Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

I am reintroducing legislation that addresses a situation experienced by a constituent. She noted that the financial responsibility requirements are not always enforced on private property. Her vehicle was hit in a minor accident in a bank parking lot. The other driver gave her insurance information, which she later discovered was false. When she informed the police about this, she was told that, because the accident occurred on private property, the financial responsibility requirements did not necessarily apply. She wrote to my office, asking what could be done to narrow this exemption from the financial responsibility requirements.

The new legislation adds a subsection to Section 6113 of Title 75 (Vehicles) of Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. This legislation will give property owners the option of having the registration and financial responsibility requirements of the Vehicle Code enforced on their property. This was Senate Bill 1118 of the 2011-12 session.

Under the current Section 6113(b), the owner of a parcel of real property at least 10 acres in size can request that the local authorities enforce the observance of speed limits and traffic control devices on the property. In this legislation, there is no minimum lot size requirement for the financial responsibility and registration provisions to apply to a piece of private property. Under my proposal, the property in question must be open to the public for parking and connected to a business, social or religious establishment. The legislation does not make this mandatory, leaving it up to the property owner as to whether these provisions of the Vehicle Code will be enforced on his or her property. The property owner would be required to have an agreement with the appropriate local authorities in order to enforce these provisions on the property.

Co-sponsors of Senate Bill 1118 were Senators Browne, Fontana and Solobay.

If you have any questions regarding this legislation, please contact Greg Beckenbaugh in my office at 787-3817, or at gbeckenbaugh@pasen.gov .