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Named after Sara Dubinin of Sayreville who died in 2007 auto accident

Gov. Chris Christie has signed legislation that establishes a next-of-kin registry that provides authorities with immediate access to contact information in the event a family member is involved or injured in a motor vehicle accident.

The new law, which goes into effect in 18 months, is named “Sara’s Law” for Sara Dubinin of Sayreville who fell into a coma and died as a result of a 2007 car accident. It took nearly two hours for her parents to be notified of the incident.

New Jersey becomes the seventh state to implement a notification procedure. The other states are Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado and Delaware.

Under the next-of-kin registry standards, the holder of any New Jersey driver’s license or non-driver identification card has the opportunity to voluntarily submit the name and telephone number of two emergency contact persons to the state Motor Vehicle Commission.

If the person is involved in an accident resulting in serious injury, death, or incapacitation, authorities would be able to utilize the registry to notify the emergency contacts.

To expand the number of teenagers eligible to participate in the registry, the law lowers the age at which a non-driver identification card can be obtained from 17 to 14.

Safeguards have been put in place to protect against unauthorized or improper access. For example, any information submitted to the MVC will only be accessible by certain employees and law enforcement personnel. Additionally, emergency contact information will not be subject to public disclosure under the “Open Public Records Act” and information is not discoverable as a public record, except upon a subpoena issued by a grand jury or a court order in a criminal matter. There will also be a delayed effective date of 18 months in order for the MVC to program their computers to process the new information made available by the bill.

“As the father of four children, I know first-hand that it is a parent’s natural instinct to protect their child from harm and to be with that child in their time of need,” Christie said Monday. “My heart goes out to the Dubinins for their terrible loss. By signing Sara’s Law, we are putting a commonsense process in place to ensure a family facing the terrible difficultly of a child in harm or danger is not further strained through notification that is delayed or too late.”

The law (S-1829) was sponsored by Sen. Joseph F. Vitale (D-Middlesex), Assemblymen John S. Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), Craig J. Coughlin (D-Middlesex) and Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson).

“When someone is involved in a serious car accident, time is of the essence,” Vitale said. “Through this law, moving forward, law enforcement will have a way to contact the family members or loved ones of a driver or passenger if they are incapacitated, injured or killed as a result of an auto accident. This law creates a mechanism to get the word out when an accident takes place, and to inform family members of the hospital or emergency health care facility that a person is taken to for medical care.

“Expanding the non-driver ID eligibility to more teenagers allows parents a small measure of peace of mind in knowing that, God forbid their child is ever in a car accident, at least they will be informed quickly,” Vitale added. “This law addresses the emotional needs of families by allowing them to be by each other’s side in the event of a tragedy, but it also allows family members and other emergency contacts with intimate knowledge of an accident victim’s wishes and unique health needs to ensure that those concerns are met in the administration of medical care.”

-TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM