STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires vehicles with large loads or trailers to use right lane of highways.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning certain motor vehicles including those with large loads or trailers and amending and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.39:4-77 is amended to read as follows:
39:4-77. No person shall cause or permit a vehicle to be so loaded or operate a vehicle so loaded that the contents or any part thereof may be scattered in any street. Whenever the load of any vehicle is of material other than farm products susceptible to scattering on a street and [such] the load extends above the height of the sides or tail gate or rear of the body of the vehicle, [such] the load shall be securely covered by a tarpaulin or other cover and the vehicle operator shall use the right lane of any public highway except when necessary to enter or leave the roadway by entrance or exit to or from the left lane.
The [director] chief administrator , where public safety so warrants, shall, after a public hearing, prescribe by rule or regulation minimum safety standards for fastening loads on and fix loading procedures for any commercial type flat bed motor vehicle or motor-drawn vehicle. Any rule or regulation so promulgated by the [director] chief administrator shall be filed in the Secretary of State’s office and copies thereof shall be available, upon request, in the [director’s] chief administrator’s office.
The owner, lessee, bailee, or operator of any vehicle described above found on a highway in violation of any such safety standard or procedure that may be prescribed by the [director] chief administrator shall be fined not more than [$500.00] $500 for each violation.
(cf: P.L.1968, c.272, s.1)
2. (New section) An operator of a motor-drawn vehicle, or a towed vehicle as defined by subsection b. of R.S.39:3-68.1, shall use the right lane of any public highway except when necessary to enter or leave the roadway by entrance or exit to or from the left lane.
A violation of this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month after the date of enactment, except that the Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires certain vehicles to use the right lane of public highways except when entering or exiting the roadway from the left lane.
Under the bill, a motor-drawn vehicle, a towed vehicle, or a vehicle with a load extending above the height of the sides, tail gate, or rear of the vehicle’s body is required to use the right lane of a highway except when necessary to enter or leave the roadway from the left lane. Current law defines a motor-drawn vehicle to include trailers, semitrailers, or any other vehicle drawn by a motor-driven vehicle. Additionally, current law defines a towed vehicle as a motor-drawn vehicle, pole trailer, semitrailer, or trailer. The bill provides that a violation of the bill’s provisions would be punishable by a fine of not more than $500.