On June 30th, the NJ State Senate passed S2208 the Safe Passing Bill, voting 33-0 with bipartisan support, and is now headed to Governor Murphy’s desk to be signed into law.

The bill which was co-sponsored by Camden/Gloucester County Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez passed unopposed in the State Assembly on Jun 24th. The four-foot safe passing distance in the bill matches Pennsylvania’s law, but New Jersey’s law will also apply to people on foot or traveling on other personal vehicles like e-scooters, making it one of the most comprehensive safe passing laws for vulnerable road users in the country.

In 2020 197 people in the state lost their lives walking and bicycling. accounting for 34% of all traffic deaths and making it the deadliest year for the state since 2017. It is one tool that will help New Jersey to work towards its goal of zero traffic deaths.

Passage of the bill caps over 10 years of education and advocacy was a joint effort by the Bicycle Coalition and our NJ advocacy partners the New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and the grassroots TEAM4 the NJ Safe Passing Law.

Our final ask is for our supporters to encourage the Governor to sign the bill into law as soon as possible.

CALL @GovMurphy at 609-292-6000 or send an email at constituent.relations@nj.gov and tell him to sign the bill into law!