Bill Text: NJ A2279 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes fourth degree crime of manufacturing, selling, or possessing vehicle theft devices.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-01 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A2279 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A2279-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes fourth degree crime of manufacturing, selling, or possessing vehicle theft devices.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the sale of vehicle theft devices and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. For the purposes of this section, a "relay attack unit" means a device used to unlock or remotely activate the ignition of a motor vehicle.
b. A person who knowingly manufactures, sells, offers to sell, or possesses a relay attack unit is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
c. In any prosecution for a violation of this section, the manufacture, sale, offer to sell, or possession of a relay attack unit by any person shall be presumed to be for an unlawful purpose.
d. Nothing in this section shall apply to a motor vehicle manufacturer or an anti-theft organization that manufactures, sells, offers to sell, or possesses a relay attack unit for the purpose of testing the vulnerability of various motor vehicle systems.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill makes it a crime of the fourth degree to knowingly manufacture, sell, offer to sell, or possess a relay attack unit. A fourth degree crime is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
The bill defines a "relay attack unit" to mean a device used to unlock or remotely activate the ignition of a vehicle. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, relay attack units are used by thieves to access locked vehicles and, in some cases, drive away in them. These devices have been used throughout the United States to successfully access various makes and models of vehicles that are equipped with a keyless remote or push-button ignition. It is the sponsor's intent to prohibit the sale of these devices to prevent them from being used to commit thefts in this State.
The bill provides that in any prosecution for a violation under the bill, the manufacture, sale, offer to sell, or possession of a relay attack unit by any person is presumed to be for an unlawful purpose. The provisions of the bill do not apply to a vehicle manufacturer or an anti-theft organization that manufactures, sells, offers to sell, or possesses a relay attack unit for the purpose of testing the vulnerability of various vehicle systems.
