Bill Text: NJ A3707 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides limited liability protection to private campgrounds for certain risks of camping.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-16 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A3707 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A3707-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Provides limited liability protection to private campgrounds for certain risks of camping.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning liability for certain risks of camping and supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. For the purposes of this act:
"Natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping" shall include, but need not be limited to trees, tree roots, tree stumps, brush, rocks, uneven terrain, natural bodies of water, lack of lighting, fire, weather, wildlife, lack of food or water, exposure, naturally occurring diseases or microbes, and animals belonging to other campground occupants.
"Private campground" means a facility that provides sites on which recreational vehicles, camping units, or tents may be placed for transient occupancy, and which are owned and operated by a private entity.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, to the contrary, an owner or operator of a private campground shall not have a legal duty to protect a person who is invited onto the land for the purposes of camping, regardless if that person provided consideration, from the natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping, and shall not be liable if a person invited onto the land is injured because of the natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping.
3. Notwithstanding section 2 of this act to the contrary, the owner or operator of a private campground may be held liable for a willful, wanton, reckless, or malicious failure to protect guests from the natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping.
4. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to any cause of action that arises after the effective date of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would provide limited liability protection for an owner or operator of a private campground from suit for an injury sustained from the natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping.
The bill provides that an owner or operator of a private campground would not be wholly obligated to protect campers, regardless if the campers provided consideration, from the natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping, and would not be liable if a camper is injured because of the natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping.
The bill also provides that the owner or operator of a campground may still be held liable for the willful, wanton, reckless, or malicious failure to protect guests from the natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping.
The bill defines "natural risks or hazards that are inherent characteristics of camping" as including, but not limited to, trees, tree roots, tree stumps, brush, rocks, uneven terrain, natural bodies of water, lack of lighting, fire, weather, wildlife, lack of food or water, exposure, naturally occurring diseases or microbes, and animals belonging to other campground occupants. The bill defines "private campground" as a facility that provides sites on which recreational vehicles, camping units, or tents may be placed for transient occupancy, and which are owned and operated by a private entity.
