Requires notice of motor vehicle safety recalls upon inspection and registration of motor vehicle; requires motor vehicle manufacturers to pay annual fee to MVC.

A2045

ASSEMBLY, No. 2045

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER

District 37 (Bergen)

Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE

District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman DePhillips

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires notice of motor vehicle safety recalls upon
inspection and registration of motor vehicle; requires motor vehicle
manufacturers to pay annual fee to MVC.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning motor vehicle safety recalls and
supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� a.��� As used in this
section, the following words shall have the following meaning, unless the
context clearly requires otherwise:

���� �Chief administrator� means
the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission;

���� �Commission� means the New
Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; and

���� �Open recall� means a safety
recall applicable to a specific motor vehicle, according to information made
available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that has not
been repaired.

���� b.��� During a motor vehicle
inspection, an official inspection facility, or licensed private inspection
facility, shall check information made available by the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration to determine whether the motor vehicle being
inspected is subject to an open recall.� If the vehicle is subject to one or
more open recalls, the official inspection facility, or licensed private
inspection facility, shall provide the owner of the motor vehicle, at the time
of inspection, written notice of all open recalls applicable to the motor
vehicle.� The recall notice shall include the following:

���� (1)� a description of each
open recall; and

���� (2)� a statement that each
open recall may be repaired by a motor vehicle dealer approved by the
manufacturer of the motor vehicle at no cost to the owner of the motor vehicle,
except as provided in 49 U.S.C. s.30120.

���� c.��� Nothing in this section
shall alter the liability under common law of any motor vehicle manufacturer or
motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer to repair an open recall.

���� d.��� The chief administrator
and employees of the commission who are designated by the chief administrator,
for the purposes of discharging their duties pursuant to this section, and a
private inspection facility or its owner and employees shall not be liable to
any person for any act or omission related to the open recall notice provided
pursuant to this section, except for cases of gross negligence.

���� 2.��� a.�� As used in this
section, the following words shall have the following meaning, unless the
context clearly requires otherwise:

���� �Chief administrator� means
the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission;

���� �Commission� means the New
Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; and

���� �Open recall� means a safety
recall applicable to a specific motor vehicle, according to information made
available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that has not
been repaired.

���� b.� The New Jersey Motor
Vehicle Commission shall, prior to issuing a motor vehicle registration or
mailing a motor vehicle registration renewal notice, check information made
available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine whether
the motor vehicle is subject to an open recall.� For a vehicle that is subject
to one or more open recalls, the commission shall provide the owner of the
motor vehicle written notice of all open recalls applicable to the motor
vehicle.� The recall notice shall be provided at the time the vehicle is
registered, except that for registration renewals, the recall notice shall be
included in the registration renewal notice.� The recall notice shall include
the following:

���� (1)� a description of each
open recall;

���� (2)� a statement that each
open recall may be repaired by a motor vehicle dealer approved by the
manufacturer of the motor vehicle at no cost to the owner of the motor vehicle,
except as provided in 49 U.S.C. s.30120; and

���� (3)� a statement that, except
as provided in subsection d. or e. of this section, the commission shall not
issue a registration certificate for a motor vehicle until each open recall is
repaired in compliance with the provisions of subsection c. of this section.

���� c.��� Notwithstanding any
provision of law to the contrary, after an owner of a motor vehicle receives
notice that the motor vehicle is subject to one or more open recalls pursuant
to subsection b. of this section, the owner shall obtain the necessary repairs before
the motor vehicle�s next registration renewal.� It shall be the responsibility
of the owner to submit proof, in a manner determined by the chief
administrator, that the repairs needed to address all open recalls have been
made.� The chief administrator shall deny an application for registration
renewal for any motor vehicle that has failed to receive repairs necessary to
remedy an open recall within the time period established by this section.

���� d.��� The chief administrator
shall extend for six-month intervals, the registration of a motor vehicle
subject to an open recall for which parts or equipment to repair the open
recall are unavailable.

���� e.��� The chief administrator
may, at the chief administrator�s discretion, extend the registration of a
motor vehicle subject to an open recall for a period not to exceed one
six-month period if the owner of the motor vehicle fails to repair the motor
vehicle due to circumstances beyond the control of the owner or due to undue
hardship.

���� f.���� Nothing in this section
shall alter the liability under common law of any motor vehicle manufacturer or
motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer to repair an open recall.

���� g.��� The chief administrator
and employees of the commission who are designated by the chief administrator,
for the purpose of discharging their duties pursuant to this section, shall not
be liable to any person for any act or omission related to the open recall
notice provided pursuant to this section, except for cases of gross negligence.

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the seventh month after enactment, but the Chief
Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission may take any
administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the timely
implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires an official
motor vehicle inspection facility or licensed private inspection facility to
provide written notice to the owner of a motor vehicle being inspected of all
open recalls applicable to the motor vehicle at the time the motor vehicle is
inspected.� The recall notice is to include a description of each open recall
and a statement that each open recall may be repaired by certain motor vehicle
dealers at no cost to the owner, except in certain circumstances.

���� The bill requires the New
Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (commission) to provide written notice to the
owner of a motor vehicle, at the time a vehicle is registered or upon mailing a
motor vehicle�s registration renewal notice, of all open recalls applicable to
the motor vehicle.� The recall notice is to include a description of each open
recall; a statement that each open recall may be repaired by certain motor
vehicle dealers at no cost to the owner, except in certain circumstances; and a
statement that, except in certain circumstances, the commission will not issue
a registration certificate for the motor vehicle until each open recall is
repaired.

���� Under the bill, the owner is
required to obtain the necessary repairs before the motor vehicle�s next
registration renewal.� The Chief Administrator of the commission is required to
deny an application for registration renewal if the open recalls have not been
remedied by the next registration renewal.

���� The chief administrator is
required to extend for six-month intervals, the registration of a motor vehicle
subject to an open recall if the parts or equipment needed to repair the open
recall are unavailable.� The chief administrator may also extend the registration
of a motor vehicle subject to an open recall for one six-month period, if the
owner of the motor vehicle fails to make the required repairs due to
circumstances beyond the control of the owner or due to undue hardship.

���� Nothing in the bill is to
alter the liability under common law of any motor vehicle manufacturer or motor
vehicle dealer approved by a manufacturer to repair an open recall.� The bill
limits the liability of certain individuals for acts or omissions related to
open recall notices provided pursuant to the provisions of the bill, except in
cases of gross negligence.

���� Under the bill, �open recall�
means a safety recall applicable to a specific motor vehicle, according to
information made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, that has not been repaired.