8 Things New Jerseyans Keep in Their Car That Confuse Out-of-Staters

Many out-of-staters look twice when they peek inside a New Jersey car.

If it looks like clutter to you, it isn’t. Each item has a reason behind it.

Here are the things many New Jerseyans keep in their car that out-of-staters don’t always have to.

1. E-ZPass Tag

With a New Jersey E-ZPass tag in your car, you pay a lower off-peak rate on the New Jersey Turnpike.

At 65 or older, you can enroll for a 10% discount on the off-peak rate, and the senior has to be in the car.

You can also enroll in the Green Pass program for 10% off the off-peak rate.

Your vehicle needs a rating of 45 mpg or better and has to meet California’s Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle standard.

2. Insurance ID Card

New Jersey requires you to keep your insurance identification card in your vehicle, or to produce it in electronic form.

The state counts electronic form as images shown on a cell phone, tablet or computer.

You’ll need the card for a vehicle inspection, after an accident, at a traffic stop and at a police spot check.

You may face fines if you can’t produce the card or its electronic form.

Driving an uninsured vehicle can bring fines, community service, license suspension and insurance surcharges.

You also have to show your registration certificate when a police officer or judge asks.

3. Inspection Sticker

New Jersey’s inspection sticker sits on your windshield and shows the date your vehicle is due for its next inspection.

Your non-commercial vehicle needs an inspection once every two years, and you can get it done up to two months before the sticker expires.

A new vehicle needs a five-year inspection instead of the two-year cycle.

At the station, you’ll need your driver license, the vehicle registration document and your insurance identification card.

An online renewal receipt doesn’t count as the registration document.

Photocopies don’t count either.

4. Reusable Bags

Reusable shopping bags belong in your trunk because New Jersey’s statewide bag ban took effect May 4, 2022.

Many out-of-staters reach the checkout expecting a plastic bag.

The ban covers single-use plastic carryout bags at all stores and food service businesses statewide.

The press release adds that grocery stores of at least 2,500 square feet can’t hand out single-use paper carryout bags either.

A reusable bag from a store needs stitched handles and washable fabric, such as polypropylene or nylon.

5. Ice Scraper

Keeping an ice scraper in your car helps you follow New Jersey’s amended snow-and-ice law, in effect since October 20, 2010.

The law requires reasonable efforts to clear accumulated snow and ice from all exposed surfaces before you drive, and the Attorney General’s office says that includes the roof.

A violation costs $25 to $75, with no points on your license.

If snow or ice from your car injures someone or damages property, your fine rises to $200 to $1,000.

6. Child Seat

New Jersey law requires your child’s car seat to ride in the rear seat, with minimums that depend on age, weight and height.

Under age 2 and 30 pounds, your child rides rear-facing in a seat with a five-point harness.

Kids under 4 and 40 pounds need a harnessed seat, either rear-facing or forward-facing.

Your child then rides in a belt-positioning booster while still under 8 and under 57 inches.

Past 8 years old or 57 inches, your child must be properly secured by a seat belt.

The state’s guide bars a rear-facing seat in the front seat of any vehicle with an active passenger-side airbag, unless the airbag is deactivated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends keeping children buckled in the back seat until age 13.

7. Phone Mount

You can use a hands-free device in New Jersey, but the state bans hand-held use of your phone while driving.

The ban covers talking and listening as well as texting.

Hands-free use is allowed, although the state discourages it, and the device can't interfere with standard safety equipment.

A first offense brings a fine of $200 to $400, and a second brings $400 to $600.

From a third offense on, you face $600 to $800, three points on your license and a possible 90-day suspension.

8. Island Beach Fishing Permit

Island Beach State Park lets four-wheel-drive vehicles surf fish from designated areas of the open beach.

You have to display an approved permit, decal or placard on or from your vehicle while you're in the park.

The annual Mobile Sport Fishing Permit costs $195 for residents and $225 for non-residents, plus a $5 transaction fee.

The park makes permits available each December 1 for the coming year.

The permit gets the vehicle and its operator into the park free, but everyone else riding with you follows the park's regular admission fee policy.

The park doesn't refund a permit or let you transfer it.

Self-Service Gas Ban

New Jersey law says only an attendant can dispense fuel into your tank, so you don't pump it yourself.

The ban dates back to 1949.

One of the signs a station has to post reads, "It is unlawful to serve yourself. Wait for an attendant."

Attendants even have to make a motorcyclist get off the bike while fuel goes in.

Oregon's governor signed a bill on August 4, 2023, that lets drivers choose between self-service and an attendant.

Oregon's change took effect immediately and applies statewide.