STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 932

with Assembly Floor Amendments

(Proposed By Assemblyman COHEN)

ADOPTED: FEBRUARY 29, 1996

      Assembly Bill No. 932 (1R) clarifies how New Jersey courts are to treat a New Jersey licensed driver's conviction in another state for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (DWI).

      Under the bill, the court, when sentencing a New Jersey motorist for DWI, is to count certain out-of-state DWI convictions as if they were prior New Jersey DWI convictions. The provisions of the bill specify that the out-of-state DWI convictions which may be treated as prior New Jersey convictions are those which are based on criteria which are substantially similar to those used for determining a DWI violation in New Jersey. The bill also specifies that a New Jersey licensee who previously refused to submit to a chemical test for a possible DWI violation in another state is subject to enhanced penalties in New Jersey if that licensee subsequently refuses to submit to such a test in New Jersey.

      The purpose of this Assembly Amendment is to clarify that the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles may not impose an additional suspension or revocation of a New Jersey licensee's driving privileges if that licensee already has completed a period of suspension or revocation imposed by the jursidiction in which the DWI occurred.