SENATE, No. 1420

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JULY 25, 1996

By Senator MATHEUSSEN

An Act concerning the registration of certain motor vehicles and amending R.S.39:3-4.

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

    1. R.S.39:3-4 is amended to read as follows:

    39:3-4. Except as hereinafter provided, every resident of this State and every nonresident whose automobile or motorcycle shall be driven in this State shall, before using such vehicle on the public highways, register the same, and no automobile or motorcycle shall be driven unless so registered.

    Such registration shall be made in the following manner: An application in writing, signed by the applicant or by an agent or officer, in case the applicant is a corporation, shall be made to the director or the director's agent, on forms prepared and supplied by the director, containing the name, street address of the residence or the business of the owner, mailing address, if different from the street address of the owner's residence or business, and age of the owner, together with a description of the character of the automobile or motorcycle, including the name of the maker and the vehicle identification number (VIN), or the manufacturer's number or the number assigned by the director if the vehicle does not have a vehicle identification number, and any other statement that may be required by the director. A post office box shall appear on the application only as part of a mailing address that is submitted by the owner, agent or officer, as the case may be, in addition to the street address of the applicant's residence or business. An owner whose last address appears on the records of the division as a post office box shall change his address on his application for renewal to the street address of his residence or business and, if different from his street address, his mailing address. The application shall contain the name of the insurer of the vehicle and the policy number. If the vehicle is a leased motor vehicle, the application shall make note of that fact and shall include along with the name and street address of the lessor the name, street address and driver license number of the lessee. A lessor of a leased motor vehicle shall notify the director in writing, on such form as the director may prescribe, of the termination of a lease or of a change of the lessee within seven days after the termination or change.

    Thereupon the director shall have the power to grant a registration certificate to the owner of any motor vehicle, if over 17 years of age, application for the registration having been properly made and the fee therefor paid, and the vehicle being of a type that complies with the requirements of this title. The form and contents of the registration certificate to be issued shall be determined by the director, which contents shall include, at such time as the registration certificate is next redesigned or reformatted, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) insurance company code of the insurer of the vehicle. The director shall maintain a record of all registration certificates issued, and of the contents thereof on an electronic data base. Law enforcement agencies, the New Jersey Division of Insurance Fraud Prevention established pursuant to section 8 of P.L.1983, c.320 (C.17:33A-8), and special investigation units established by insurers in accord with fraud and theft prevention plans filed and approved by the Commissioner of Insurance pursuant to section 56 of P.L.1990, c.8 (C.17:33B-46) shall have on-line access to a data base of standard motor vehicle information that shall include, but not be limited to, the vehicle identification number (VIN); the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) insurance company code of the insurer of the vehicle and the policy number; and any other information deemed appropriate by the director.

    If the vehicle is a leased motor vehicle, the registration certificate shall, in addition to containing the name and street address of the lessor, identify the vehicle as a leased motor vehicle.

    [The director shall maintain a record of all registration certificates issued, and of the contents thereof.]

    Every registration shall expire and the registration certificate thereof become void on the last day of the twelfth calendar month following the calendar month in which the certificate was issued; provided, however, that the director may, at his discretion, require registrations which shall expire, and issue certificates thereof which shall become void, on a date fixed by him, which date shall not be sooner than three months nor later than 26 months after the date of issuance of such certificates, and the fees for such registrations, including any other fees or charges collected in connection with the registration fee, shall be fixed by the director in amounts proportionately less or greater than the fees established by law. The director may fix the expiration date for registration certificates at a date other than 12 months if the director determines that the change is necessary, appropriate or convenient in order to aid in implementing the vehicle inspection requirements of chapter 8 of Title 39 or for other good cause.

    All motorcycles for which registrations have been issued prior to the effective date of P.L.1989, c.167 and which are scheduled to expire between November 1 and March 31 shall, upon renewal, be issued registrations by the director which shall expire on a date fixed by him, but in no case shall that expiration date be earlier than April 30 nor later than October 31. The fees for the renewal of the motorcycle registrations authorized under this paragraph shall be fixed by the director in an amount proportionately less or greater than the fee established by R.S.39:3-21.

    Application forms for all renewals of registrations for passenger automobiles shall be sent to the last addresses of owners of motor vehicles and motorcycles, as they appear on the records of the division.

    No person owning or having control over any unregistered vehicle shall permit the same to be parked or to stand on a public highway.     Any police officer is authorized to remove any unregistered vehicle from the public highway to a storage space or garage, and the expense involved in such removal and storing of the vehicle shall be borne by the owner of the vehicle, except that the expense shall be borne by the lessee of a leased vehicle.

    Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine not exceeding $100, except that for the misstatement of any fact in the application required to be made to the director, the person making such statement or omitting the statement that the motor vehicle is to be used as a leased motor vehicle when that is the case shall be subject to the penalties provided in R.S.39:3-37.

    The director may extend the expiration date of a registration certificate without payment of a proportionate fee when the director determines that such extension is necessary, appropriate or convenient to the implementation of vehicle inspection requirements. If any registration certificate is so extended, the owner shall pay upon renewal the full registration fee for the period fixed by the director as if no extension had been granted.

    The Division of Motor Vehicles shall make a reasonable effort to notify any lessor whose name and address is on file with the division, or any other lessor the division may determine it is necessary to notify, of the requirements of this amendatory act.

(cf: P.L.1995, c.112, s.27)

    2. This act shall take effect on the 365th day after enactment, but the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance of that date as shall be necessary for the implementation of the act.

STATEMENT

    This bill requires the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) insurance company code and the motor vehicle insurance policy number of a registered automobile or motorcycle to be recorded on the electronic data base maintained by the Division of Motor Vehicles. The bill also requires that the NAIC insurance company code be printed on the registration certificate at such time as the certificate is redesigned or reformatted.

    The bill also provides that law enforcement agencies, the New Jersey Division of Insurance Fraud Prevention, and special investigation units established by insurance companies under fraud and theft prevention plans which have been filed with and approved by the Commissioner of Insurance pursuant to requirements set forth in the section 56 of the "Fair Automobile Insurance Reform Act of 1990," P.L.1990, c.8 (C.17:33B-46) shall have on-line access to a data base of standard motor vehicle information including insurance company information, which is maintained by the Division of Motor Vehicles.

Requires insurance company information to be included on automobile and motorcycle registration certificates.