--- description: A law has been proposed in New Jersey to prevent issuing official Motor Vehicle Commission documents to the deceased. title: New Jersey Law Is Proposed to Keep Walking Dead from Driving image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [States](/tag/states/) ## States Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Proposed Law in New Jersey Would Keep the Walking Dead From Driving  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2015 10:22 PM CUT  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2015 10:22 PM CUT The “walking dead” are aiming higher—and in New Jersey, it [appears](http://www.nj.com/traffic/index.ssf/2015/06/dead%5Fpeople%5Fwould%5Fbe%5Fbanned%5Ffrom%5Fdriving%5Fin%5Fnj%5Funder%5Fproposed%5Flaw.html#incart%5Fpop%5Fthishour "undefined") they have been driving. But on Thursday, NJ.com reports, the state’s Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee released a bill to put an end to the behavior. This legislative move follows a state audit in March that revealed the Motor Vehicle Commission had issued official documents, such as licenses, to more than 300 people who were already deceased. The proposed law would require that the Commission cross-check their records with the Social Security Administration databases to avoid issuing significant legal documents to anyone no longer alive. If the bill sponsored by State Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo is eventually passed, it could only improve the reputation of New Jersey drivers by ensuring, well, that they’re all alive. \[[_NJ.com_](http://www.nj.com/traffic/index.ssf/2015/06/dead%5Fpeople%5Fwould%5Fbe%5Fbanned%5Ffrom%5Fdriving%5Fin%5Fnj%5Funder%5Fproposed%5Flaw.html#incart%5Fpop%5Fthishour "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3927259/new-jersey-law-proposed-dead-drivers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3927259/new-jersey-law-proposed-dead-drivers/"},"headline":"Proposed Law in New Jersey Would Keep the Walking Dead From Driving","datePublished":"2015-06-18T22:22:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:20:44.938Z","description":"More than 300 dead people received official documents or licenses","url":"https://time.com/3927259/new-jersey-law-proposed-dead-drivers/","keywords":["States","New Jersey","driving"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/states/","name":"States"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3927259/new-jersey-law-proposed-dead-drivers/","name":"Proposed Law in New Jersey Would Keep the Walking Dead From Driving"}}]}] ```