Governor Signs ‘Mackay’s Law’ Protecting Auto Accident Victims, Families

TRENTON — Legislation South Jersey Assemblymen John J. Burzichelli, Douglas Fisher, and Nelson Albano and Sen. Stephen Sweeney sponsored to protect the surviving families of victims of fatal auto accidents from exorbitant wrecked-vehicle storage and handling fees was signed into law Dec. 5 by Gov. Jon S. Corzine.
“Mackay’s Law” is named in memoiy of 18-year-old Daniel Mackay, a Gloucester County teen killed in a June 2006 accident on Interstate 295. Nearly one week after Daniel’s accident— and two days following the young man’s funeral — the Mackay family asked police for information as to the whereabouts of Daniel’s wrecked car. After tracking down the towing service, the Mackay family was handed a bill for $640.90 for towing and storage.
“In the wake of a horrific tragedy, allowing families to recover a vehicle in a timely manner and with minimal cost is simply the right thing to do,” said Albano (D-1st).
“There is something fundamentally wrong when a grief- stricken family has to physically track down the car in which a loved one was killed and then is handed an excessive bill,” said Burzichelli (D-3rd). “The location of a loved one’s car must be among the basic information families receive to ensure their distress is not compounded by an undue financial burden.”
“Unfortunately, it took the Mackay’s experience to bring to light a major shortcoming in the way state law treated families who lost loved ones in horrific accidents,” said Sweeney (D-3rd), who sponsored the measure in the Senate. “Now we can spare families in mourning from the indignity of having to pay for closure.”
Once the law takes effect Aprill 1, 2009, vehicle storage fees for the first 72 hours following an accident in which the owner is killed or seriously injured will be limited to $100. In addition, law enforcement officers will be required to provide the next-of-kin with the name, address, and telephone number of the towing company storing the vehicle.
“Daniel’s tragic death exposed a procedural loophole that needed to be closed,” said Fisher (D-3rd). “No family — especially one in mourning — should be forced to pay excessive fees simply to reclaim a loved one’s vehicle. Now, they won’t.”