Bill Text: FL S0702 | 2022 | Regular Session | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Photographic Enforcement of School Bus Safety

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2022-03-14 - Died in Appropriations [S0702 Detail]

Download: Florida-2022-S0702-Comm_Sub.html
       Florida Senate - 2022                              CS for SB 702
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senators Burgess, Taddeo, and
       Perry
       
       
       
       
       590-02530-22                                           2022702c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to photographic enforcement of school
    3         bus safety; creating s. 316.616, F.S.; defining the
    4         terms “school bus” and “side stop signal arm
    5         enforcement system”; authorizing school districts to
    6         install and operate side stop signal arm enforcement
    7         systems on school buses; requiring school districts to
    8         post certain warning signs or stickers on such buses;
    9         authorizing school districts to contract with a
   10         private vendor or manufacturer to provide side stop
   11         signal arm enforcement systems and certain services;
   12         requiring school districts to enter into interlocal
   13         agreements with certain law enforcement agencies for
   14         certain purposes; requiring manufacturers and vendors
   15         to submit specified information to law enforcement
   16         agencies within a specified timeframe; requiring law
   17         enforcement agencies to review such information to
   18         determine whether a violation occurred and
   19         electronically certify the notice of violation under
   20         certain circumstances; providing that certain
   21         certificates sworn to or affirmed by a law enforcement
   22         officer are prima facie evidence; providing that
   23         recorded images evidencing a violation of the act are
   24         admissible in any judicial or administrative
   25         proceeding for a certain purpose; providing a
   26         rebuttable presumption; providing notice requirements
   27         and procedures; authorizing motor vehicle owners
   28         served a notice of violation to take certain actions
   29         as a final disposition of such notice; providing that
   30         payment of the fine operates as a final disposition of
   31         the civil penalty; providing notice requirements and
   32         procedures for unpaid civil penalties; requiring the
   33         Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to
   34         refuse to renew the registration of motor vehicles and
   35         prohibit the transfer of title under specified
   36         circumstances; requiring the department to remove
   37         penalties imposed on a motor vehicle owner upon
   38         receipt of a certain notification; requiring that side
   39         stop signal arm enforcement system equipment be
   40         incapable of automated or user-controlled remote
   41         surveillance; specifying requirements of and
   42         prohibitions on the use of recorded video and still
   43         images captured by the side stop signal arm
   44         enforcement system; providing that a motor vehicle
   45         owner is not responsible for a violation of the act if
   46         the vehicle was reported stolen at the time the
   47         violation occurred; providing civil penalties;
   48         providing for distribution of such penalties;
   49         providing construction; requiring school districts
   50         operating a side stop signal arm enforcement system to
   51         provide a summary report to the Governor, the
   52         Legislature, and the department annually by a
   53         specified date; requiring the State Board of Education
   54         to adopt rules for a specified purpose and authorizing
   55         it to adopt other rules; amending s. 1006.21, F.S.;
   56         conforming a provision to changes made by the act;
   57         providing an effective date.
   58          
   59  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   60  
   61         Section 1. Section 316.616, Florida Statutes, is created to
   62  read:
   63         316.616School buses; side stop signal arm enforcement
   64  system.—
   65         (1)As used in this section, the term:
   66         (a)“School bus” has the same meaning as provided in s.
   67  316.6145.
   68         (b)“Side stop signal arm enforcement system” means a
   69  camera system affixed to a school bus with two or more camera
   70  sensors or computers that produce recorded video and two or more
   71  film or digital photographic still images for the purpose of
   72  documenting a motor vehicle being used or operated in a manner
   73  that allegedly violates s. 316.172.
   74         (2)(a)A school district may install and operate a side
   75  stop signal arm enforcement system on a school bus for the
   76  purpose of enforcing s. 316.172. The school district shall post
   77  a warning sign or sticker on all school buses in which a system
   78  is installed and operational indicating the use of such system.
   79         (b)The school district may contract with a private vendor
   80  or manufacturer to provide a side stop signal arm enforcement
   81  system on each bus within its fleet, whether owned, contracted,
   82  or leased, and for services including, but not limited to, the
   83  installation, operation, and maintenance of the system. The
   84  school district’s decision to establish a side stop signal arm
   85  enforcement system must be based solely on the need to increase
   86  public safety.
   87         (c)A school district shall ensure that the side stop
   88  signal arm enforcement system meets the requirements of
   89  subsection (12).
   90         (d)A school district shall enter into an interlocal
   91  agreement with one or more law enforcement agencies authorized
   92  to enforce violations of s. 316.172 within the geographic area
   93  of the school district which jointly establishes the
   94  responsibilities of enforcement and the reimbursement of costs
   95  associated with side stop signal arm enforcement system
   96  violations consistent with this section.
   97         (3)Each private manufacturer or vendor shall, within 30
   98  days after an alleged violation is captured, submit the
   99  following information to a law enforcement agency authorized
  100  pursuant to paragraph (2)(d):
  101         (a)A copy of the recorded image showing the motor vehicle.
  102         (b)The license plate number and state of issuance of the
  103  motor vehicle.
  104         (c)The date, time, and place of the alleged violation.
  105         (4)(a)Each law enforcement agency authorized to enforce
  106  violations pursuant to paragraph (2)(d) shall review the
  107  information submitted by the private manufacturer or vendor as
  108  provided under subsection (3) to determine whether there is
  109  sufficient evidence that a violation of s. 316.172 occurred and,
  110  if the evidence shows a violation occurred, shall electronically
  111  certify a notice of violation.
  112         (b)A certificate or a facsimile of a certificate based on
  113  inspection of recorded images produced by a side stop signal arm
  114  enforcement system and sworn to or affirmed by a law enforcement
  115  officer authorized pursuant to paragraph (2)(d) to enforce
  116  violations shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained
  117  in it. Upon request by the law enforcement agency, the school
  118  district shall provide written documentation that the side stop
  119  signal arm enforcement system was operating correctly at the
  120  time of the alleged violation.
  121         (c)A recorded image evidencing a violation of s. 316.172
  122  shall be admissible in any judicial or administrative proceeding
  123  to adjudicate the liability for the violation.
  124         (d)A rebuttable presumption shall exist that the
  125  registered owner of the motor vehicle was the driver at the time
  126  of the alleged violation.
  127         (5)(a)Within 30 days after receiving the information
  128  provided under subsection (3), a law enforcement agency
  129  authorized pursuant to paragraph (2)(d) to enforce violations or
  130  an agent authorized by such law enforcement agency shall send by
  131  first-class mail a notice of violation to the registered owner
  132  of the motor vehicle involved in the violation. Mailing the
  133  notice of violation constitutes notification.
  134         (b)In the case of joint ownership of a motor vehicle, the
  135  notice of violation shall be mailed to the first name appearing
  136  on the registration. However, if the first name appearing on the
  137  registration is a business entity, the second name appearing on
  138  the registration may be used.
  139         (c)The notice of violation must include all of the
  140  following:
  141         1.A copy of the recorded image showing the motor vehicle
  142  involved in the violation.
  143         2.A citation for the violation indicating the date, time,
  144  and location of the alleged violation.
  145         3.The amount of the civil penalty and the date by which
  146  such penalty must be paid.
  147         4.A copy of the certificate described in subsection (4)
  148  and a statement of the inference therein.
  149         5.Instructions on how to request a hearing to contest
  150  liability or notice.
  151         6.A warning that failure to pay the civil penalty or to
  152  contest liability within 30 days after the notice is mailed
  153  shall waive the right to contest liability.
  154         (d)The owner of the motor vehicle involved in a violation
  155  may admit responsibility for the violation and pay the fine as
  156  indicated on the notice of violation. Payment of the fine
  157  operates as a final disposition of the civil penalty.
  158         (6)(a)If a violation has not been contested and the civil
  159  penalty has not been paid within 30 days after a notice required
  160  under subsection (5) is mailed, the law enforcement agency or an
  161  agent authorized by the law enforcement agency shall send by
  162  first-class mail a final notice of the unpaid civil penalty. The
  163  final notice must inform the owner that the law enforcement
  164  agency or the agent authorized by the law enforcement agency
  165  shall send an electronic referral, in a form prescribed by the
  166  department, to the department if the civil penalty is not paid
  167  within 30 days after the final notice was mailed and that such
  168  referral shall result in the nonrenewal of the registration of
  169  such motor vehicle and prohibit the title transfer of such motor
  170  vehicle within this state.
  171         (b)Within 5 days after receipt of a referral under
  172  paragraph (a), the department shall enter the referral into the
  173  department’s motor vehicle database and shall refuse to renew
  174  the registration of the motor vehicle and prohibit the title
  175  transfer of the motor vehicle within this state until the civil
  176  penalty is paid.
  177         (c)The department shall remove the penalties imposed under
  178  paragraph (b) upon receipt of notification, in an electronic
  179  format and method prescribed by the department, by a law
  180  enforcement agency or an agent authorized by the law enforcement
  181  agency that the civil penalty has been paid.
  182         (7)(a)1.Notwithstanding any other law, equipment deployed
  183  as part of a side stop signal arm enforcement system as provided
  184  under this section must be incapable of automated or user
  185  controlled remote surveillance by means of recorded video or
  186  still images.
  187         2.Recorded images collected as part of the side stop
  188  signal arm enforcement system may only be used to document
  189  violations of s. 316.172 and may not be used for any other
  190  surveillance purposes.
  191         3.To the extent practicable, a side stop signal arm
  192  enforcement system must use necessary technology to ensure that
  193  recorded video or still images produced by the system do not
  194  identify the driver, any passenger, or the contents of a motor
  195  vehicle.
  196         4.A notice of a violation issued under this section may
  197  not be dismissed solely because a recorded video or still images
  198  allow for the identification of the driver, any passenger, or
  199  the contents of a motor vehicle as long as a reasonable effort
  200  has been made to comply with this subsection.
  201         (b)Any recorded video or still image obtained through the
  202  use of a side stop signal arm enforcement system must be
  203  destroyed within 90 days after the final disposition of the
  204  recorded event. The vendor of a side stop signal arm enforcement
  205  system shall provide the school district with written notice by
  206  December 31 of each year that such records have been destroyed
  207  in accordance with this section.
  208         (c)Notwithstanding any other law, registered motor vehicle
  209  owner information obtained as a result of the operation of a
  210  side stop signal arm enforcement system is not the property of
  211  the manufacturer or vendor of the system and may be used only
  212  for the purposes of this section.
  213         (8)The owner of a motor vehicle is not responsible for a
  214  violation of this section if the vehicle involved was reported
  215  to a state or local law enforcement agency as stolen at the time
  216  the violation occurred.
  217         (9)This section supplements the enforcement of s. 316.172
  218  by law enforcement officers when a driver fails to stop while a
  219  school bus is stopped and does not prohibit a law enforcement
  220  officer from issuing a traffic citation for a violation of s.
  221  316.172.
  222         (10)(a)The registered owner of a motor vehicle who is
  223  found in violation of s. 316.172 by a side stop signal arm
  224  enforcement system is subject to a civil penalty of $200 for a
  225  violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) and $400 for a violation of s.
  226  316.172(1)(b). Notwithstanding s. 318.18(5), the fine shall be
  227  paid to the school district in which the violation occurred and
  228  must be used for the installation or maintenance of side stop
  229  signal arm enforcement systems on school buses, for the
  230  administration and costs associated with enforcement of such
  231  violations, or for any other technology that increases the
  232  safety of the transportation of students.
  233         (b)For each violation under this section, the registered
  234  owner of the motor vehicle shall be liable for the imposed
  235  penalty unless the owner is convicted of the same violation
  236  under s. 316.172 or unless the motor vehicle was stolen at the
  237  time of the violation as provided under subsection (8).
  238         (c)A violation for which a civil penalty is imposed
  239  pursuant to this section is not considered a moving violation
  240  for the purpose of assessing points under s. 322.27(3). Such
  241  violation is noncriminal, and imposition of a civil penalty
  242  pursuant to this section does not constitute a conviction, may
  243  not be made a part of the driving record of the person upon whom
  244  such liability is imposed, and may not be used for any purposes
  245  in the provision of motor vehicle insurance.
  246         (11)By December 31, 2022, and annually thereafter, a
  247  school district operating a side stop signal arm enforcement
  248  system shall provide a summary report to the Governor, the
  249  President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
  250  Representatives, and the department regarding the use and
  251  operation of the system under this section, including the number
  252  of citations issued and the amount of funds collected for the
  253  preceding state fiscal year.
  254         (12)A side stop signal arm enforcement system must meet
  255  specifications established by the State Board of Education and
  256  must be tested at regular intervals according to specifications
  257  prescribed by state board rule. The state board must establish
  258  such specifications by rule on or before December 31, 2022.
  259  However, any such equipment acquired by purchase, lease, or
  260  other arrangement under an agreement entered into by a school
  261  district on or before July 1, 2023, or equipment used to enforce
  262  violations of s. 316.172 on or before July 1, 2023, is not
  263  required to meet the specifications established by the state
  264  board until July 1, 2023.
  265         (13)The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
  266  address student privacy concerns that may arise from the use of
  267  a side stop signal arm enforcement system.
  268         Section 2. Paragraph (h) is added to subsection (3) of
  269  section 1006.21, Florida Statutes, to read:
  270         1006.21 Duties of district school superintendent and
  271  district school board regarding transportation.—
  272         (3) District school boards, after considering
  273  recommendations of the district school superintendent:
  274         (h)May install and operate, or enter into an agreement
  275  with a private vendor or manufacturer to provide, a side stop
  276  signal arm enforcement system for each school bus pursuant to s.
  277  316.616.
  278         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.

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