New Jersey Bill Gives Drivers a Break

Posted & filed under New Jersey Car Insurance.

The Senate Transportation Committee in New Jersey introduced a bill this week that will give motorists in the Garden State a bit of a break.

Specifically, the bill allows a driver who can prove he or she was driving legally at the time they were stopped to pay a reduced fine if they didn’t have their license, registration, or insurance card with them at the time.

According to the bill’s sponsor, Senator Kip Bateman, a Republican from Somerset County, you shouldn’t have to pay a $180 fine if you’re running late for an appointment and forgot your driver’s license or insurance card at home. Instead, judges have the discretion to reduce fines, with the new maximum set at $100, instead of $150 plus court costs.

Bateman originally introduced the bill two years ago, and refers to it as “consumer-friendly legislation.”

Bateman, who first introduced the bill two years ago, called it consumer friendly legislation.

No companion legislation has been introduced in the New Jersey Assembly.