Updated 11/07/06
NEW JERSEY
Updated 12/21/06
New Jersey Historic Vehicles:
The New Jersey legislature introduced SAN-supported legislation to allow historic vehicles to be used for pleasure driving one day per week. Under current law, owners of properly registered historic motor vehicles are permitted to operate them solely for exhibition and educational purposes. In order to be designated as historic, a vehicle must be at least 25 years old and owned as a collector's item.
Collector motor vehicle: a motor vehicle, not otherwise qualified for designation as an "historic vehicle," or "street rod," which was either: originally manufactured as a restricted issue make or model, or in a sufficiently limited quantity; or at the time of qualification for designation exists in such limited numbers; either one or the other or both of the above, according to any generally recognized compilation of motor vehicle statistical information on file with, or supplied by the owner to the Division, as may be accepted by the Director in his or her discretion, so as to establish it as a unique commodity having a current monetary value in excess of similar make and model vehicles with routine manufacture and distribution patterns, and, further, that is not driven in excess of the maximum mileage permitted by the terms of a valid limited use motor vehicle insurance policy issued for, and covering such vehicle, proof of which shall be supplied to the Division at the time of application for designation as a collector vehicle, which mileage shall in no event exceed 3,000 miles per year. This term shall not include motor vehicles with elevated chassis height which are subject to inspection in accordance with N.J.A.C. 13:20- 37.
Street rod: a modified antique automobile manufactured before 1949.
New Jersey Exhaust Noise: Legislation that would require the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to prescribe a decibel limit to which all aftermarket mufflers sold in the state would have to be certified was withdrawn because of SAN's objections. The bill gave no instruction as to what the decibel limit should be. In some states, noise limits for modified exhaust systems are established by a SAN model bill and applicable to an easy to administer test standard. The SAN model provides for the testing of vehicle exhaust noise to a standard adopted by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) with an established noise limit of 95-decibels (SAE J1169).
New Jersey Emissions Exemptions: SAN continues to support legislation introduced in the New Jersey State Legislature that proposes to exempt newer motor vehicles from the state's mandatory emissions inspection program. Under the bill, motor vehicles that are five model years old or less would be exempted.
New Jersey Inspections: New Jersey is proposing to amend regulations concerning motor vehicle inspection standards and test procedures. The proposal would, among other things, fail vehicles equipped with headlamps that do not emit a "white light." The federal government defines "white" light in terms of a range of wavelengths encompassing both blue and yellow tint, but the New Jersey proposal does not reference the federal standard or otherwise define "white." SAN recommended that New Jersey permit any light source or bulb that complies with the federal standard. The proposed regulation could also prohibit brush guards, grille guards or other lamp covers simply because they are in front of headlamps without acknowledging that such items usually include detachable lamp protectors that are easily removable. SAN noted this error and also pointed out that while Federal standards prohibit the installation of supplementary equipment that impairs the effectiveness of required lighting equipment, there is no evidence that indicates that the parts targeted for regulation uniformly prevent lamps from meeting required photometric output or reduce the surface area below required levels.