Bill Text: NJ A1495 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires bicycle helmets, reflectors and lights for certain individuals.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A1495 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A1495-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY CHIAPPONE
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires bicycle helmets, reflectors and lights for certain individuals.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning bicycle equipment and amending R.S.39:4-10 and P.L.1991, c.465.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.39:4-10 is amended to read as follows:
39:4-10. Every bicycle when in use at nighttime or by a person delivering food or goods for a commercial business shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front, and with a lamp on the rear which shall emit a red light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the rear. In addition to the red lamp, a red reflector may be mounted on the rear, of a type approved by the division which shall be visible from all distances from fifty feet to three hundred feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful upper beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle.
(cf: P.L.1951, c.23, s.11)
2. Section 1 of P.L.1991, c.465 (C.39:4-10.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. A person under 14 years of age or a person delivering food or goods for a commercial business shall not operate, or ride upon a bicycle as a passenger, unless that person is wearing a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet which meets the standards of the [American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z90.4 bicycle helmet standard) or the Snell Memorial Foundation's 1990 Standard for Protective Headgear for Use in Bicycling]Consumer Product Safety Commission. This requirement shall apply to a person who rides upon a bicycle while in a restraining seat which is attached to the bicycle or in a trailer towed by the bicycle.
As used in this act, "bicycle" means a vehicle with two wheels propelled solely by human power and having pedals, handle bars and a saddle-like seat. The term shall include a bicycle for two or more persons having seats and corresponding sets of pedals arranged in tandem.
b. The director shall publish a list of bicycle helmets which meet the standards described in subsection a. of this section and shall provide for its distribution in as many locations frequented by the public as the director deems appropriate and practicable.
c. The requirement in subsection a. of this section shall apply at all times while a bicycle is being operated on any property open to the public or used by the public for pedestrian and vehicular purposes; however, a municipality may by ordinance exempt from this requirement a person operating or riding on a bicycle as a passenger when the bicycle is operated:
(1) on a road or highway closed to motor vehicle traffic and limited to pedestrian or bicycle use at all times or only during specified periods of time during which bicycles may be operated; or
(2) exclusively on a trail, route, course, boardwalk, path or other area which is set aside for the use of bicycles or for the use of pedestrians and bicycle operation is not otherwise prohibited. However, an exemption may not be granted under this paragraph for any portion of a trail, route, course, boardwalk, path or other area which is immediately adjacent to a road or highway used by motor vehicle traffic and which does not contain a barrier of sufficient height and rigidity to prevent the inadvertent or deliberate entry of a bicycle operator onto the road or highway.
d. An ordinance enacted pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall specify those roads, highways, trails, routes, courses, boardwalks, paths or areas within the municipality where helmets are not required during the operation of a bicycle.
e. When a bicycle is being operated in an area where bicycle helmets are not required, the operator or a passenger, except a passenger in a restraining seat or trailer, shall dismount from the bicycle and walk whenever it is necessary to enter a crosswalk or to cross a road or highway upon which motor vehicle traffic is permitted.
(cf: P.L.1997, c.411, s.10)
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the second month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires individuals who use a bicycle to deliver food or goods for a commercial business to use a bicycle equipped with a lamp and reflectors and to wear a bicycle helmet. Under current law, no such provisions exist. This bill also updates the helmet standard to the Consumer Product Safety Commission standard, as the standard referenced in the current law has been withdrawn.
