Bill Offers Break for Disobedient Drivers [AUDIO]

If a person's license is suspended, should that person be able to drive anyway? That is the focus of a bill in the New Jersey Assembly that is bound to turn controversial.

Bill A2422 would allow a person whose license has been suspended for certain motor vehicle violations to apply for a restricted use license.

According to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee Chairman Gordon Johnson (D), driving while under the influence of alcohol is included in the list of certain violations.

The restricted use license would be used exclusively for traveling to and from work or school, as long as other transportation is not available. A person who applies for the license must prove that no means of public transportation to the destination exists within one mile of his/her home.

Johnson supports the idea of the bill.

In this state, where we lack mass transit, a person has to be able to get to work to make a living for his or her family, Johnson says.

The bill was scheduled to be considered Monday by the committee, but Johnson says the bill needed some corrections and amendments before it can be heard. Bill sponsors Patrick Diegnan (D) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D) were not present Monday to comment on pending changes.

It is currently unknown when the committee will take up the bill.

According to the bill statement, the restricted use license would be of a distinctive color. It would contain the specific hours and place for which its use is permitted. In addition, the licensee would be required to display a prominent placard in the rear window of any vehicle he/she is operating.

There are several violations that would deem a driver ineligible for the special license: driving without the required motor vehicle liability insurance, an offense that involved death or serious bodily injury, exceeding the speed limit by more than 15 miles per hour, reckless driving, illegally passing a school bus, accumulating 12 or more motor vehicle points, and driving while the operators license was suspended or revoked.