November 10, 2021
Peter Fazekas/Pexels
New Jersey drivers will soon be allowed to present their electronic vehicle registration on a smartphone or tablet device when requested by a police officer or judge.
The days of rummaging through the glove compartment to find your vehicle registration after being pulled over by a cop in New Jersey are numbered.
A new measure, signed into law Monday by Gov. Phil Murphy, will soon allow motorists to present an electronic copy of their vehicle registration to a police officer or judge when requested.
This follows a measure passed in 2015 which allowed drivers to show proof of insurance on their smartphones instead of in paper form.
The new law, which received bipartisan support in both houses of the state legislature this year, will take effect within the next 18 months.
The Motor Vehicle Commission is now tasked with developing and offering electronic vehicle registrations that have guidelines in place to prevent fake documents.
Once the new measure takes effect, drivers will be permitted to show an electronic copy of their vehicle registration from the MVC or a photo of the paper on a smartphone or tablet device.
The police officer or judge will not be authorized to access other contents on the device, and will not be liable for any possible resulting damage to it while examining the registration.
Previously, all drivers were required to provide a paper form of registration, and they may continue to do so if they choose.
The new law aims to help keep motorists from paying the $150 fine issued when they fail to present a paper vehicle registration during a traffic stop.
New Jersey has taken a number of steps in recent years to make the driving experience more digitally-focused. They are now the third state to allow motorists to present electronic copies during a road stop, joining Michigan and Tennessee, according to NJ.com.
A new measure signed into law last month requires the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and South Jersey Transportation Authority to send push notifications alerting E-ZPass users of the charges incurred when passing through toll plazas.
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