[Added 12-4-2023 by Ord. No. 75.112.23]
The City of Albany.
A device that is capable of operating 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 videotape or other recorded
images of a vehicle at the time it is used or operated in violation
of § 1174(a) of the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
The Albany City School District.
A.
There is hereby established, pursuant to § 1174-a of the
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 Vehicle and Traffic Law when
meeting a school bus marked and equipped as provided in Subdivisions
20 and 21-c of § 375 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law in the
City of Albany.
B.
To carry out the demonstration program, the City is authorized to
enter into an agreement with the School District and any entity with
whom the School District contracts for provision of busing services
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 Vehicle and Traffic Law. Once the School District and, if necessary,
any contractor providing busing services to the School District have
entered into such 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 the School
District.
A.
The total cost to the School District and/or its contractor(s) of
the installation, maintenance, and use of school bus photo violation
monitoring systems installed and operated pursuant to an agreement
authorized by this article shall be borne entirely by the City.
B.
The School District shall provide any information necessary or desirable
to the City in order to meet its reporting requirements under § 1174-a
of the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
C.
Pursuant to § 1174-a(a)(3)(i) of the Vehicle and Traffic
Law, the School District and its contractor(s) 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 § 1174(a) of the Vehicle and
Traffic Law and imposing monetary liability on the owner of such motor
vehicle therefor.
D.
Photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, other recorded images
and data produced by school bus photo violation monitoring systems
shall be destroyed:
E.
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:
(1)
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;
(2)
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:
(3)
Oversight procedures to ensure compliance with the privacy protection
measures required herein.
F.
The City shall undertake the installation of signage in conformance
with standards established in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control
Devices, to 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 Vehicle and Traffic Law. For the purposes
of this subsection, 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.
A.
An owner found liable for a violation of Subdivision (a) of § 1174
of the Vehicle and Traffic Law pursuant to this article shall be liable
for monetary penalties in accordance with the following schedule:
(1)
Two hundred fifty dollars for a first violation;
(2)
Two hundred seventy-five dollars for a second violation committed
within 18 months of the first violation;
(3)
Three hundred dollars for a third violation or subsequent violation,
all of which were committed within 18 months from the first violation;
and
(4)
An additional penalty of $25 for each violation for the failure
to respond to a notice of liability within the prescribed time period.
B.
An imposition of liability under this chapter 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 § 1174(a) of the 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. The notice of liability
shall be prepared and mailed by the City, or by any other entity authorized
by the City.
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 § 1174(a)
of the 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 may be deemed an admission
of liability and that a default judgment may be entered thereon.
D.
A notice of liability may contain such other information as the entity
causing such notice of liability to be mailed deems appropriate to
communicate the law, and the adjudicatory process if the addressee
of the notice wishes to contest the notice of liability.
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 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 § 1174(a) of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. For the purposes
of this article, 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 § 1174(a) of the 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, and before such vehicle has been recovered,
it shall be a valid defense to an allegation of liability under this
article. 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 the parking violations
bureau having 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 § 1174(a) of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, provided that
he or she complies with the provisions of § 1174-a of the
Vehicle and Traffic Law and otherwise sends to the Parking Violations
Bureau 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 § 1174(a) of the Vehicle and Traffic
Law, and shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to this article.
D.
A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by the
City, or a facsimile thereof, upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs,
videotapes, and 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,
and 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 § 1174(a) of the 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 Parking Violations Bureau
of the City of Albany or in another manner pursuant to the Vehicle
and Traffic Law.
If the owner held liable for a violation of § 1174(a)
of the 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(m) of the Vehicle and Traffic
Law.
B.
Pursuant to the requirements of § 1174-a of the Vehicle
and Traffic Law, the Parking Violations Bureau 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.
