New Brunswick, NJ Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Chapter 12.20 attacks abandoned and junked vehicles on three fronts. Section 12.20.020 prohibits abandoning any vehicle in the city and prohibits leaving one anywhere for such time and under such circumstances that it reasonably appears to have been abandoned. Section 12.20.030(A) bars leaving any partially dismantled, nonoperating, immobile, wrecked or junked vehicle on any public right-of-way, street or highway. On private ground, Section 12.20.040 gives owners, tenants, occupants and lessees forty-eight (48) hours before a partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked, junked or discarded vehicle becomes a violation. Three exceptions apply: a vehicle in an enclosed building, a vehicle on the premises of a business operated in a lawful place and manner when necessary to that business, and a vehicle in an appropriate storage place or depository maintained by the city.

Section 12.20.010 defines a vehicle broadly as a machine propelled by power other than human power, and expressly includes automobile, truck, trailer, motorized scooter, electric scooter, electric bicycle, motorcycle, tractor, buggy and wagon. Property means any real property in the city that is not a street or highway. Street repairs are limited too: Section 12.20.030(B) forbids permitting the repair, service or overhaul of any vehicle on the public highways or streets, except emergency repairs completed in less than sixty (60) minutes, or unless the New Brunswick Police Department grants an extension.

Removal runs through Section 12.20.050. The chief of police or a designated member of the police department, and the director of the department of public works or a designated employee, can remove any vehicle that reasonably appears to violate the chapter or is lost, stolen or unclaimed. The removing department notifies the registered owner in writing, by personal service or certified mail, of the removal, the reason and the vehicle's location. To reclaim it the owner pays the removal cost, established at $25.00, a storage charge of five dollars for each day, and any fine, penalty and court costs assessed for the violation. The municipal council can change the charges by resolution. Under Section 12.20.060 public works keeps the tow truck and impound area and disposes of impounded vehicles under applicable statutes, and the city takes on no liability to vehicle owners arising from removal, impoundment and disposition.