Republican Governor, Chris Christie, signed a new law last week that will create a 30-day delay period between when someone is notified they have failed to pay a parking fine and when they lose their driver’s license. The new bill passed unanimously in both the assembly and in the senate. The bill will take effect in December of 2017.

Under the current law, the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission can suspend an individual’s license or registration when a court notifies them that the driver failed to pay a parking ticket or respond to a notice. The current practice can lead to police arresting people for unpaid parking tickets – even without them being aware that they had a warrant out for their arrest! Confusion can often arise when people move and forget to update their addresses. The new law is designed to create a month-long (30 day) grace period, that would make individuals aware before their driving rights are stripped away from them. Because of the severity of the punishment, for what appears to be a relatively minor offense, this should be seen as a respectable bill for NJ Residents.

This is a great change in the law for NJ Residents.  Under the old law, if a person was found to be operating a car with a suspended license, due for failure to pay a parking ticket, they were looking at serious penalties and fines.