Bill Text: NJ A4361 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes public awareness campaign concerning safety of certain pedestrians.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-11-18 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Transportation, Public Works and Independent Authorities Committee [A4361 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A4361-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
Assemblywoman LINDA STENDER
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman O'Donnell
SYNOPSIS
Establishes public awareness campaign concerning safety of certain pedestrians.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a pedestrian safety public awareness campaign and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. More than 30 percent of pedestrian deaths that occur in New Jersey are people over the age of 60, although people over the age of 60 make up approximately 19 percent of the population in the State;
b. Approximately 13 percent of pedestrian deaths that occur in New Jersey are people aged 75 and older, although people aged 75 and older make up 6.5 percent of the population in the State;
c. More than 40 pedestrians over the age of 60 are killed on New Jersey roadways each year;
d. Compared with younger pedestrians, people over the age of 60 are at an increased risk of being injured or killed as pedestrians because of changes in vision, hearing, reflexes, and mobility that often occur as people age and may make it more difficult to anticipate and avoid potential traffic accidents leading to injury or death; and
e. A public awareness campaign to provide information to: (1) adults over the age of 60 on the increased risk of injury and death that they face as pedestrians and on how to safely navigate the roadways in the State on foot; and (2) the general driving public on the importance of being aware of older pedestrians when operating a vehicle on the State's roadways because of older pedestrians' increased vulnerability to injury and death is in the public interest and will serve the interests of public safety in this State.
2. a. The Division of Highway Traffic Safety in the Department of Law and Public Safety, in consultation with the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services, shall establish a public awareness campaign to provide information to:
(1) adults over the age of 60 on the increased risk of injury and death that they face as pedestrians and on how to safely navigate the roadways in the State on foot; and
(2) the general driving public on the importance of being aware of older pedestrians when operating a vehicle on the State's roadways because of older persons' increased vulnerability to injury and death.
b. The Division of Highway Traffic Safety shall provide printed and electronic educational materials concerning older pedestrian safety and shall disseminate those materials: to entities and agencies working specifically with adults over the age of 60 in the State; at public venues throughout the State; and by any other means as the Division of Highway Traffic Safety may decide, in collaboration with, and with the assistance of, other State, county, and municipal governmental entities, including, but not limited to, distribution on the premises of, or through mail or electronic communications by, any office that is open to members of the general public and is operated, administered, or used to provide services to the general public by the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and any county welfare agency or county board of social services.
c. The Division of Highway Traffic Safety shall report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than 24 months after the effective date of this act, on the activities and accomplishments of the public awareness campaign.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Division of Highway Traffic Safety (division) in the Department of Law and Public Safety, in consultation with the Division of Aging Services in the Department of Human Services, to establish a public awareness campaign to provide information to: (1) adults over the age of 60 on the increased risk of injury and death that they face as pedestrians and on how to safely navigate the roadways in the State on foot; and (2) the general driving public on the importance of being aware of older pedestrians when operating a vehicle on the State's roadways because of older pedestrians' increased vulnerability to injury and death.
The division is required to provide printed and electronic educational materials concerning pedestrian safety for adults over the age of 60 and to disseminate those materials: to entities and agencies working specifically with adults over the age of 60 in the State; at public venues throughout the State; and by any other means as the Division of Highway Traffic Safety may decide in collaboration with, and with the assistance of, other governmental entities, including distribution by the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and any county welfare agency or county board of social services.
The bill requires the division to report to the Governor and the Legislature on the activities and accomplishments of the public awareness campaign within two years of the bill's effective date.
