A.Â
Statutes adopted. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this
Code, the statutory provisions in Chs. 340 to 349, Wis. Stats., describing
and defining regulations with respect to vehicles and traffic for
which the penalty is a forfeiture only, exclusive of any regulations
for which the statutory penalty is a fine or term of imprisonment
or exclusively state charges, are hereby adopted and by reference
made a part of this chapter as if fully set forth herein. Any act
required to be performed or prohibited by any regulation incorporated
herein by reference is required or prohibited by this chapter. Any
future amendments, revisions or modifications of the statutory regulations
in Chapters 340 to 349 incorporated herein are intended to be made
part of this chapter in order to secure to the extent legally practicable
uniform statewide regulation of vehicle traffic on the highways, streets
and alleys of the State of Wisconsin. Any person who shall, within
the Village of Fredonia, Wisconsin, violate any provisions of any
statute incorporated herein by reference shall be deemed guilty of
an offense under this section.
B.Â
Other state laws adopted. There are also hereby adopted by reference
the following sections of the Wisconsin Statutes, but the prosecution
of such offense under this chapter shall be as provided in Chs. 340
to 349, Wis. Stats. and the penalty for violation thereof shall be
limited to a forfeiture as hereinafter provided in this chapter:
C.Â
General references. General references in this chapter to Wisconsin
statutory sections or chapters describing or defining procedures or
authority for enactment or enforcement of local traffic regulations
shall be deemed to refer to the most recent enactments of the Wisconsin
Legislature describing or defining such procedures or authorities.
A.Â
Administrative regulations adopted. The following administrative
rules and regulations adopted by the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department
of Transportation and published in the Wisconsin Administrative Code,
exclusive of any provisions therein relating to the penalties to be
imposed, are hereby adopted by reference and made part of this chapter
as if fully set forth herein.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
Ch. Trans 146, Vehicle Registration and Fuel Trip Permits
| |
Ch. Trans 305, Standards for Vehicle Equipment
| |
Ch. Trans 326, Motor Carrier Safety Requirements for Transportation
of Hazardous Materials
| |
Ch. Trans 300, Transportation of School Children
| |
Ch. Trans 304, Slow Moving Vehicle Emblem
|
B.Â
Noncompliance prohibited. No person shall operate or allow to be operated on any highway, street or alley within the Village a vehicle that is not in conformity with the requirements of Subsection A or the provisions of § 110.075 and Ch. 347, Wis. Stats., incorporated by reference in § 550-1 of this chapter.
C.Â
Owner's liability. Any owner of a vehicle not equipped as required
by this section who knowingly causes or permits such vehicle to be
operated on a highway in violation of this section is guilty of the
violation the same as if he or she had operated the vehicle. The provisions
of § 347.04, Wis. Stats., relating to nonapplicability of
demerit points, shall apply to owners convicted of a violation of
this section.
D.Â
Safety checks.
(1)Â
Operators to submit to inspection. When directed to do so by any
law enforcement officer, the operator of any motor vehicle shall stop
and submit such vehicle to an inspection and such tests as are necessary
to determine whether the vehicle meets the requirements of this section
or that the vehicle's equipment is in proper adjustment or repair.
No person, when operating a motor vehicle, shall fail to stop and
submit such vehicle to inspection when directed to do so by any law
enforcement officer as herein provided.
(2)Â
Authority of officer. Any law enforcement officer of the Village
is hereby empowered whenever he or she shall have reason to believe
that any provision of this section is being violated to order the
operator of the vehicle to stop and to submit such vehicle to an inspection
with respect to brakes, lights, turn signals, steering, horns and
warning devices, glass mirrors, exhaust systems, windshield wipers,
tires and other items of equipment.
(3)Â
Vehicle to be removed from highway. Whenever, after inspection as
provided by this section, a law enforcement officer determines that
a vehicle is unsafe for operation, he or she may order it removed
from the highway and not operated, except for purposes of removal
and repair, until the vehicle has been repaired as directed in a repair
order. Repair orders may be in the form prescribed by the Secretary
of the Department of Transportation under § 110.075(5),
Wis. Stats., and shall require the vehicle owner or operator to cause
the repairs to be made and return evidence of compliance with the
repair order to the Department of the issuing officer within the time
specified in the order.
A.Â
Duty of director of public works to erect and install uniform traffic control devices. Whenever traffic regulations created by this chapter, including a State of Wisconsin traffic regulation adopted by reference in § 550-1, require the erection of traffic control devices for enforcement, the Director of Public Works, with the cooperation of the Village Marshal, shall procure, erect and maintain uniform traffic control devices conforming to the Uniform Traffic Control Device Manual promulgated by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, giving notice of such traffic regulation to the users of the streets and highway on which such regulations apply. Whenever state law grants discretion to local authorities in erecting or placement of a uniform traffic control device, devices shall be erected in such locations and in such a manner as, in the judgment of the Director of Public Works, will carry out the purposes of this chapter and give adequate warning to users of the streets and highways of the Village of Fredonia.
B.Â
Code numbers to be affixed to official traffic control devices. The Director of Public Works, or his designee, shall cause to be placed on each official traffic control sign a guide board, mile post, signal or marker erected under Subsection A a code number assigned by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and shall also place or direct the placing of code numbers on all existing official traffic control devices as required by the laws of the State of Wisconsin.
C.Â
Prohibited signs and markers in highways. No person other than an officer authorized by this chapter to erect and maintain official traffic control devices or his or her designee shall place within the limits of any street or highway maintained by the Village any sign, signal, marker, mark or monument unless permission is first obtained from the Village Board or, where applicable, the State Highway Commission. Any sign, signal, marker, mark or monument placed or maintained in violation of this subsection shall be subject to removal as provided in Subsection D.
D.Â
Removal of unofficial signs, markers, signals and traffic control
devices. The Director of Public Works, or his designee, may remove
any sign, signal, marking or other device which is placed, maintained
or displayed in violation of this chapter or state law. Any charge
imposed against premises for removal of a prohibited or illegal sign,
signal, marking or device shall be reported by the Director of Public
Works to the Village Board for review and certification at its next
regular meeting following the imposition of the charge. Any charge
not paid on or before the next succeeding November 15 shall be placed
upon the tax roll for collection as other special municipal taxes.
When any vehicle is found upon a street or highway in violation of any provision of this chapter regulating the stopping, standing or parking of vehicles and the identity of the operator cannot be determined, the owner, as shown by the ownership registration of the vehicle supplied by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, or a comparable authority of any other state, shall be deemed to have committed the violation for purposes of enforcement of this chapter and specifically § 550-1 and shall be subject to the applicable forfeiture penalty, provided the defenses defined and described in § 346.485(5)(b), Wis. Stats., shall be a defense for an owner charged with such violation.
A.Â
Use of lights.
(1)Â
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 346.48(2)(b)2., Wis. Stats., adopted by reference in § 550-1, to the contrary and except as provided in Subsection B below, school bus operators shall use flashing red warning lights in residential and business districts when pupils or other authorized passengers are to be loaded or unloaded at locations at which there are no crosswalk or traffic signals so that pupils must cross the street or highway before being loaded or after being unloaded.
(2)Â
The operator of a school bus equipped with flashing red warning lights
shall actuate such lights at least 100 feet before stopping to load
or unload pupils or other authorized passengers and shall not extinguish
such lights until loading or unloading is completed and persons who
must cross the street or highway are safely across.
(3)Â
The operator of a school bus shall use the flashing red warning lights
when loading or unloading passengers from either side where the curb
and sidewalk are laid on one side of the road only.
(4)Â
The operator of a school bus shall use the flashing red warning lights
when loading or unloading passengers in a residential or business
district when the passengers are to be loaded or unloaded at a location
at which there are:
(5)Â
The operator of a motor vehicle which approaches from the front or
rear of any school bus which has stopped on a street or highway when
the bus is displaying flashing red warning lights shall stop the vehicle
not less than 20 feet from the bus and shall remain stopped until
the bus resumes motion or the operator extinguishes the flashing red
warning lights. The operator of a school bus, which approaches the
front or rear of another school bus that has stopped and is displaying
red warning lights, shall stop not less than 20 feet from the other
bus, display its red warning lights and remain stopped with red warning
lights actuated until the other bus resumes motion or the operator
extinguishes the flashing red warning lights.
B.Â
Pursuant to § 349.21(2), Wis. Stats., the use of flashing
red warning lights by school bus operators is prohibited when pupils
or other authorized passengers are loaded or unloaded directly from
or onto the school grounds or that portion of the right-of-way between
the roadway and the school grounds in a zone designated by "school"
warning signs as provided in § 118.08(1), Wis. Stats., in
which a street or highway borders the grounds of a school.
A.Â
Pursuant to §§ 346.03(3), 346.94(14), 346.95(3) and
347.25(1), (1m)(a) and (b) and (4), Wis. Stats., a marked police vehicle
under § 340.01(3)(a), Wis. Stats., may be equipped with
a blue light and a red light which flash, oscillate or rotate.
B.Â
If the vehicle is so equipped, the lights shall be illuminated when
the operator of the police vehicle is exercising the privileges granted
under § 346.03, Wis. Stats. The blue light shall be mounted
on the passenger side of the vehicle and the red light shall be mounted
on the driver side of the vehicle. The lights shall be designed and
mounted so as to be plainly visible and understandable from a distance
of 500 feet during normal sunlight and during hours of darkness. No
operator of a police vehicle may use the warning lights except when
responding to an emergency call or when in pursuit of an actual or
suspected violator of the law, when responding to but not upon returning
from a fire alarm or when necessarily parked on a highway in a position
which is likely to be hazardous to traffic using the highway.
The operator of every vehicle involved in an accident shall,
as soon as possible after such accident, file with the Village Marshal
or the Sheriff's Department a copy of the report required by § 346.70,
Wis. Stats., if any. If the operator is unable to make such report,
any occupant of the vehicle at the time of the accident capable of
making such report shall have the duty to comply with this section.
Such reports shall be subject to the provisions and limitations of
§§ 346.70(4)(f) and 346.73, Wis. Stats., specifically
that accident reports filed with this section shall be for the confidential
use of the Department and shall not be open to public inspection except
as permitted by § 346.73, Wis. Stats.