Bill Text: NJ A1833 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires notice of motor vehicle safety recalls upon inspection and registration of motor vehicle; requires motor vehicle manufacturers to pay annual fee to MVC.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee [A1833 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1833-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER
District 37 (Bergen)
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.
