribed by the chief administrator by one insertion, at
least five days before the date of the sale, in one or more newspapers
published in this State and circulating in the municipality in which the motor
vehicle has been impounded.
����
At any time prior to the
sale, the registrant or other person entitled to the motor vehicle may reclaim
possession of it upon providing satisfactory proof of motor vehicle liability
insurance coverage and payment of the reasonable costs of removal and storage
of the motor vehicle and any outstanding fines or penalties; provided, however,
if the other person entitled to the motor vehicle is a lessor or the holder of
a lien on the motor vehicle, the person may reclaim the motor vehicle without
payment.� In these cases, the registrant shall be liable for all outstanding
costs, fines, and penalties, and the municipality shall have a lien against the
property and income of that registrant for the total amount of those
outstanding costs, fines, and penalties.
����
Any proceeds obtained from
the sale of a motor vehicle at public auction pursuant to this subsection in
excess of the amount owed to the municipality for the reasonable costs of
removal and storage of the motor vehicle and any outstanding fines or penalties
shall be returned to the registrant of the vehicle.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.237, s.1)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.�
STATEMENT
���� This bill allows a law
enforcement officer conducting a motor vehicle stop to immediately impound a
motor vehicle if the officer determines that the motor vehicle is being
operated without liability insurance.� A motor vehicle registrant may claim the
impounded motor vehicle by providing to the issuing law enforcement agency an
insurance identification card or other satisfactory proof of insurance.
���� Under current law, a motor
vehicle may be impounded within 24 hours if the operator fails to display proof
of insurance to the law enforcement officer.� This bill provides that an
officer also may immediately impound a vehicle if the officer determines that
the operator does not have liability insurance.��
���� The bill allows the motor
vehicle registrant to claim the impounded motor vehicle by providing to the
issuing law enforcement agency an insurance identification card or other
satisfactory proof of insurance.� If the registrant fails to claim the
impounded motor vehicle and pay the reasonable costs of removal and storage by
midnight of the 30th day following impoundment, along with a fine of $100 to
cover the administrative costs of the municipality in which the violation
occurred, and after a hearing, the municipality may sell the motor vehicle at
public auction.� The municipality is to give notice to the registrant of the
motor vehicle by certified mail and by publication at least five days before
the date of the sale, in one or more newspapers published in this State and
circulating in the municipality in which the motor vehicle has been impounded.�
At any time prior to the sale, the registrant or other person entitled to the
motor vehicle may reclaim possession of it upon providing satisfactory proof of
motor vehicle liability insurance coverage and payment of the reasonable storage
costs and any outstanding fines or penalties.� The bill requires proceeds
obtained from the sale of a motor vehicle in excess of the amount owed to the
municipality to be returned to the registrant of the vehicle.