ASSEMBLY, No. 2918

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED MAY 5, 1997

 

 

By Assemblyman IMPREVEDUTO and Assemblywoman QUIGLEY

 

 

An Act concerning motor vehicle accident reports and amending R.S.39:4-131.

 

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

 

    1. R.S:39:4-131 is amended to read as follows:

    39:4-131. The division shall prepare and supply to police departments and other suitable agencies, forms for accident reports calling for sufficiently detailed information with reference to a motor vehicle accident, including the cause, the conditions then existing, the persons and vehicles involved, the compliance with P.L.1984, c.179 (C.39:3-76.2e et seq.) by the operators and passengers of the vehicles involved in the accident, and such information as the director may require.

    Every law enforcement officer who investigates a vehicle accident of which report must be made as required in this Title, or who otherwise prepares a written report as a result of an accident or thereafter by interviewing the participants or witnesses, shall forward a written report of such accident to the division, on forms furnished by it, within five days after his investigation of the accident.

    The division shall make no entry of the accident on the driving record of a driver if the officer notes on the accident report form that the driver was, in his judgment, not at fault. If it is subsequently determined, as a result of a later police accident report, claim adjudication or a judicial or arbitrator's decision that a driver was, in fact, at fault, the accident shall be entered on the driver's record.

    Such written reports required to be forwarded by law enforcement officers and the information contained therein shall not be privileged or held confidential. Every citizen of this State shall have the right, during regular business hours and under supervision, to inspect and copy such reports and shall also have the right in person to purchase copies of the reports at the same fee established by section 2 of P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-2). If copies of reports are requested other than in person, an additional fee of up to $5.00 for the first three pages and $1.00 per page thereafter may be added to cover the administrative costs of the report.

    The provisions of any other law or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding, reports obtained pursuant to this act shall not be subject to confidentiality requirements except as provided by section 28 of P.L.1960, c.52 (C.2A:84A-28).

(cf: P.L.1987, c.26, s.1)

 

    2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month after enactment and shall apply only to accidents which occur after the effective date.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill addresses the problem of the potential improper use of motor vehicle accident data by insurance companies and other business organizations that use the Division of Motor Vehicles' (DMV) data base of police accident reports.

    When a motor vehicle accident occurs, a police report is submitted to the DMV which is required to include detailed information about the collision including the cause, conditions, persons involved and seatbelt compliance. However, all that is included on a motorist's driving record is that he was involved in a collision.

    Insurance eligibility points can only be assigned by an insurer for at-fault accidents under the Fair Automobile Insurance Reform Act of 1990. Accidents which are not the fault of a driver, however, are placed on a driver's record where they may be accessed by business organizations seeking to determine his insurability, employability or credit worthiness. Such collisions are ordinarily noted on the record only as an involvement in an accident, without regard to fault.

    This bill would require that no entry of an accident be placed on a motorist's driving record if the officer notes that the driver was, in his judgment, not at fault. Subsequent determinations of liability would be added to the record at a later date.

 

 

                             

 

Requires only at-fault accidents to appear on DMV driving records.