TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senator Fred H. Madden, which would work to reduce the number of secondary car accidents by allowing drivers who have been in minor collisions to move their cars out of the way of traffic, was unanimously approved today by the full Senate.
“According to the State Department of Transportation, 20% of all accidents are ‘secondary,’ meaning they were caused as the result of another accident,” said Senator Madden, D-Camden and Gloucester, a former Acting Superintendent of the State Police, who serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “Drivers are reluctant to move their cars because they think they might get charged with leaving the scene of an accident, and also because they think that moving their cars would hinder police officers’ ability to determine what caused the accident. This legislation would send a clear message that as long as no one is injured, moving cars out of the way of traffic is useful because it would reduce the number of preventable secondary accidents.”