Bill Text: NJ S3472 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes penalties for leaving child unattended in motor vehicle.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-14 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S3472 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S3472-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB ANDRZEJCZAK
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes penalties for leaving child unattended in motor vehicle.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing penalties for leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. No person operating or in control of a motor vehicle shall leave a child under six years of age unattended in the motor vehicle when the motor vehicle is out of the person's sight and under circumstances or conditions which endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the child.
b. This section shall apply to vehicles on public highways, as defined in section 3 of P.L. 1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-3), and in parking lots.
c. A person who violates this section shall be subject, for a first offense, to a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500. For any subsequent violation the person shall be subject to a fine of not less than $500 or more than $1,000. It is a separate offense for each child left unattended in the motor vehicle.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill creates penalties for leaving a child under six years of age unattended in a motor vehicle on a public highway or in a parking lot. A person is subject to these penalties when the motor vehicle is out of the person's sight and under circumstances or conditions which endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the child. A person who violates the provisions of this bill is subject to a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500 for a first violation and not less than $500 or more than $1,000 for subsequent violations. It is a separate offense for each child left unattended in the motor vehicle.
When a child is left in a vehicle alone, even for a short time, the child is in danger of abduction, injury, dehydration, and death. The temperature inside a car can become dangerously hot. In the United States between 1998 and 2016, 683 children died from heat stroke after being left unattended in a hot car. Twelve of those children were from New Jersey.
