Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 12:7-34.46

  • Division: means the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Transportation. See New Jersey Statutes 12:7-71
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Operator: means every person having charge, control, operation or direction of any vessel and the owner of the vessel if the owner is on the vessel at the time it is operated in violation of the law. See New Jersey Statutes 12:7-71
  • Owner: means a person, other than a lienholder, having the property in or title to a vessel. See New Jersey Statutes 12:7-71
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Vessel: means a boat or watercraft, other than a sea plane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. See New Jersey Statutes 12:7-71
11. (a) Whenever any vessel upon the waters of this State is involved in an accident, it shall be the duty of the operator, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his own passengers, guests, crew, himself or his vessel, to render to all other persons affected by the accident such assistance as may be necessary in order to save them from or to minimize any danger caused by the accident. He shall also give his name, address, and identifying information regarding his vessel to any person injured and to the owner of any property damaged in the accident. Any person who shall violate this subsection shall be fined not less than $200 or more than $400, or be imprisoned for a period of not more than 30 days, or both, for the first offense, and for a subsequent offense, shall be fined not less than $400 or more than $600, or be imprisoned for a period of not less than 30 days or more than 90 days, or both.

(b) Whenever an accident involves any vessel subject to this act and results in the death, disappearance, or injury of any person, or in property damage in excess of the federal standard for filing an accident report as established pursuant to 33 C.F.R. 173.55, the operator or operators thereof shall file, with the Division of State Police, a full description of the accident, including such information as that division may, by regulation, require within the times specified in subsection (c) of this section. The Superintendent of State Police shall notify operators, in a manner deemed appropriate, of a change in the federal standard for filing an accident report.

(c) A boating accident that occurs on the waters of this State shall be reported to the Division of State Police by the quickest means of communication possible, if the accident has caused the death or the disappearance of any person; any other reportable boating accident that may result in personal injury or property damage shall be reported within 10 days to the Division of State Police.

(d) The report of a boating accident herein required to be made by the operator of the vessel involved in the boating accident shall not, during any judicial proceeding, be referred to in any way; it shall not be subject to subpoena nor admissible as evidence in any proceeding. Subject to these restrictions, information contained in a boating accident report and any statistical information based thereon will be made available upon request for official purposes to the United States Coast Guard or any federal agency successor thereto.

L.1962, c.73, s.11; amended 1995, c.401, s.26; 2005, c.292, s.3; 2014, c.17, s.2.

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