Bill Text: NY A01747 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes a photo radar demonstration program in cities of one million or more imposing civil liability upon vehicle owners for maximum speed limit violations; authorizes such program to install a photo radar device on McGuinness Boulevard in the borough of Brooklyn; provides for the repeal of such demonstration program after three years.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to transportation [A01747 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A01747-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1747 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 16, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. LENTOL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to civil liability of vehicle owners for maximum speed limit violations and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new 2 section 1180-d to read as follows: 3 § 1180-d. Owner liability for failure of operator to comply with maxi- 4 mum speed limits. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each 5 city with a population of one million or more is hereby authorized and 6 empowered to adopt and amend a local law or ordinance establishing a 7 demonstration program imposing monetary liability on the owner of a 8 vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to comply with maximum speed 9 limits in such city in accordance with the provisions of this section. 10 Such demonstration program shall empower the city of New York to install 11 and operate a photo radar device on McGuinness Boulevard in the borough 12 of Brooklyn within such city. 13 (b) In any city which has adopted a local law or ordinance pursuant to 14 subdivision (a) of this section, the owner of a vehicle shall be liable 15 for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such vehicle was used 16 or operated with the permission of the owner, express or implied, in 17 violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this 18 article, and such violation is evidenced by information obtained from a 19 photo radar system; provided however that no owner of a vehicle shall be 20 liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section where the operator 21 of such vehicle has been convicted of the underlying violation of subdi- 22 vision (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article. 23 (c) For purposes of this section, "owner" shall have the meaning 24 provided in article two-B of this chapter. For purposes of this section, EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04487-01-9A. 1747 2 1 "photo radar system" shall mean a speed camera installed to work in 2 conjunction with Doppler radar and a computer monitoring system which 3 automatically produces two or more photographs, two or more microphoto- 4 graphs, a videotape or other recorded images of each vehicle at the time 5 it is used or operated in violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven 6 hundred eighty of this article. 7 (d) A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by 8 the city in which the charged violation occurred, or a facsimile there- 9 of, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, videotape or 10 other recorded images produced by a photo radar system, shall be prima 11 facie evidence of the facts contained therein. Any photographs, micro- 12 photographs, videotape or other recorded images evidencing such a 13 violation shall be available for inspection in any proceeding to adjudi- 14 cate the liability for such violation pursuant to a local law or ordi- 15 nance adopted pursuant to this section. 16 (e) An owner liable for a violation of subdivision (d) of section 17 eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to a local law or ordi- 18 nance adopted pursuant to this section shall be liable for monetary 19 penalties in accordance with a schedule of fines and penalties to be set 20 forth in such local law or ordinance, except that in a city which, by 21 local law, has authorized the adjudication of such owner liability by a 22 parking violations bureau, such schedule shall be promulgated by such 23 bureau. The liability of the owner pursuant to this section shall not 24 exceed one hundred dollars for each violation; provided, however, that 25 such local law or ordinance may provide for an additional penalty not in 26 excess of twenty-five dollars for each violation for the failure to 27 respond to a notice of liability within the prescribed time period. 28 (f) An imposition of liability under a local law or ordinance adopted 29 pursuant to this section shall not be deemed a conviction as an operator 30 and shall not be made part of the operating record of the person upon 31 whom such liability is imposed nor shall it be used for insurance 32 purposes in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage. 33 (g) 1. A notice of liability shall be sent by first class mail to each 34 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 35 (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this 36 section. Personal delivery on the owner shall not be required. A manual 37 or automatic record of mailing prepared in the ordinary course of busi- 38 ness shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. 39 2. A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the 40 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 41 (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this 42 section, the registration number of the vehicle involved in such 43 violation, the location where such violation took place, the date and 44 time of such violation and the identification number of the camera which 45 recorded the violation or other document locator number. 46 3. The notice of liability shall contain information advising the 47 person charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest 48 the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall also 49 contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure to contest 50 in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of liabil- 51 ity and that a default judgment may be entered thereon. 52 4. The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the city 53 having jurisdiction over the intersection where the violation occurred, 54 or by any other entity authorized by the city to prepare and mail such 55 notification of violation.A. 1747 3 1 (h) Adjudication of the liability imposed upon owners by this section 2 shall be by a traffic violations bureau established pursuant to section 3 three hundred seventy of the general municipal law or, if there be none, 4 by the court having jurisdiction over traffic infractions, except that 5 any city which has established an administrative tribunal to hear and 6 determine complaints of traffic infractions constituting parking, stand- 7 ing or stopping violations may, by local law, authorize such adjudi- 8 cation by such tribunal. 9 (i) If an owner receives a notice of liability pursuant to this 10 section for any time period during which the vehicle was reported to the 11 police department as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to 12 an allegation of liability for a violation of subdivision (d) of section 13 eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this section that the 14 vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time the 15 violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For purposes 16 of asserting the defense provided by this subdivision it shall be suffi- 17 cient that a certified copy of the police report on the stolen vehicle 18 be sent by first class mail to the traffic violations bureau, court 19 having jurisdiction or parking violations bureau. 20 (j) 1. In a city where the adjudication of liability imposed upon 21 owners pursuant to this section is by a traffic violations bureau or a 22 court having jurisdiction, an owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to 23 which a notice of liability was issued pursuant to subdivision (g) of 24 this section shall not be liable for the violation of subdivision (d) of 25 section eleven hundred eighty of this article, provided that he or she 26 sends to the traffic violations bureau or court having jurisdiction a 27 copy of the rental, lease or other such contract document covering such 28 vehicle on the date of the violation, with the name and address of the 29 lessee clearly legible, within thirty-seven days after receiving notice 30 from the bureau or court of the date and time of such violation, togeth- 31 er with the other information contained in the original notice of 32 liability. Failure to send such information within such thirty-seven day 33 time period shall render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed by 34 this section. Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this 35 paragraph, the lessee of such vehicle on the date of such violation 36 shall be deemed to be the owner of such vehicle for purposes of this 37 section, shall be subject to liability for the violation of subdivision 38 (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this 39 section and shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to subdivision 40 (g) of this section. 41 2. (i) In a city which, by local law, has authorized the adjudication 42 of liability imposed upon owners by this section by a parking violations 43 bureau, an owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of 44 liability was issued pursuant to subdivision (g) of this section shall 45 not be liable for the violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven 46 hundred eighty of this article, provided that: 47 (A) prior to the violation, the lessor has filed with the bureau in 48 accordance with the provisions of section two hundred thirty-nine of 49 this chapter; and 50 (B) within thirty-seven days after receiving notice from the bureau of 51 the date and time of a liability, together with the other information 52 contained in the original notice of liability, the lessor submits to the 53 bureau the correct name and address of the lessee of the vehicle identi- 54 fied in the notice of liability at the time of such violation, together 55 with such other additional information contained in the rental, lease orA. 1747 4 1 other contract document, as may be reasonably required by the bureau 2 pursuant to regulations that may be promulgated for such purpose. 3 (ii) Failure to comply with clause (B) of subparagraph (i) of this 4 paragraph shall render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed in 5 this section. 6 (iii) Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this paragraph, 7 the lessee of such vehicle on the date of such violation shall be deemed 8 to be the owner of such vehicle for purposes of this section, shall be 9 subject to liability for such violation pursuant to this section and 10 shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to subdivision (g) of this 11 section. 12 (k) If the owner liable for a violation of subdivision (d) of section 13 eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this section was not 14 the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the owner may 15 maintain an action for indemnification against the operator. 16 (l) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability 17 of an operator of a vehicle for any violation of subdivision (d) of 18 section eleven hundred eighty of this article. 19 (m) The photo radar devices installed and operated pursuant to the 20 demonstration program, established under subdivision (a) of this 21 section, shall be used solely for the purposes of carrying out photo- 22 monitoring for such demonstration program. 23 (n) Any city which adopts a demonstration program pursuant to subdivi- 24 sion (a) of this section shall submit a report on the results of the use 25 of a photo radar system to the governor, the temporary president of the 26 senate and the speaker of the assembly by March first, two thousand 27 twenty. Such report shall include, but not be limited to: 28 1. a description of the locations where photo radar systems were used; 29 2. the number of violations recorded at each such location and in the 30 aggregate on a daily, weekly and monthly basis; 31 3. the total number of notices of liability issued; 32 4. the number of fines and total amount of fines paid after first 33 notice of liability; 34 5. the number of violations adjudicated and results of such adjudi- 35 cations including breakdowns of dispositions made; 36 6. the total amount of revenue realized by such city; and 37 7. quality of the adjudication process and its results. 38 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 39 have become a law and shall remain in full force and effect for three 40 years after such effective date when upon such date the provisions of 41 this act shall be deemed repealed; provided, however, any such local 42 laws as may be enacted pursuant to this act shall remain in full force 43 and effect only until the expiration of three years from such effective 44 date.
