[HISTORY: Adopted by the Suffolk County Legislature as indicated
in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable. Uncodified
sections of local laws amending these provisions are included as an
attachment to this chapter.]
[Adopted 11-26-2019 by L.L. No. 35-2019]
[1]
Editor's Note: This title of this article was amended 12-15-2020 by L.L. No.
1-2021.
A.
This Legislature
hereby finds and determines that New York State has authorized counties
to opt into a school bus photo violation monitoring program which
will allow the County to install cameras on the exterior of school
buses in participating school districts and impose monetary liability
on vehicles that fail to stop behind or in front of a school bus while
the school bus stop arms are extended, including traffic traveling
in both directions on divided highways. This Legislature also finds
and determines that cars that fail to stop when a school bus operator
engages the bus stop arms pose a threat to the safety of the children
entering and exiting the bus. This Legislature further finds and determines
that it is difficult to ticket drivers who disregard school bus stop
arms without video evidence of the violation, as there are usually
no members of law enforcement witnessing the violation. This Legislature
determines that this school bus photo violation monitoring program
will not only help to keep children safe when entering and exiting
the school bus, but will also act as a deterrent to those who debate
passing a school bus while the stop arms are engaged.
B.
Therefore,
the purpose of this article is to implement a demonstration program
to impose monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure
of the operator to stop when a school bus has its stop arms extended
in Suffolk County through the installation and monitoring of external
school bus cameras.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Every vehicle operated or driven upon a public highway which
is propelled by any power other than muscular power, except a) electrically
driven mobility assistance devices operated or driven by a person
with a disability; a-1) electric personal assistive mobility devices
operated outside a city with a population of 1,000,000 or more; b)
vehicles which run only upon rails or tracks; c) snowmobiles as defined
in Article 47 of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law; and d) all-terrain
vehicles as defined in Article 48-B of the New York Vehicle and Traffic
Law.
A person, other than a lien holder, having the property in
or title to a vehicle or vessel. The term includes a person entitled
to the use and possession of a vehicle or vessel subject to a security
interest in another person and also includes any lessee or bailee
of a motor vehicle or vessel having the exclusive use thereof, under
a lease or otherwise, for a period greater than 30 days.
Every device in, upon, or by which any person or property
is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except devices moved
by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
A.
There is
hereby established in the County of Suffolk a demonstration program
which imposes monetary liability for failure of a motor vehicle operator
to comply with school bus red visual signals and stop arm.
B.
To carry
out the demonstration program, the County is authorized to enter into
agreements with the school districts for the installation, maintenance,
and use of school bus photo violation monitoring systems as well as
proper handling and custody of data received by the school bus cameras,
subject to the provisions of § 1174-a of the New York Vehicle
and Traffic Law. Under this demonstration program, each school district
located within the County of Suffolk that would like to utilize the
program must enter into an agreement with the County.
C.
Once a
school district has entered into an agreement with the County, cameras
shall be installed to the external portion of school buses owned or
operated by that school district or privately owned and operated for
compensation under a contract with such school district.
D.
To the
extent practicable, such demonstration program shall use necessary
technologies to produce photographs that do not include images that
identify the driver, passengers, contents of the vehicles, pedestrians,
and cyclists. However, no notice of liability issued pursuant to this
article shall be dismissed solely because a photograph or photographs
allowed for identification of persons or contents within the vehicle.
A.
The total
costs to the school district of the installation, maintenance, and
use of school bus photo violation monitoring systems pursuant to §
1174-a of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law shall be borne entirely
by the County of Suffolk.
B.
On or before
September 1 of each year, the school district shall determine and
certify to the County the total cost to the district of installing,
maintaining and using such systems for the school year ending the
preceding June 30. Additionally, the district shall include a certified
statement of costs associated with proper handling and custody of
the photographs, micrographs, videotapes, other recorded images or
data produced by such systems, and for the forwarding of such photographs,
micrographs, videotapes, or other recorded images or data produced
by such systems to the County.
C.
On or before
December 1 of each year, Suffolk County shall pay to the district
such costs so certified to it on or before the preceding September
1.
D.
Not later
than 20 days after each such payment is submitted or is due, the district
shall submit to the Director of the County Budget Office and the Chairperson
of the Suffolk County Budget and Finance Committee a copy of all certified
costs, the amounts received from the County to date, as well as any
outstanding amount due.
E.
In the
event there is an outstanding amount by the 20th day after payment
was due, the demonstration program shall be suspended until the County
makes such payment required to the school district; provided, however,
that any notice of liability prior to such date shall not be voided.
The district shall notify the Director of the County Budget Office
and the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee of such suspension
within 24 hours.
F.
The district
shall notify the Director of the County Budget Office and the Chair
of the Budget and Finance Committee of receipt of payment on the demonstration
program within seven days of its receipt.
A.
Any image
captured by a school bus photo violation monitoring system shall be
inadmissible in any disciplinary proceeding convened by any school
district or any school bus contractor thereof, and any proceeding
initiated by the department involving licensure privileges of school
bus operators.
B.
Any school
bus photo violation monitoring device mounted on a school bus shall
be directed outwardly from such school bus to capture images of vehicles
operated in violation of § 1174 of the New York Vehicle
and Traffic Law, and images produced by such a device shall not be
used for any other purposes.
C.
Any participating
school district shall be prohibited from accessing any photographs,
microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images or data from
school bus photo violation monitoring systems, but shall provide,
pursuant to an agreement with Suffolk County, for the proper handling
and custody of such photographs, microphotographs, images, and data
produced by such systems and for the forwarding of the above to the
applicable County department for the purposes of determining whether
a motor vehicle was operated in violation of § 1174 of the
New York Vehicle and Traffic Law and imposing monetary liability on
the owner of such vehicle.
D.
The agreement
between the County and the school district shall provide that photographs,
micrographs, videotapes, other recorded images, and data produced
by the school bus photo violation monitoring systems shall be destroyed
90 days after final disposition of a notice of liability issued pursuant
to this article. All photographic images of motor vehicles which do
not depict or result in liability for violation of § 1174-a
of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law shall be destroyed by the
appropriate school district and law enforcement agency within two
days of the determination that a nonviolation occurred.
[Amended 12-15-2020 by L.L. No. 1-2021]
In any school district in which school bus safety cameras are
installed and operated pursuant to § 1174-a of the New York
Vehicle and Traffic Law, the owner of a motor vehicle, upon issuance
of a simplified traffic information by a police officer, shall be
liable for a civil penalty of $250 if such vehicle was used or operated
with the permission of the owner, express or implied, in violation
of § 1174 of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law and such
violation is evidenced by information obtained from a school bus safety
camera; provided, however, that no owner of a vehicle shall be liable
for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section where the operator
of such vehicle has been convicted of the underlying violation of
§ 1174 of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law.
A.
A notice
of liability shall be sent by first class mail to each person alleged
to be liable as an owner of a vehicle for a violation of § 1174-a
of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law.
B.
A notice
of liability shall contain the name and address of the person alleged
to be liable as an owner for the violation, the registration number
of the vehicle involved in such a 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. Further, the 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 and that a 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.
C.
The notice
shall be prepared and mailed by the County of Suffolk or by any other
entity authorized to do so by the County.
A.
An owner of a vehicle liable for a violation of § 1174 of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law, in accordance with § 719-4 of this article, shall be liable for a monetary penalty of $250 for the first violation. An owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penalty of $275 for any second violation within 18 months. An owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penalty of $300 for the third and any subsequent violations committed within an eighteen-month period.
B.
Any individual
who is in receipt of a notice of liability and who fails to respond
to said notice within 30 days shall be subject to an additional penalty
of $25 per initial notice not answered.
C.
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.
D.
All fines
and penalties collected pursuant to this article shall be deposited
with the Suffolk County Comptroller.
E.
The net
proceeds of any penalty, after expenses of administration and operating
costs of the cameras, collected by a traffic violations bureau or
court pursuant to this section shall be expended for programs related
to improving traffic safety and/or school district safety in Suffolk
County.
F.
School
districts and the County are authorized to accept grants for the implementation
of this section and may allow for a warning period of up to 21 days
from the time the first school bus safety cameras are installed in
the district before monetary penalties are imposed on violations occurring
from such camera.
A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed
by the County of Suffolk in which the charged violation occurred,
or facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs,
videotape, or any 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,
or other recorded images evidencing such a violation shall be available
for inspection in any proceeding to adjudicate the liability of such
violation.
[Amended 12-15-2020 by L.L. No. 1-2021]
Adjudication of the liability imposed upon owners by this article
shall be conducted by the County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency
or by the court having jurisdiction over traffic infractions where
the violation occurred.
A.
An owner
of a vehicle shall have a valid defense to an allegation of liability
under this article if the vehicle in question had been reported to
a police department or agency as having been stolen prior to the time
the violation occurred, and had not been recovered prior to the time
the violation occurred. For the purposes of asserting this defense,
it shall be sufficient that a certified copy of the police report
on the stolen vehicle be sent by first class mail to the court having
jurisdiction.
B.
An owner
of a vehicle who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of liability
is issued shall not be liable for the violation, provided that he
or she sends the court having jurisdiction a copy of the rental, lease,
or other such contract covering such vehicle on the day of the violation,
with the name and address of the lessee clearly legible, within 37
days after receiving notice of such violation. Failure to send such
information within the thirty-seven-day time period shall render the
owner liable for the penalty prescribed in this article. When the
lessor complies with the provisions of this subsection, the lessee
of such vehicle on the date of the violation shall be deemed to be
the owner of such vehicle for the purposes of this article and shall
be subject to liability for violation of § 1174 of the New
York Vehicle and Traffic Law and shall be sent a notice of liability.
C.
No owner
of a vehicle shall be subject to a monetary fine under this article
if the operator of such vehicle was operating the vehicle without
consent of the owner at the time of the violation. However, there
shall be a presumption that the operator of such vehicle was operating
the vehicle with consent at the time the violation occurred.
D.
It shall
be a defense that such school bus stop arms were malfunctioning at
the time of the alleged violation.
If the owner of a vehicle liable for a violation of § 1174
of the New York 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.
The County Executive is hereby authorized and empowered to designate
the appropriate department or agency to prepare and submit an annual
report on or before June 1 of each year the program is in operation
in accordance with § 1174-a of the New York Vehicle and
Traffic Law of the results of the use of the school bus photo violation
monitoring system to the Governor, the temporary President of the
New York State Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, each member of
the County Legislature, and the Clerk of the County Legislature.
This article shall apply to all actions in school districts
that have agreements with the County for any school year commencing
on or after September 1, 2020.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, or
part of this article or the application thereof to any person, individual,
corporation, firm, partnership, entity, or circumstance shall be adjudged
by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unconstitutional,
such order or judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the
remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause,
sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, or part of this article,
or in its application to the person, individual, corporation, firm,
partnership, entity, or circumstance directly involved in the controversy
in which such order or judgment shall be rendered.
This article shall take effect on January 1, 2020.
[Added 12-15-2020 by L.L. No. 1-2021; amended 3-16-2021 by L.L. No. 12-2021]
A.
Funding for public safety and traffic safety will be distributed
using the following formula:
(1)
Twenty percent of all funds received shall be used for a County-wide
program to educate drivers on the state laws associated with stopping
for school buses and to provide funding for traffic safety enforcement,
with a minimum of $100,000 allocated towards education which shall
include, but not be limited to, outreach to Suffolk County residents
through television, radio, newspaper and social media outlets.
(2)
Fifty percent of all funds received shall be provided to the municipality
where the ticket is adjudicated for traffic-safety enforcement, with
a preference for enforcement which enhances pedestrian safety located
within school districts participating in the program. A minimum of
20% of all funding allocated pursuant to this subsection shall be
utilized for costs associated with crossing guards, traffic control
officers and other public safety positions.
B.
Beginning in 2023, each municipality which receives funding pursuant to Subsection A(2) of this section shall annually submit a written report on or before March 15 of each year to each member of the Legislature, the Clerk of the Legislature and the Comptroller detailing: the amount of revenue received from the County in association with the school bus photo violation monitoring program during the preceding twelve-month period, the amount of funding expended by the municipality during the preceding twelve-month period, and what the funds were utilized for. Any municipality which fails to submit a report by March 15 shall have their allocations for the following calendar year held by the Comptroller until such time as a report is filed.
