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A4720
ASSEMBLY, No. 4720
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MARCH 16, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman� SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires certain motor vehicles to install rear-seat
detection systems.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
requiring certain motor vehicles to install rear-seat
detection systems and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� The Legislature finds and
declares that:
���� a.���� During summer months,
the interior of motor vehicles can reach extreme temperatures that are
dangerous to children and pets that are left unattended in the vehicle.�
Moreover, as temperatures have progressively increased in recent years, the
risk of pediatric vehicular heatstroke has become increasingly pronounced.��
���� b.��� According to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on average, 38 children die each year
from heatstroke while trapped in overheated cars in the United States.
���� c.���� Regrettably, many of
these deaths are preventable, as roughly half of all pediatric vehicular
heatstroke deaths since 1998 occurred after a child was unknowingly or
mistakenly left in the vehicle.
���� d.��� In response, industry
stakeholders, including the Association of Global Automakers and the Alliance
of Automobile Manufacturers, have voluntarily agreed to install rear-seat
reminder systems in nearly all motor vehicles sold in the United States by
2025, which systems would remind parents and caregivers not to leave their
child or pet in the vehicle.
����
e.���� In November
2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which
included a requirement for all new passenger motor vehicles weighing less than
10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight to be equipped with a system to alert the
operator to check rear-designated seating positions after the vehicle engine is
off.� However, despite its laudable goals, the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act does not explicitly require the system to detect the presence of
unattended occupants.
���� f.���� The installation of
rear-seat detection systems in new motor vehicles, which systems detect and
alert the presence of unattended occupants, would save countless lives by
reducing the number of children and pets who are unknowingly or mistakenly left
unattended in a vehicle.
���� g.��� To ensure the safety of
children and pets from overheating in unattended vehicles, it is necessary and
appropriate to require rear-seat detection systems to be installed in all
passenger automobiles manufactured in this State.
���� 2.� As used in P.L.��� ,
c.���� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
���� �Chief administrator� means
the chief administrator of the commission.
���� �Commission� means the New
Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission established and created by section 4 of
P.L.2003, c.13 (C.39:2A-4).
���� �Passenger automobile� has the
same meaning as defined in R.S.39:1-1.
���� �Rear-seat detection system�
means a system designed to detect the presence of an unattended occupant in the
passenger compartment of a passenger automobile after the engine or motor is
deactivated and which system engages a warning to alert the driver of the
unattended occupant.
���� 3.��� a.� All passenger
automobiles manufactured in this State after the effective date of P.L.��� ,
c.���� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be
equipped with a rear-seat detection system, as required pursuant to section 4
of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� b.� Notwithstanding any law,
rule, regulation, or order to the contrary, no passenger automobile
manufactured on or before the effective date of P.L.��� , c.���� (C.������� )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be required to install a
rear-seat detection system.
���� 4.��� a.� The chief
administrator shall prescribe the functional design specifications to be
included in the rear-seat detection system required pursuant to section 3 of
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), except that the rear-seat
detection systems shall:
���� (1)�� be capable of detecting
the presence of an unattended occupant in the passenger compartment of the
passenger automobile after the engine or motor is deactivated;
���� (2)�� include auditory,
visual, and haptic warnings to notify individuals inside and outside of the
passenger automobile of the presence of an unattended occupant within the
automobile; and
���� (3)�� be unable to be
disabled, overridden, reset, or recalibrated in such a way that the system will
no longer detect the presence of an unattended occupant of the passenger
compartment of the automobile or engage an auditory, visual, or haptic warning
inside or outside of the passenger automobile.
���� b.� In prescribing the
functional design specifications to be included in the rear-seat detection
system, the chief administrator may also consider requiring the system to include
an additional warning to:
���� (1) notify emergency response
agencies within the general vicinity of the passenger automobile of the
presence of an unattended occupant in the passenger automobile; and
���� (2) provide the geographical
location of the passenger automobile to the emergency response agencies in a
manner that allows for an emergency response.
���� 5.� The commission shall
adopt, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations consistent with the purposes of
P.L.��� , c.���� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).�
The rules and regulations adopted pursuant to P.L.��� , c.���� (C.������� )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be consistent with any
rules and regulations promulgated by the United States Secretary of
Transportation.
���� 6.� This act shall take effect
two years after the date of enactment, but the Chief Administrator of the New
Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission may take such anticipatory actions as needed to
effectuate the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires all new
passenger automobiles manufactured in this State to be equipped with a
rear-seat detection system that detects the presence of an unattended occupant
in the passenger compartment of the automobile and engages a warning to alert
the driver.�
���� Under the bill, the Chief
Administrator (chief administrator) of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
would be required to prescribe the functional design specifications to be
included in the rear-seat detection system.� However, the bill requires the
rear-seat detection system to: (1) be capable of detecting the presence of an
unattended occupant in the passenger compartment of the passenger automobile
after the vehicle engine or motor is deactivated; (2) include auditory, visual,
and haptic warnings to notify individuals inside and outside of the passenger
automobile of the presence of an unattended occupant within the automobile; and
(3) be unable to be disabled, overrode, reset, or recalibrated to prevent the
detection or warning of the presence of an unattended occupant.�
���� The bill also permits the
chief administrator to require the rear-seat detection system to include an
additional warning to alert emergency response agencies in the general vicinity
of the automobile and provide the geographical location of the automobile in a
manner that allows for an emergency response.�
���� This bill would take effect
two years after the date of enactment.� Any passenger automobile manufactured
before this date would not be required to install a rear-seat detection
system.���