Village of Fredonia, WI Article I General Provisions

§ 550-1 State traffic laws adopted.

A. 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. 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:

(1) Section 941.01, Negligent Operation of Vehicle Off Highway.

(2) Section 941.30, Highway Obstruction.

(3) Section 943.11, Entry into Locked Vehicle.

(4) Section 943.23, Operating Motor Vehicles Without Owner's Consent.

(5) Section 947.935, Intoxicants in Motor Vehicles.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Original subsection (c), pertaining to statutes, which immediately followed this subsection and which was duplicative of § 1-1N of the Code, was repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).

C. 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.

§ 550-2 State Administrative Code provisions adopted.

A. 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. 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. 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. Safety checks.

(1) 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) 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) 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.

E. Penalty. Penalty for violation of any provision of this section, including the provisions of the Wisconsin Administrative Code incorporated herein by reference, shall be as provided in Subsection C of this section, together with the costs of prosecution and applicable penalty assessment.

§ 550-3 Official traffic sign and control devices; prohibited signs, signals and markers.

A. 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. 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. 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. 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.

§ 550-4 Registration record of vehicle as evidence.

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.

§ 550-5 School bus warning lights.

A. Use of lights.

(1) 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) 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) 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) 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:

(a) No traffic signals;

(b) Sidewalk and curb are laid on both sides of the street or highway; and

(c) Such persons must cross the street or highway before being loaded or after being unloaded.

(5) 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. 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.

§ 550-6 Blue warning lights on police vehicles.

A. 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. 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.

§ 550-7 Accident reports.

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.