Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DOT and State Police to establish written policies and procedures regarding recording of traffic fatalities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the creation and implementation of policies and procedures regarding the recording of traffic fatalities and supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety, shall establish written policies and procedures regarding the communication and documentation needed to record traffic fatalities.
b. The policies and procedures developed by the department pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall include, but not be limited to, the proper procedures and documentation concerning:
(1) the review of every death classification as either a traffic or non-traffic fatality;
(2) the input of required traffic fatality data into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System;
(3) the verification of crash reports;
(4) the electronic submission of crash report data;
(5) the provision of notice to the department by the division when a fatality classification is determined or updated and when a case is closed; and
(6) the reconciliation by the department of fatal crash data included in the department’s Accident Records Database and the Division of State Police’s Fatal Crash Tracking System to ensure all fatal crashes and associated fatalities have been recorded and properly classified as either a traffic or non-traffic fatality in the Accident Records Database.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT), in consultation with the Division of State Police (State Police) in the Department of Law and Public Safety, to establish written policies and procedures regarding the communication and documentation needed to record fatalities.
The policies and procedure are to include, at a minimum, the proper procedures and documentation concerning: (1) the review of every death classification as a traffic or non-traffic fatality; (2) the input of required traffic fatality data into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System; (3) the verification of crash reports; (4) the electronic submission of crash report data; (5) the provision of notice to the DOT by the State Police when a fatality classification is determined or updated when a case is closed; (6) and the reconciliation by the DOT of fatal crash data included in the DOT’s Accident Records Database (ARD) and the State Police’s Fatal Crash Tracking System to ensure all fatal crashes have been recorded and properly classified as either a traffic or non-traffic fatality in the ARD.