Bill Text: NY A08622 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to establishing a demonstration program to enforce maximum speed limits on County Road 39 in the town of Southampton in the county of Suffolk.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to transportation [A08622 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A08622-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8622 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY September 1, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing in the town of Southampton a demonstration program to enforce maximum speed limits on County Road 39 in the county of Suffolk by means of speed limit photo devices; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new 2 section 1180-d to read as follows: 3 § 1180-d. Owner liability for failure of the operator to comply with 4 applicable maximum speed limit in the town of Southampton, county of 5 Suffolk. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the town of 6 Southampton in the county of Suffolk is hereby authorized and empowered 7 to establish a demonstration program on County Road 39 in the county of 8 Suffolk imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for fail- 9 ure of an operator thereof to comply with the applicable maximum speed 10 limit on such road in such town in accordance with the provisions of 11 this section. Such town, for purposes of the implementation of such 12 program, shall operate speed limit photo devices within the town at no 13 more than five locations at any one time during any year of such 14 program. Such speed limit photo devices may be stationary or mobile and 15 shall be activated at locations selected by such town. Such speed limit 16 photo devices shall be placed at locations based on criteria, including 17 but not limited to whether the location is within a quarter mile of a 18 school, speeding data, accident history, proximity to facilities for 19 senior citizens or disabled persons, roadway geometry and equitable 20 geographic distribution. 21 2. Where the town that has established a demonstration program pursu- 22 ant to subdivision one of this section, the owner of a vehicle shall be EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13336-01-7A. 8622 2 1 liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such vehicle 2 was used or operated with the permission of the owner, express or 3 implied, in violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of section eleven 4 hundred eighty of this article, and such violation is evidenced by 5 information obtained from a speed limit photo device; provided however 6 that no owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursu- 7 ant to this section where the operator of such vehicle has been 8 convicted of the underlying violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of 9 section eleven hundred eighty of this article. 10 3. Such demonstration program shall utilize necessary technologies to 11 ensure, to the extent practicable, that photographs produced by such 12 speed limit photo devices shall not include images that identify the 13 driver, the passengers or the contents of the vehicle, provided, howev- 14 er, that no notice of liability issued pursuant to this section shall be 15 dismissed solely because a photograph or photographs allow for the iden- 16 tification of the driver, the passengers or other contents of a vehicle, 17 provided that the town has made a reasonable effort to comply with the 18 provisions of this subdivision. 19 4. Such demonstration program shall include a prohibition on the use 20 or dissemination of vehicles' license plate information and other infor- 21 mation and images captured by speed cameras except as required to estab- 22 lish liability under this section or collect payment of penalties; 23 except as required to respond to a request by law enforcement officials 24 pertaining to a specific accident or specific incident of alleged crimi- 25 nal conduct; or except as otherwise required by law. 26 5. For purposes of this section, "owner" shall have the meaning 27 provided in section two hundred thirty-nine of this chapter. For 28 purposes of this section, "speed limit photo device" shall mean equip- 29 ment that takes a film or digital camera-based photograph, microphoto- 30 graph, video, or other recorded image which is linked with a violation 31 detection system that synchronizes the taking of such image of a vehicle 32 at the time the vehicle is used or operated in violation of subdivision 33 (c) or (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article. For the 34 purposes of this section "town" shall mean the town of Southampton. 35 6. A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by the 36 county in which the charged violation occurred or its vendor or contrac- 37 tor, or a facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, 38 microphotographs, videotape or other recorded images produced by a speed 39 limit photo device, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained 40 therein. Any photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded 41 images evidencing such a violation shall be available for inspection in 42 any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for such violation pursuant 43 to this section. 44 7. An owner liable for a violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of 45 section eleven hundred eighty of this article shall be liable for mone- 46 tary penalties in accordance with a schedule of fines and penalties 47 promulgated by the parking violations bureau of such county; provided, 48 however, that the monetary penalty for driving at a speed in excess of 49 the maximum speed limit by ten or more miles per hour and less than 50 thirty miles per hour shall not exceed fifty dollars, and the monetary 51 penalty for driving in excess of the maximum speed limit by thirty or 52 more miles per hour shall not exceed one hundred dollars; provided, 53 further, that an owner shall be liable for an additional penalty not to 54 exceed twenty-five dollars for each violation for the failure to respond 55 to a notice of liability within the prescribed time period.A. 8622 3 1 8. An imposition of liability pursuant to this section shall not be 2 deemed a conviction as an operator and shall not be made part of the 3 operating record of the person upon whom such liability is imposed nor 4 shall it be used for insurance purposes in the provision of motor vehi- 5 cle insurance coverage. 6 9. (a) A notice of liability shall be sent by first class mail in 7 accordance with this section to each person alleged to be liable as an 8 owner for a violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of section eleven 9 hundred eighty of this article. Personal delivery on the owner shall not 10 be required. A manual or automatic record of mailing prepared in the 11 ordinary course of business shall be prima facie evidence of the facts 12 contained therein. 13 (b) A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the 14 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 15 (c) or (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article, the regis- 16 tration number of the vehicle involved in such violation, the location 17 where such violation took place, the date and time of such violation and 18 the identification number of the speed limit photo device which recorded 19 the violation or other document locator number. 20 (c) The notice of liability shall contain information advising the 21 person charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest 22 the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall 23 also contain a warning to advise the person charged that failure to 24 contest in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of 25 liability and that a default judgment may be entered thereon. 26 (d) The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the agency 27 or agencies designated by the town. 28 10. If an owner of a vehicle receives a notice of liability pursuant 29 to this section for any time period during which such vehicle was 30 reported to the police department as having been stolen, it shall be a 31 valid defense to an allegation of liability for a violation of subdivi- 32 sion (c) or (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article that 33 the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time 34 the violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For 35 purposes of asserting the defense provided by this subdivision it shall 36 be sufficient that an original incident form issued by the police on the 37 stolen vehicle be sent by first class mail to the justice court of said 38 town. 39 11. (a) An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of 40 liability was issued pursuant to subdivision nine of this section shall 41 not be liable for the violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of section 42 eleven hundred eighty of this article, provided that: 43 (i) prior to the violation, the lessor has filed with the town in 44 accordance with the provisions of section two hundred thirty-nine of 45 this chapter; and 46 (ii) within thirty-seven days after receiving notice from the town of 47 the date and time of a liability, together with the other information 48 contained in the original notice of liability, the lessor submits to 49 such court the correct name and address of the lessee of the vehicle 50 identified in the notice of liability at the time of such violation, 51 together with such other additional information contained in the rental, 52 lease or other contract document, as may be reasonably required by such 53 bureau pursuant to regulations that may be promulgated for such purpose. 54 (b) Failure to comply with subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of this 55 subdivision shall render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed in 56 this section.A. 8622 4 1 (c) Where the lessor complies with the provisions of paragraph (a) of 2 this subdivision, the lessee of such vehicle on the date of such 3 violation shall be deemed to be the owner of such vehicle for purposes 4 of this section, shall be subject to liability for such violation pursu- 5 ant to this section and shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to 6 subdivision nine of this section. 7 12. If the owner liable for a violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of 8 section eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this section 9 was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the 10 owner may maintain an action for indemnification against the operator. 11 13. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability 12 of an operator of a vehicle for any violation of subdivision (c) or (d) 13 of section eleven hundred eighty of this article. 14 14. Where the town adopts a demonstration program pursuant to subdivi- 15 sion one of this section, the town shall submit a report on the results 16 of the use of speed limit photo devices to the governor, the temporary 17 president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly by April first, 18 two thousand twenty-three. Such report shall include, but not be limit- 19 ed to: 20 (a) a description of the locations where speed limit photo devices 21 were used; 22 (b) the number of violations recorded at each such location and in the 23 aggregate on a daily, weekly and monthly basis; 24 (c) the total number of notices of liability issued; 25 (d) the number of fines and total amount of fines paid after first 26 notice of liability; 27 (e) the number of violations adjudicated and results of such adjudi- 28 cations including breakdowns of dispositions made; 29 (f) the total amount of revenue realized by such county; and 30 (g) quality of the adjudication process and its results. 31 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 32 have become a law and shall expire 5 years after such effective date 33 when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed repealed.
