Bill Text: NJ S359 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires notice of motor vehicle safety recalls upon inspection and registration of motor vehicle.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-15 - Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S359 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S359-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Senator GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Requires notice of motor vehicle safety recalls upon inspection and registration of motor vehicle.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning motor vehicle safety recalls 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. As used in this section:
"Chief administrator" means the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission;
"Commission" means the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; and
"Open recall" means a safety-related recall, for which notification by a manufacturer is required to be provided under 49 U.S.C. s.30118 and 49 U.S.C. s.30119, that necessitates repairs or modifications to a motor vehicle by an authorized motor vehicle dealer. For purposes of this section, "open recall" shall not include: recalls related to defects or failures to comply with requirements relating to labeling or notification in a motor vehicle's owner's manual; or recalls where the remedy is for the manufacturer to repurchase the motor vehicle or otherwise provide financial compensation to the owner of the motor vehicle.
b. During a motor vehicle inspection, an official inspection facility, or licensed private inspection facility, shall check information made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine whether the motor vehicle being inspected is subject to an open recall. If the vehicle is subject to one or more open recalls, the official inspection facility, or licensed private inspection facility, shall provide the owner of the motor vehicle, at the time of inspection, written notice of all open recalls applicable to the motor vehicle. The recall notice shall include the following:
(1) a description of each open recall; and
(2) a statement that each open recall may be repaired by a motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle at no cost to the owner of the motor vehicle, except as provided in 49 U.S.C. s.30120.
c. Nothing in this section shall alter the liability under common law of any motor vehicle manufacturer or motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer to repair an open recall.
d. The chief administrator and employees of the commission who are designated by the chief administrator, for the purposes of discharging their duties pursuant to this section, and a private inspection facility or its owner and employees shall not be liable to any person for any act or omission related to the open recall notice provided pursuant to this section, except for cases of gross negligence.
2. a. As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
"Chief administrator" means the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission;
"Commission" means the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; and
"Open recall" means a safety-related recall, for which notification by a manufacturer is required to be provided under 49 U.S.C. s.30118 and 49 U.S.C. s.30119, that necessitates repairs or modifications to a motor vehicle by an authorized motor vehicle dealer. For purposes of this section, "open recall" shall not include: recalls related to defects or failures to comply with requirements relating to labeling or notification in a motor vehicle's owner's manual; or recalls where the remedy is for the manufacturer to repurchase the motor vehicle or otherwise provide financial compensation to the owner of the motor vehicle.
b. The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall, prior to issuing a motor vehicle registration or mailing a motor vehicle registration renewal notice, check information made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine whether the motor vehicle is subject to an open recall. For a vehicle that is subject to one or more open recalls, the commission shall provide the owner of the motor vehicle written notice of all open recalls applicable to the motor vehicle. The recall notice shall be provided at the time the vehicle is registered, except that for registration renewals, the recall notice shall be included in the registration renewal notice. The recall notice shall include the following:
(1) a description of each open recall; and
(2) a statement that each open recall may be repaired by a motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle at no cost to the owner of the motor vehicle, except as provided in 49 U.S.C. s.30120.
c. Nothing in this section shall alter the liability under common law of any motor vehicle manufacturer or motor vehicle dealer approved by the manufacturer to repair an open recall.
d. The chief administrator and employees of the commission who are designated by the chief administrator, for the purpose of discharging their duties pursuant to this section, shall not be liable to any person for any act or omission related to the open recall notice provided pursuant to this section, except for cases of gross negligence.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month after enactment, but the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission may take any administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the timely implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires an official motor vehicle inspection facility or licensed private inspection facility to provide written notice to the owner of a motor vehicle being inspected of all open recalls applicable to the motor vehicle at the time the motor vehicle is inspected. The recall notice is required to describe each open recall and state that each open recall may be repaired by certain motor vehicle dealers at no cost to the owner, except in certain circumstances.
The bill also requires the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (commission) to provide written notice to the owner of a motor vehicle, at the time a vehicle is registered or upon mailing a motor vehicle's registration renewal notice, of all open recalls applicable to the motor vehicle. The recall notice is required to describe each open recall and state that each open recall may be repaired by certain motor vehicle dealers at no cost to the owner, except in certain circumstances.
Nothing in the bill alters the liability under common law of any motor vehicle manufacturer or motor vehicle dealer approved by a manufacturer to repair an open recall. The bill limits the liability of the Chief Administrator of the commission (chief administrator) and employees of the commission for acts or omissions related to open recall notices provided pursuant to the provisions of the bill, except in cases of gross negligence.
