[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1314

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Assemblyman ROMANO and Assemblywoman GILL

 

 

An Act concerning restricted parking spaces for certain senior citizens and amending P.L.1991, c.285, R.S.39:4-138, P.L.1977, c.202, R.S.39:4-198, and P.L.1949, c.280.

 

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

 

    1. Section 1 of P.L.1991, c.285 (C.39:4-8.1) is amended to read as follows:

    1. Any municipality, which pursuant to the provisions of R.S.39:4-8, R.S.39:4-197, section 1 of P.L.1977, c.202 (C.39:4-197.5) or section 1 of P.L.1977, c.309 (C.39:4-197.6) designates restricted parking spaces for use by handicapped persons or persons who are age 70 years or older, may, in lieu of having the Department of Transportation inspect those parking spaces and any signs erected in association therewith, designate the municipal engineer to determine whether or not those parking spaces and signs conform to the current standards prescribed by the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, adopted by the Commissioner of Transportation, and any other Department of Transportation rules and regulations governing such parking spaces and signs.

    Any such parking spaces and signs shall be deemed approved and operational, and in need of no additional inspection by the Department of Transportation, when the municipal engineer, under his seal as a licensed professional engineer, shall certify to the commissioner that the parking spaces and signs:

    a. have been approved by him after investigation; and

    b. conform to the current standards prescribed by the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, as adopted by the commissioner, and any other Department of Transportation rules and regulations governing such parking spaces and signs.

    The municipal engineer shall submit to the commissioner, together with his certification, detailed information as to the location and number of parking spaces, a certified copy of the ordinance, resolution or regulation designating the restricted parking spaces, and such other information as the commissioner shall deem necessary.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.285, s.1)

 

    2. R.S.39:4-138 is amended to read as follows:

    39:4-138. Except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a traffic or police officer or traffic sign or signal, no operator of a vehicle shall stand or park the vehicle in any of the following places:

    a. Within an intersection;

    b. On a crosswalk;

    c. Between a safety zone and the adjacent curb or within at least 20 feet of a point on the curb immediately opposite the end of a safety zone;

    d. In front of a public or private driveway;

    e. Within 25 feet of the nearest crosswalk or side line of a street or intersecting highway, except at alleys;

    f. On a sidewalk;

    g. In any appropriately marked "No Parking" space established pursuant to the duly promulgated regulations of the Commissioner of Transportation;

    h. Within 50 feet of a "stop" sign;

    i. Within 10 feet of a fire hydrant;

    j. Within 50 feet of the nearest rail of a railroad crossing;

    k. Within 20 feet of the driveway entrance to any fire station and on the side of a street opposite the entrance to any fire station within 75 feet of said entrance, when properly signposted;

    l. Alongside or opposite any street excavation or obstruction when stopping, standing, or parking would obstruct traffic, when properly signposted;

    m. On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of a street;

    n. Upon any bridge or other elevated structure upon a highway, or within a highway tunnel or underpass, or on the immediate approaches thereto except where space for parking is provided;

    o. In any space on public or private property appropriately marked for vehicles for the physically handicapped pursuant to P.L.1977, c.202 (C.39:4-197.5), P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.) or any other applicable law unless the vehicle is authorized by law to be parked therein and a handicapped person is either the driver or a passenger in that vehicle. State, county or municipal law enforcement officers or parking enforcement authority officers shall enforce the parking restrictions on spaces appropriately marked for vehicles for the physically handicapped on both public and private property.

    p. In any designated space at shopping centers or malls which is appropriately marked for vehicles of shoppers who are age 70 or older, which has been established as a restricted parking place pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1977, c.202 (C.39:4-197.5) and the owner of the property has made a written request for enforcement from the municipality.

    No person shall move a vehicle not lawfully under his control into any such prohibited area or away from a curb such distance as is unlawful.

(cf: P.L.1989, c.201, s.1)

 

    3. Section 1 of P.L.1977, c.202 (C.39:4-197.5) is amended to read as follows:

    1. Any municipality may, by ordinance, resolution or regulation, establish restricted parking spaces in front of residences, schools, hospitals and other public buildings and in shopping and business districts for use by handicapped persons who have been issued special vehicle identification cards by the Division of Motor Vehicles pursuant to the provisions of section 2 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-205), when using a motor vehicle on which is displayed a certificate, for which a special vehicle identification card has been issued, pursuant to section 3 of [said law] P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-206). Restricted parking spaces may also be established by a municipality in a shopping center or mall and enforced for the use of shoppers age 70 years or older who have been issued senior citizen placards pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-206), provided that the owner of the property has arranged for their installation and has made a written request for enforcement.

(cf: P.L.1980, c.178, s.2)

 

    4. R.S.39:4-198 is amended to read as follows:

    39:4-198. No ordinance, resolution or regulation enacted, passed, or adopted by local authorities nor any regulation adopted by the Commissioner of Transportation under any power given by this chapter or any supplement thereto shall be effective unless due notice thereof is given to the public by placing a sign at the places where the ordinance, resolution or regulation is effective, and by briefing its provisions on signs according to specifications contained in this chapter or as specified by the current Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for streets and highways. These signs shall be so placed as to be easily read by pedestrians or operators of vehicles. Except, in the case of "No Passing" zones, in lieu of or in addition to signs, notice shall be given to the public by highway pavement markings which conform to the current Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for streets and highways.

    In addition to the specifications in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, any sign erected after the effective date of this amendatory and supplementary act to notify the public that parking in a space is reserved for the handicapped or reserved for persons who are age 70 or older shall also state the penalties set forth in paragraph c. of subsection (3) of R.S.39:4-197 which may be imposed for a violation. Signs which were erected prior to the effective date shall be modified within 12 months after the effective date to include the penalty information.

(cf: P.L.1989, c.201, s.5)

 

    5. Section 1 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-204) is amended to read as follows:

    1. The term "handicapped person" as employed herein shall include any person who has lost the use of one or more limbs as a consequence of paralysis, amputation, or other permanent disability or who is permanently disabled as to be unable to ambulate without the aid of an assisting device or whose mobility is otherwise limited as certified by a physician with a plenary license to practice medicine and surgery or a podiatrist licensed to practice in this State or a bordering state.

    The term "senior citizen" as used in connection with restricted parking spaces means a person who is age 70 or older as indicated by a driver's license.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.49, s.1)

 

    6. Section 2 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-205) is amended to read as follows:

    2. The Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Transportation shall issue, at the expense of the State of New Jersey, handicapped person and senior citizen identification cards upon the application of qualifying handicapped persons and senior citizens, as heretofore defined, and after due investigation of the qualifying status of each applicant. [Said card] These cards shall, [amongst] among other things, identify the handicapped persons or senior citizens, and the registration number of the vehicle for which any wheelchair symbol license plates have been issued under the provisions of section 3 of [this act] P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-206) and shall state that he is a handicapped person or, as the case may be, a senior citizen validly qualified hereunder to receive such card, that [said] the card is for the exclusive use of the person to whom it has been duly issued, is nontransferable and will be forfeited if presented by any other person, and that any abuse of any privilege, benefit, precedence or consideration granted to any person to whom such card may be issued will be sufficient cause for revocation of [said] the card, corresponding windshield placard and wheelchair symbol license plates, and the same may be forfeited or revoked accordingly, and in the absence of any such forfeiture or revocation [said] the card shall be valid indefinitely.

(cf: P.L.1981, c.36, s,2)

 

    7. Section 3 of P.L.1949, c.280 (C.39:4-206) is amended to read as follows:

    3. The director shall issue to such applicant, also, a placard of such size and design as shall be determined by the director in consultation with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services in the Department of Labor or the Division on Aging in the Department of Community Affairs for the senior citizen placard, indicating that a handicapped person or senior citizen identification card has been issued to the person designated therein, which shall be displayed in such manner as the director shall determine on the motor vehicle used to transport the handicapped person or senior citizen, when the vehicle is parked overtime or in special parking places established for use by handicapped persons or senior citizens.

    Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, the chief of police of each municipality in this State shall issue to any person who has temporarily lost the use of one or more limbs or is temporarily disabled as to be unable to ambulate without the aid of an assisting device or whose mobility is otherwise temporarily limited, as certified by a physician with a plenary license to practice medicine and surgery or a podiatrist licensed to practice in this State or a bordering state, a temporary placard of not more than six months' duration. Each temporary handicapped placard issued under the provisions of this section shall set forth the date on which it shall become invalid.

    The temporary placard shall be granted upon written certification by a physician with a plenary license to practice medicine and surgery or a podiatrist licensed to practice in this State or a bordering state that the person meets the conditions constituting temporary disability as provided in this section. This certification shall be provided on a standard form to be developed by the director in consultation with local chiefs of police and representatives of the handicapped. The form shall contain only those conditions constituting temporary disability as are provided in this section. The physical presence of the handicapped person shall not be required for the issuance of a temporary handicapped placard.

    The placard may be renewed one time at the discretion of the issuing authority for a period of not more than six months' duration. The placard shall be displayed on the motor vehicle used by the temporarily handicapped person and shall give the person the right to park overtime or to use special parking places established for use by handicapped persons in any municipality of this State.

    The fee for the issuance of such temporary or permanent placard issued pursuant to this section shall be $4.00 and payable to the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles.

    The director may, in addition, issue license plates bearing the national wheelchair symbol for [not] 1[:

    a. Not] not1 more than two motor vehicles owned, operated or leased by a handicapped person or by any person furnishing transportation on his behalf 1[; he may also issue special license plates for not more than two motor vehicles owned, operated or leased by a senior citizen or by any person furnishing transportation on his behalf; or

    b. Any two motorcycles owned, operated or leased by a handicapped person or senior citizen]1.

    The fee for the issuance of such plates shall be $10.00 for each vehicle.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.277, s.1)

 

    8. This bill shall take effect the first day of the sixth month after enactment.

 

 

 

Authorizes senior citizen parking spaces to be established.