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A1639
ASSEMBLY, No. 1639
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MELINDA KANE
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
���� Clarifies that owners of self-driving motor vehicles
must comply with existing insurance requirements.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning insurance for self-driving motor vehicles
and amending P.L.1972, c.70 and
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.70
(C.39:6A-2) is amended to read as follows:
���� 2.��� As used in this act:
���� a.��� "Automobile"
means a private passenger automobile of a private passenger or station wagon
type that is owned or hired and is neither used as a public or livery
conveyance for passengers nor rented to others with a driver; and a motor
vehicle with a pickup body, a delivery sedan, a van, or a panel truck or a
camper type vehicle used for recreational purposes owned by an individual or by
husband and wife who are residents of the same household, not customarily used
in the occupation, profession or business of the insured other than farming or
ranching.� An automobile owned by a farm family copartnership or corporation,
which is principally garaged on a farm or ranch and otherwise meets the
definitions contained in this section, shall be considered a private passenger
automobile owned by two or more relatives resident in the same household.
An
automobile shall include a self-driving private passenger automobile which
meets any SAE automation level as defined by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration.�
���� b.��� "Essential
services" means those services performed not for income which are
ordinarily performed by an individual for the care and maintenance of such
individual's family or family household.
���� c.��� "Income" means
salary, wages, tips, commissions, fees and other earnings derived from work or
employment.
���� d.��� "Income
producer" means a person who, at the time of the accident causing personal
injury or death, was in an occupational status, earning or producing income.
���� e.��� "Medical
expenses" means reasonable and necessary expenses for treatment or
services as provided by the policy, including medical, surgical, rehabilitative
and diagnostic services and hospital expenses, provided by a health care
provider licensed or certified by the State or by another state or nation, and
reasonable and necessary expenses for ambulance services or other
transportation, medication and other services as may be provided for, and
subject to such limitations as provided for, in the policy, as approved by the
commissioner.� "Medical expenses" shall also include any nonmedical
remedial treatment rendered in accordance with a recognized religious method of
healing.
���� f.���� "Hospital
expenses" means the cost of treatment and services, as provided in the
policy approved by the commissioner, by a licensed and accredited acute care
facility which engages primarily in providing diagnosis, treatment and care of
sick and injured persons on an inpatient or outpatient basis; the cost of
covered treatment and services provided by an extended care facility which
provides room and board and skilled nursing care 24 hours a day and which is
recognized by the administrators of the federal Medicare program as an extended
care facility; and the cost of covered services at an ambulatory surgical
facility supervised by a physician licensed in this State or in another
jurisdiction and recognized by the Commissioner of Health
[
and Senior
Services
]
,
or any other facility licensed, certified or recognized by the Commissioner of
Health
[
and
Senior Services
]
or the Commissioner of Human Services or a nationally recognized system such as
the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, or by another
jurisdiction in which it is located.
���� g.��� "Named
insured" means the person or persons identified as the insured in the
policy and, if an individual, his or her spouse, if the spouse is named as a
resident of the same household, except that if the spouse ceases to be a
resident of the household of the named insured, coverage shall be extended to
the spouse for the full term of any policy period in effect at the time of the
cessation of residency.
���� h.��� "Pedestrian"
means any person who is not occupying, entering into, or alighting from a
vehicle propelled by other than muscular power and designed primarily for use
on highways, rails and tracks.
���� i.���� "Noneconomic
loss" means pain, suffering and inconvenience.
���� j.���� "Motor
vehicle" means a motor vehicle as defined in R.S.39:1-1, exclusive of an
automobile as defined in subsection a. of this section.
���� k.��� "Economic
loss" means uncompensated loss of income or property, or other
uncompensated expenses, including, but not limited to, medical expenses.
���� l.���� "Health care
provider" or "provider" means those persons licensed or
certified to perform health care treatment or services compensable as medical
expenses and shall include, but not be limited to, (1) a hospital or health
care facility which is maintained by a state or any of its political
subdivisions, (2) a hospital or health care facility licensed by the Department
of Health
[
and
Senior Services
]
,
(3) other hospitals or health care facilities designated by the Department of
Health to provide health care services, or other facilities, including
facilities for radiology and diagnostic testing, freestanding emergency clinics
or offices, and private treatment centers, (4) a nonprofit voluntary visiting
nurse organization providing health care services other than in a hospital, (5)
hospitals or other health care facilities or treatment centers located in other
states or nations, (6) physicians licensed to practice medicine and surgery,
(7) licensed chiropractors, (8) licensed dentists, (9) licensed optometrists,
(10) licensed pharmacists, (11) licensed podiatrists, (12) registered
bio-analytical laboratories, (13) licensed psychologists, (14) licensed
physical therapists, (16) certified nurse-midwives, (17) certified
nurse-practitioners/clinical nurse-specialists, (18) licensed health
maintenance organizations, (19) licensed orthotists and prosthetists, (20)
licensed professional nurses, and (21) providers of other health care services
or supplies, including durable medical goods.
���� m.�� "Medically
necessary" means that the treatment is consistent with the symptoms or
diagnosis, and treatment of the injury (1) is not primarily for the convenience
of the injured person or provider, (2) is the most appropriate standard or
level of service which is in accordance with standards of good practice and
standard professional treatment protocols, as such protocols may be recognized
or designated by the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, in consultation
with the Commissioner of Health
[
and
Senior Services
]
or with a professional licensing or certifying board in the Division of
Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, or by a nationally
recognized professional organization, and (3) does not involve unnecessary
diagnostic testing.
���� n.��� "Standard
automobile insurance policy" means an automobile insurance policy with at
least the coverage required pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of P.L.1972, c.70
(C.39:6A-3 and 39:6A-4).
���� o.��� "Basic automobile
insurance policy" means an automobile insurance policy pursuant to section
4 of P.L.1998, c.21 (C.39:6A-3.1).
����
p.��� �Self-driving private
passenger automobile� means a private passenger automobile that uses autonomous
technology, including sensors, global positioning system coordinates, or any
other technology to perform the mechanical operations of driving, and has an
operator seated in the driver�s seat, monitoring the safe operation of the
autonomous vehicle, and who is capable of taking over immediate manual control
of the autonomous vehicle in the event of an autonomous technology failure or
other emergency.
(cf: P.L.2005, c.259, s.35)
���� 2.��� Section 1 of P.L.1972,
c.197 (C.39:6B-1) is amended to read as follows:
���� 1.��� a.� Every owner or
registered owner of a motor vehicle
, including any self-driving motor vehicle
which meets any SAE automation level as defined by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration,
registered or principally garaged in this State
shall maintain motor vehicle liability insurance coverage, under provisions
approved by the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, insuring against loss
resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury, death and property
damage sustained by any person arising out of the ownership, maintenance,
operation or use of a motor vehicle wherein such coverage shall be at least in:
(1) an amount or limit of $15,000.00, exclusive of interest and costs, on
account of injury to, or death of, one person, in any one accident; and (2) an
amount or limit, subject to such limit for any one person so injured or killed,
of $30,000.00, exclusive of interest and costs, on account of injury to or
death of, more than one person, in any one accident; and (3) an amount or limit
of $5,000.00, exclusive of interest and costs, for damage to property in any
one accident.
���� b.��� Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection a. of this section, an owner or registered owner of an
automobile, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-2), registered
or primarily garaged in the State may satisfy the requirements of subsection a.
of this section by maintaining a basic automobile insurance policy containing
coverages provided pursuant to subsections a. and b. of section 4 of P.L.1998,
c.21 (C.39:6A-3.1).
���� c.��� Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection a. of this section, an owner or registered owner of an
automobile, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-2), registered
or primarily garaged in the State may satisfy the requirements of subsection a.
of this section by maintaining a special automobile insurance policy containing
coverages provided pursuant to subsection b. of section 45 of P.L.2003, c.89
(C.39:6A-3.3).
(cf: P.L.2003, c.89, s.60)
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill clarifies that, for
the purposes of insurance, a self-driving car must comply with compulsory
automobile and motor vehicle insurance requirements.
���� Current law provides, with
certain limited exceptions, that every owner or registered owner of a motor
vehicle registered or principally garaged in this State shall maintain motor
vehicle liability insurance coverage.� This bill clarifies that this mandate
includes self-driving motor vehicles that are capable of operating without
active control or monitoring by a human operator.
���� Further, the "New Jersey
Automobile Reparation Reform Act," P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-1 et seq.)
created a system of �no-fault� insurance for private passenger automobiles.�
The bill amends the definition of �automobile� under that act to include a
self-driving private passenger automobile which meets any SAE automation level
as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The bill also
defines a �self-driving private passenger automobile� to mean a private
passenger automobile that uses autonomous technology, including sensors, global
positioning system coordinates, or any other technology to perform the
mechanical operations of driving, and has an operator seated in the driver�s
seat, monitoring the safe operation of the autonomous vehicle, and who is
capable of taking over immediate manual control of the autonomous vehicle in
the event of an autonomous technology failure or other emergency.
���� Therefore, the bill extends
the requirements of the New Jersey Automobile Reparation Reform Act to
self-driving cars, including the requirement for owners and registrants to
maintain liability insurance and the requirement that applicable insurance
policies include personal injury protection benefits.