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Senate panel releases bill to allow acquired brain injury notation on IDs, expands officer training
Summary
The Senate Transportation Committee released S192, allowing voluntary notation of acquired brain injury on driver IDs and directing law-enforcement training be expanded to include safety and communication techniques for autism, sensory loss and communication disorders; advocates urged community-informed curricula.
The Senate Transportation Committee on Monday released Senate Bill S192, which would let people with certain acquired brain injuries voluntarily add a notation to driver’s licenses and identification cards and requires existing training programs to include safety and interaction techniques for people with acquired brain injuries and similar conditions.
Kristen Wilson, a nurse, mother of a brain injury survivor and co‑founder of the nonprofit Get Out There with Acquired Brain Injury, told the committee a nearby traffic stop illustrated the bill’s potential. "That stop could have ended very differently if we did not have ID," she said, arguing training and the notation can prevent dangerous misunderstandings.
The committee substitute for S192 narrows terminology to "acquired brain injury," a term proponents said better covers traumatic and nontraumatic conditions. The substitute also directs current training programs developed by the Commissioner of Health and the Commissioner of Human Services and adopted by other state entities to include information on safety considerations and techniques for interacting with persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, deafness or hearing loss, blindness or vision loss, communication disorders and acquired brain injuries, rather than creating new programs.
Supporters urged that training be developed with input from community organizations and providers. "Training developed with the community is often more effective than training that's developed for the community," Wilson said, asking that groups such as her nonprofit and the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey be consulted.
Committee members characterized the bill as beneficial to both people with brain injuries and to law enforcement officers. A motion to substitute and release S192 passed by roll call; Senators Tiver, Holzapfel, Wimberley, Vice Chair Mukherjee and Chairman Deignan voted yes. The bill was substituted and released for further consideration.
