New Jersey-2020-S3517-Introduced

An Act concerning traffic control signal enforcement, amending R.S.39:4-81, and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) a. Upon the conviction of a driver of a vehicle for a violation of R.S.39:4-81 the court shall collect from the defendant a surcharge of $100 in addition to and independently of any fine imposed on that defendant. The court shall forward the surcharge to the Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission who shall deposit the surcharge into a "Traffic Control Signal Enforcement Fund." The fund shall be used to establish a Statewide traffic control signal enforcement program to be supervised by the chief administrator.

b. A municipality shall be entitled to periodic grants from the fund in amounts proportional to its contribution to the fund. A municipality shall be deemed to have contributed to the fund if a surcharge collected and deposited in the fund pursuant to subsection a. of this section was for a violation of R.S.39:4-81 that occurred within the municipality and the summons resulting in a conviction for the violation was issued by a member of the municipal police force. The grants from the fund shall be used by the municipality to increase enforcement of R.S.39:4-81 by subsidizing additional law enforcement patrols and through other measures approved by the chief administrator.

c. The Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety, a county law enforcement agency, and an interstate law enforcement agency shall be entitled to periodic grants from the fund in amounts representing their proportionate contributions to the fund. The Division of State Police, a county law enforcement agency, or an interstate law enforcement agency shall be deemed to have contributed to the fund if a surcharge collected and deposited in the fund pursuant to subsection a. of this section was for a violation of R.S.39:4-81 and the summons resulting in a conviction for the violation was issued by a member of the Division of State Police, a county law enforcement agency, or an interstate law enforcement agency. The grants from the fund shall be used by the Division of State Police, the county law enforcement agency, or interstate law enforcement agency to increase enforcement of R.S.39:4-81 by subsidizing additional law enforcement patrols and through other measures approved by the chief administrator.

d. The surcharge described herein shall not be considered a fine, penalty, or forfeiture to be distributed pursuant to R.S.39:5-41.

e. The Chief Administrator shall promulgate rules and regulations in order to effectuate the purposes of this section.

2. R.S.39:4-81 is amended to read as follows:

39:4-81. a. The driver of every vehicle, the [motorman] operator of every street car, and every pedestrian shall obey the instructions of any official traffic control device applicable thereto, placed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, unless otherwise directed by a traffic or police officer.

b. When, by reason of a power failure or other malfunction, a traffic control signal at an intersection is not illuminated, the driver of a vehicle or street car shall, with respect to that intersection, observe the requirement for a stop intersection, as provided in R.S.39:4-144.

c. In addition to and independent of any fine or other penalty provided for under law, the court shall impose a surcharge of $100 on any driver of a vehicle convicted of a violation of this section. The State Treasurer shall deposit annually the monies collected pursuant to this subsection to the "Traffic Control Signal Enforcement Fund" established pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The surcharge described herein shall not be considered a fine, penalty, or forfeiture to be distributed pursuant to R.S.39:5-41.

(cf: P.L.2004, c.92, s.1)

3. This act shall take effect on the first day of fourth month next following the date of enactment, except that the chief administrator may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill creates a surcharge for certain violations of the traffic control signal law, and establishes a Statewide traffic control signal enforcement program and fund.

The bill provides that a driver of a vehicle would be assessed a $100 surcharge for a violation of the traffic control signal law in addition to and independently of any fine imposed on that defendant. Under the bill, the court would forward the surcharge to the Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission to be deposited into the "Traffic Control Signal Enforcement Fund." The fund would be used to establish a Statewide traffic control signal enforcement program to be supervised by the chief administrator.

The bill provides that a municipality would be entitled to periodic grants from the fund in amounts proportional to its contribution to the fund. A municipality would be deemed to have contributed to the fund if a surcharge collected and deposited in the fund pursuant to the provisions of the bill was for a violation that occurred within the municipality and the summons resulting in a conviction for the violation was issued by a member of the municipal police force. The Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety, county law enforcement agencies, and interstate law enforcement agencies also would be entitled to periodic grants from the fund in amounts representing their proportionate contributions to the fund based on summons issued by members of those law enforcement agencies.

Under the bill, the grants from the fund would be used by the law enforcement agencies to increase enforcement by subsidizing additional law enforcement patrols and through other measures approved by the chief administrator.