From News Service Reports
March 30, 2001, Friday
Copyright 2001 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
March 30, 2001, Friday; All Editions
(TRENTON, N.J.) - Police will soon have the power to confiscate a drunken driver’s vehicle for up to 12 hours if acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco approves the proposal.
By unanimous vote, the state Assembly gave final legislative approval Thursday to a bill that allows just that. The Senate approved the bill, 32-0, last month.
The legislation was prompted by the death of John R. Elliott, 22, of Egg Harbor Township, a recent U.S. Naval Academy graduate who was killed July 22 when the car he was driving was hit by a man who had been arrested for drunken driving three hours earlier and released by police.
The driver was picked up by a friend, who took him back to his vehicle.
People who pick up drunken drivers after an arrest would also be affected by the bill. It directs police to give that person a written statement detailing the possible penalties if they allow the arrested driver get back behind the wheel.
DiFrancesco, who voted for the bill as a member of the Senate, isexpected to sign it into law.
The sponsors intend to name the new law after Elliott.