ASSEMBLY, No. 2713
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 3, 1997
By Assemblymen HOLZAPFEL and WOLFE
An Act concerning hazardous recreational activity and amending N.J.S. 59:4-1 and 59:4-2 and supplementing Title 59 of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S. 59:4-1 is amended to read as follows:
59:4-1. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
a. "Dangerous condition" means a condition of property that creates a substantial risk of injury when such property is used with due care in a manner in which it is reasonably foreseeable that it will be used.
b. "Protect against" includes repairing, remedying or correcting a dangerous condition, providing safeguards against a dangerous condition, or warning of a dangerous condition.
c. "Public property" means real or personal property owned or controlled by the public entity, but does not include easements, encroachments and other property that are located on the property of the public entity but are not owned or controlled by the public entity.
d. "Hazardous recreational activity" means a recreational activity conducted on property of a public entity which creates a substantial risk of injury to a participant or a spectator. "Hazardous recreational activity" includes, but is not limited to:
(1) Water contact activities, except diving, in places where, or at a time when, lifeguards are not provided and reasonable warning thereof has been given, or the injured party should reasonably have known that there was no lifeguard provided at the time.
(2) Any form of diving into water from other than a diving board or diving platform, or at any place or from any structure where diving is prohibited and reasonable warning thereof has been given.
(3) Animal riding, including equestrian competition; archery; bicycle racing or jumping; mountain bicycling; boating; cross-country and downhill skiing; hang gliding; kayaking; motorized vehicle racing; off-road motorcycling or four-wheel driving of any kind; orienteering; pistol and rifle shooting; rock climbing; rocketeering; rodeo; spelunking; skateboarding; sky diving; sport parachuting; paragliding; body contact sports; surfing; trampolining; tree climbing; tree rope swinging; waterskiing; white water rafting; and windsurfing. For the purposes of this paragraph, "mountain bicycling" does not include riding a bicycle on paved pathways, roadways, or sidewalks.
(cf: P.L.1972, c. 45, s. 59:4-1)
2. N.J.S. 59:4-2 is amended to read as follows:
59:4-2. Liability generally.
[A] Except as provided in P.L. , c. (C )(now pending before the Legislature as section 3 of this bill) a public entity is liable for injury caused by a condition of its property if the plaintiff establishes that the property was in dangerous condition at the time of the injury, that the injury was proximately caused by the dangerous condition, that the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury which was incurred, and that either:
a. a negligent or wrongful act or omission of an employee of the public entity within the scope of his employment created the dangerous condition; or
b. a public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition under section 59:4-3 a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous condition.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose liability upon a public entity for a dangerous condition of its public property if the action the entity took to protect against the condition or the failure to take such action was not palpably unreasonable.
(cf: P.L. 1972, c.45, s. 59:4-2)
3. (New section) Nothing in the "New Jersey Tort Claims Act," N.J.S. 59:1-1 et seq. shall be construed to impose liability upon a public entity for a dangerous condition of its public property if the injury arose from participation in a hazardous recreational activity.
4. This act shall take effect immediately .
STATEMENT
This bill amends and supplements the "New Jersey Tort Claims Act" to clarify that a public entity would not be liable for any injury arising from participation in a hazardous recreational activity on public property.
The bill defines "hazardous recreational activity" as a recreational activity which creates a substantial risk of injury to a participant or a spectator. Specifically, hazardous recreational activity includes, but is not limited to: (1) Water contact activities, except diving, in places where, or at a time when, lifeguards are not provided and reasonable warning thereof has been given, or the injured party should reasonably have known that there was no lifeguard provided at the time; (2) Any form of diving into water from other than a diving board or diving platform, or at any place or from any structure where diving is prohibited and reasonable warning thereof has been given; and (3) Animal riding, including equestrian competition; archery; bicycle racing or jumping; mountain bicycling; boating; cross-country and downhill skiing; hang gliding; kayaking; motorized vehicle racing; off-road motorcycling or four-wheel driving of any kind; orienteering; pistol and rifle shooting; rock climbing; rocketeering; rodeo; spelunking; skateboarding; sky diving; sport parachuting; paragliding; body contact sports; surfing; trampolining; tree climbing; tree rope swinging; waterskiing; white water rafting; and windsurfing. Under the bill, "mountain bicycling" does not include riding a bicycle on paved pathways, roadways, or sidewalks.
Clarifies circumstances when a public entity is immune from liability.