[Added 7-20-2023 by L.L. No. 3-2023]
To establish a School Bus Stop-Arm Demonstration Program allowing
the City to impose monetary liability on owners of vehicles for failure
of the operators thereof to comply with § 1174 of the NYS
Vehicle and Traffic Law in order to discourage motor vehicle operators
from unlawfully passing stopped school buses and to further protect
school children travelling on school buses.
A device that can operate independently of an enforcement
officer which is installed to work in conjunction with a school bus
stop-arm and which automatically produces two or more photographs,
two or more microphotographs, a videotype or other recorded images
of a vehicle at the time it is used or operated in violation of Subdivision
(a) of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law.
There is hereby established, pursuant to § 1174-a
of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, a demonstration program imposing
monetary liability on owners of vehicles for failure of the operators
thereof to comply with § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic
Law when meeting a school bus marked and equipped as provided in Subdivisions
20 and 21-c of § 375 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law
in the City of Watervliet.
To carry out the demonstration program, the City is authorized
to enter into an agreement with the Watervliet City School District
for the installation, maintenance, and use of school bus photo violation
monitoring systems as well as proper handling and custody of data
received by such monitoring systems, subject to the provisions of
§ 1174-a of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law. Once the school
district has entered into an agreement with the City, cameras shall
be installed on school buses owned or operated by the school district
or privately owned and operated for compensation under a contract
with such school district.
The total cost to the school district of the installation, maintenance
and use of school bus photo violation monitoring systems pursuant
to an agreement authorized by this chapter shall be borne entirely
by the City. The school district shall provide any report required
of the district, pursuant to § 1174-a of the NYS Vehicle
and Traffic Law, to the state or any official thereof. To the extent
that the City shall be required to issue any report to the state or
any official thereof because of the adoption of this article and/or § 1174-a
of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, the City shall cause the same
to be prepared pursuant to this article or applicable state law.
Pursuant to § 1174-a Subdivision(a)(3)(i) of the NYS
Vehicle and Traffic Law, any school district participating in the
demonstration program shall be prohibited from accessing any photographs,
microphotographs, videotapes, other recorded images and data from
school bus photo violation monitoring systems but shall provide, pursuant
to the agreement with the City, as provided in this article, for the
proper handling and custody of such photographs, microphotographs,
videotapes, other recorded images and data produced by such systems,
and for the forwarding of such photographs, microphotographs, videotapes,
other recorded images and data to the City for the purpose of determining
whether a motor vehicle was operated in violation of Subdivision (a)
of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law and imposing
monetary liability on the owner of such motor vehicle therefor.
The agreement between the City and the school district shall
provide that photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, other recorded
images and data produced by school bus photo violation monitoring
systems shall be destroyed a) 90 days after the date of the alleged
imposition of liability if a notice of liability is not issued for
such alleged imposition of liability pursuant to this article; or
b) upon final disposition of a notice of liability issued pursuant
to this article.
The City shall adopt and enforce measures to protect the privacy
of drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists whose identity and
identifying information may be captured by a school bus photo monitoring
device. Such measures shall include:
A.
Utilization of necessary technologies to ensure, to the extent practicable,
that photographs produced by such school photo violation monitoring
systems shall not include images that identify the driver, the passengers,
the contents of the vehicle, pedestrians and cyclists; provided, however,
that no notice of liability issued pursuant to this section shall
be dismissed solely because a photograph or photographs allow for
the identification of the contents of a vehicle, provided that the
City has made a reasonable effort to comply with the provisions of
this subsection;
B.
A prohibition of the use or dissemination of vehicles' license
plate information and other information and images captured by school
bus photo violation monitoring systems except: a) as required to establish
liability under this section or collect payment of penalties; b) as
required by court order; or c) as otherwise required by law; and
C.
Oversight procedures to ensure compliance with the privacy protection
measures required herein.
The City shall undertake the installation of signage in conformance
with standards established in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control
Devices. Such signage shall be installed at each roadway entrance
of the jurisdictional boundaries of the City giving notice that school
bus photo violation monitoring systems are used to enforce restrictions
on vehicles violating § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic
Law. For the purposes of this section, the term "roadway" shall not
include state expressway routes or state interstate routes but shall
include controlled access highway exit ramps that enter the boundaries
of the City.
Notwithstanding the penalties set forth in § 260-34, an owner liable for a violation of Subdivision (a) of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law pursuant to this article shall be liable for monetary penalties in accordance with the following schedule of fines and penalties:
A.
$250 for a first violation;
B.
$275 for a second violation committed within 18 months of the first
violation;
C.
$300 for a third violation or subsequent violation all of which were
committed within 18 months from the first violation; and
D.
An additional penalty of $25 for each failure to respond to a notice
of liability within the prescribed time. An imposition of liability
under this article shall not be deemed a conviction and shall not
be made part of the operating record of the person upon whom such
liability is imposed, nor shall it be used for insurance purposes
in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage.
A.
A notice of liability shall be sent as provided by state law by first-class
mail to each person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation
of Subdivision(a) of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic
Law. Personal delivery on the owner shall not be required. A manual
or automatic record of mailing prepared in the ordinary course of
business shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein.
B.
A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the person
alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of Subdivision(a)
of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, the registration
number of the vehicle involved in such violation, the location where
such violation took place, the date and time of such violation and
the identification number of the camera which recorded the violation
or other document locator number.
C.
A notice of liability shall contain information advising the person
charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest
the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall
also contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure
to contest in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission
of liability and that a default judgment may be entered thereon.
A.
The owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursuant
to this article if such vehicle was used or operated with the permission
of the owner, express or implied, in violation of Subdivision (a)
of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law and such violation
is evidenced by information obtained from a school bus photo violation
monitoring system; provided, however, that no owner of a vehicle shall
be liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this article where the
operator of such vehicle has been convicted of the underlying violation
of Subdivision (a) of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic
Law. There shall be a presumption that such vehicle was used and operated
with the consent of the owner at the time it was used and operated
in violation of Subdivision (a) of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle
and Traffic Law.
B.
If the owner receives a notice of liability pursuant to this article
for any time period during which the vehicle was reported to the police
as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to an allegation
of liability for a violation of Subdivision (a) of § 1174
of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law pursuant to this article that the
vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time
the violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For
purposes of asserting the defense provided by this subsection, it
shall be sufficient that a certified copy of the police report on
the stolen vehicle be sent or delivered to a court of competent jurisdiction
where any contested notice of liability would otherwise be determined.
C.
An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of liability
was issued pursuant to this article shall not be liable for the violation
of Subdivision (a) of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic
Law, provided that he or she complies with the provisions of § 1174-a
of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law and otherwise sends to the Court
of competent jurisdiction, or other adjudicatory bureau or agency
of competent jurisdiction, a copy of the rental, lease or other such
contract document covering such vehicle on the date of the violation,
with the name and address of the lessee clearly legible, within 37
days after receiving notice from the agency or entity which caused
such notice of liability to be issued, together with the information
contained in the original notice of liability. Failure to send such
information within the thirty-seven-day time period shall render the
owner liable for the penalty prescribed by this article. Where the
lessor complies with the provisions of this subsection, the lessee
of such vehicle for purposes of this section, shall be deemed to be
the owner of such vehicle on the date of such violation for the purposes
of this section, shall be subject to liability for the violation of
Subdivision (a) of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic
Law pursuant to this article and shall be sent a notice of liability.
D.
A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by an employee or agent of the
City, or a facsimile thereof, upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs,
videotapes, other recorded images produced by a school bus photo violation
monitoring system, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained
therein. Any photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, other recorded
images evidencing such a violation shall be available for inspection
in any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for such violation.
E.
It shall be a defense to any prosecution for or allegation of a violation
of Subdivision (a) of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic
Law pursuant to this article that such school bus stop-arms were malfunctioning
at the time of the alleged violation.
Liability pursuant to the demonstration program established
hereunder shall be imposed upon owners by the Watervliet City Court.
If the owner held liable for a violation of Subdivision (a)
of § 1174 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law pursuant to
this article was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the
violation, the owner may maintain an action for indemnification against
the operator.
A.
The City shall develop and cause to be submitted an annual report
on the results of the use of a school bus photo violation monitoring
system to the Governor, the temporary president of the Senate and
the speaker of the Assembly on or before June 1 of each year in which
the demonstration program is operable. Such report shall include any
information required by § 1174-a of the NYS Vehicle and
Traffic Law to be included as a result of the enactment of this article.
B.
Pursuant to the requirements of § 1174-a of the NYS Vehicle
and Traffic Law, courts, bureaus, and agencies conducting adjudications
as a result of this article shall report at least annually to the
City on the quality of the adjudication process and its results including
the total number of hearings scheduled, rescheduled, and held; the
total number of persons scheduled for such hearings; the total number
of cases where fines were paid on or before the hearing date; and
the total number of default judgments entered.
