SENATE, No. 1447

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED SEPTEMBER 19, 1996

 

 

By Senator BASSANO

 

 

An Act concerning truck safety equipment and supplementing chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.

 

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

 

    1. a. Every new truck sold in this State with a gross vehicle weight rating, as defined in section 3 of P.L.1990, c.103 (C.39:3-10.11), of 16,001 or more pounds shall be equipped with an automatic audible backup alarm which sounds when the truck is shifted into reverse and which is capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than 100 feet. The backup alarm also shall be capable of operating automatically when the truck is in neutral or a forward gear but rolls backward. This subsection shall not apply to tractor-trailer combination vehicles.

 

    2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to trucks delivered for sale in this State after December 31, 1996.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill is intended to reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries by requiring new medium and large trucks sold in New Jersey after December 31, 1996 to be equipped with an audible backup alarm. These alarms are designed to emit an audible beeping sound when the vehicle is shifted into reverse to alert persons behind the truck that it is backing up. The bill would require the alarm to be loud enough to be heard under normal conditions from a distance of 100 feet. Such alarms are presently used on construction vehicles and some refuse trucks.

    The bill requires new trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 16,001 or more pounds to be equipped with the alarms. Gross vehicle weight is the combined weight of the truck and its load. Trucks of the weight class affected by this bill are normally considered medium and heavy duty trucks. Tractor-trailer combination vehicles would be exempted from the requirements of this bill.

     In 1994, 168 persons were killed and 12,000 injured nationwide in accidents involving vehicles backing up, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

 

 

                             

Requires backup alarms on certain trucks.