SENATE, No. 904

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED MARCH 7, 1996

 

 

By Senator LIPMAN

 

 

An Act concerning child passenger restraint systems, supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes and supplementing and amending P.L.1983, c.128.

 

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

 

    1. (New section) a. (1) For a period of 24 months following the effective date of this section, no person or organization that establishes a program to lend child passenger restraint systems of a type approved by the Office of Highway Traffic Safety in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall be liable in any civil action for damages or physical injury arising during that 24-month period from any act of commission or omission if:

    (a) the person or organization files an affidavit with the court certifying the correct identity and address of the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system which was in use at the time of the injury or death; and

    (b) the manufacturer is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this State.

    (2) If the requirements of subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph (1) of this subsection have been satisfied, and the claim against the person or organization is dismissed, a party may vacate the dismissal if:

    (a) the statute of limitations bars the assertion of a claim against the manufacturer;

    (b) any of the information provided by the person or organization in its affidavit is incorrect; or

    (c) the court determines that the manufacturer is ultimately unable to satisfy a judgment.

    b. Nothing in this section shall preclude liability for civil damages if:

    (1) the person or organization has modified in any way the child passenger restraint system;

    (2) the person or organization failed to make reasonable safety inspections of the child passenger restraint system;

    (3) the child passenger restraint system was not in proper operating condition when loaned;

    (4) the person or organization improperly installed the child passenger restraint system;

    (5) the person or organization provided a child passenger restraint system inappropriate for its intended use as prescribed by State or federal regulation;

    (6) the person or organization had actual knowledge that the child passenger restraint system was defective; or

    (7) the person or organization caused or created a defect in the child passenger restraint system which did not exist when it left the hands of the manufacturer.

    c. No later than 21 months following the effective date of this section, the Director of the Office of Highway Traffic Safety shall report to the Legislature on the impact the provisions of subsection a. of this section have made on the establishment or expansion of programs to lend child passenger restraint systems and their overall availability through such programs. The report shall include a comparison of the number of such programs in operation and the number of child passenger restraint systems available through those programs at the time this act takes effect, with the number of programs and child passenger restraint systems available through those programs at the time the report is made, as well as any recommendations of the director with respect to continuing the provisions of subsection a. and any amendments thereto as part of that continuation.

 

    2. (New section) There is established a nonlapsing revolving fund, to be known as the Office of Highway Traffic Safety Child Passenger Restraint System Assistance Fund, administered by the State Treasurer. All fine moneys collected pursuant to the provisions of section 4 of P.L.1983, c.128 (C.39:3-76.2d) shall be deposited in the fund to be used exclusively by the Office of Highway Traffic Safety in the Department of Law and Public Safety to purchase child passenger restraint systems for distribution to persons and organizations that establish and maintain child passenger restraint system lending programs. Any interest earned on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. The Director of the Office of Highway Traffic Safety, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this section.

 

    3. Section 4 of P.L.1983, c.128 (C.39:3-76.2d) is amended to read as follows:

    4. a. Any person guilty of violating any of the provisions of this act shall be fined not less than $10.00 and not more than $25.00. The court shall suspend any fine imposed for failure to use a child restraint system if the defendant demonstrates that he possesses a child restraint system that complies with the federal standard applicable when it was manufactured and is using it according to the manufacturer's instructions.

    b. All fine moneys collected pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be deposited in the Office of Highway Traffic Safety Child Passenger Restraint System Assistance Fund established under the provisions of section 2 of P.L. c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.1983, c.128, s.4)

 

    4. This act shall take effect one the first day of the third month following enactment, except that the Director of the Office of Highway Traffic Safety may take immediately after enactment such anticipatory administrative action as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    The purpose of this bill is to encourage persons or organizations to establish programs to lend child passenger restraint systems by giving those organizations certain liability protections.

    A number of organizations and agencies, particularly hospitals, have explored the possibility of establishing child passenger restraint system lending programs, but have been hesitant to implement such programs for liability reasons. There is a need for such lending programs, especially in providing specially designed child passenger restraint systems to families whose children have had surgery or have other medical problems which make it impossible for them to use the normal passenger restraint systems. At one time, the Office of Highway Traffic Safety even offered to provide some of these specially designed restraint systems to hospitals to lend to the families of discharged patients, but the hospitals refused because of their potential liability exposure.

    The bill specifies that all the fine moneys collected from persons who are found guilty of transporting children under the age of five in a vehicle without a child passenger restraint system be deposited in a special fund. The moneys in the fund are to be used by the Director of the Office of Highway Traffic Safety to purchase child passenger restraint systems for distribution to organizations that have established lending programs.


    The bill is modeled after a provision of the Pennsylvania seat belt law.

    The immunity provisions of the bill are limited to a period of 24 months following the effective date, and require the Director of the Office of Highway Traffic Safety to report to the Legislature within 21 months following the bill's effective date on its impact on the establishment or expansion of programs to lend child passenger restraint systems and their overall availability through such programs.

 

 

 

Provides liability protection to organizations which lend child passenger restraint systems.