SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, Nos. 1737 and 1655

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MARCH 20, 1997

      The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably a committee substitute for Senate Bill Nos. 1737/1655.

      The committee substitute supplements Title 2C, the New Jersey Criminal Code, to impose criminal penalties on drivers of motor vehicles who leave the scene of an accident in violation of R.S.39:4-129 when the accident resulted in a death or serious bodily injury.

      The substitute also clarifies that vehicle operators must know of their involvement in the accident and know that they have left the scene of an accident. However, the substitute specifies that knowledge of the death or serious bodily injury or knowledge of the violation of R.S.39:4-129 are not elements of the offense.

      Under the substitute, violators who are convicted of multiple offenses must receive separate sentences for each offense.