ASSEMBLY TRANSPORTATION AND INDEPENDENT AUTHORITIES COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 1543
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: SEPTEMBER 14, 2026
The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 1543.
As amended and reported, this bill requires the redaction of certain personal identifying information, as outlined in the bill, from vehicle accident reports before those reports are released to the public under the law commonly referred to as the Open Public Records Act (OPRA).
The bill limits access to unredacted vehicle accident reports to authorized requestors with a clearly defined legal, investigatory, or insurance purpose or for any other purpose authorized under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (DPPA). Authorized requestors include individuals involved in the accident; attorneys for a party to the accident; insurance companies, or a third party working on the company’s behalf, representing a party to the accident; local, State, and federal law enforcement agencies and their employees or agents acting within the scope of their official duties; and a requestor authorized to access an unredacted vehicle accident report pursuant to the DPPA. Under the bill, authorized requestors are strictly limited to using unredacted information for official purposes and are prohibited from disclosing the information publicly without the written consent of the person whose information is to be disclosed or, in the case of a deceased or incapacitated person, the legal next of kin, guardian, or personal representative.
However, nothing in the bill prohibits the disclosure of an unredacted vehicle accident report to a requestor authorized to access the report pursuant to the DPPA. An authorized requestor who accesses an unredacted vehicle accident report pursuant to the DPPA may only use or share the report in accordance with the permissible uses and limitations established in the DPPA.
To deter unauthorized public disclosure, the bill imposes escalating civil penalties: $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second offense, and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. The bill also requires custodians of government records at government agencies to maintain a log of unredacted vehicle accident report disclosures, which are to be made available to the Government Records Council in the Department of Community Affairs or the Attorney General upon request in connection with an investigation.
The bill also amends current law to clarify that vehicle accident reports prepared by law enforcement officers, and the information contained in the reports, are to be privileged and held confidential to the extent provided by the bill.
This bill was prefiled for introduction in the 2026-2027 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
(1) define “vehicle accident report information”;
(2) revise the fine structure under the bill so that an initial offense is subject to a $250 fine instead of $1,000 fine, a second offense is subject to a $500 fine instead of a $2,500 fine, and each subsequent offense is subject to a $1,000 fine instead of a $5,000 fine;
(3) clarify that vehicle accident reports prepared by law enforcement officers under current law, and the information contained therein, are to be privileged and held confidential to the extent provided by the bill;
(4) require the written consent of the person whose vehicle accident report information is to be publicly disclosed prior to public disclosure rather than requiring the written consent of all parties involved in the accident;
(5) permit a guardian or personal representative, in addition to legal next of kin, as parties who may give consent when a person is deceased or incapacitated for the public disclosure of the deceased or incapacitated person’s vehicle accident report information;
(6) change all instances of “authorized parties” to “authorized requestors”;
(7) clarify that the information included on a vehicle accident report is privileged and confidential, notwithstanding which entity maintains the record;
(8) clarify that any insurance company, not only an automobile insurance company, and any third party working on an insurance company’s behalf may access an unredacted vehicle accident report if representing a party to the accident;
(9) clarify that the use of an unredacted vehicle accident report by an individual or entity authorized to access the report under the DPPA is not to be considered use for a commercial purpose as defined under current law;
(10) clarify that the bill does not prohibit: the disclosure of an unredacted vehicle accident report to a requestor authorized to access the report pursuant to the DPPA; the use of confidential information obtained under the bill for a purpose authorized under the DPPA; or the internal sharing of confidential information if used for a permissible purpose pursuant to the DPPA;
(11) revise the title of the bill; and
(12) make other clarifying and technical changes.