[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of North
Tonawanda 9-6-2022. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to impose monetary liability
on the owner of a motor vehicle under circumstances where the operator
of that motor vehicle fails to stop for a school bus displaying a
red visual signal and stop-arm. It is a well-known fact that vehicle
operators often fail to stop for a school bus displaying a red visual
signal and stop-arm, thus creating a hazardous and dangerous condition
for passengers, especially children, who depart from a stopped school
bus. The intent of this chapter involves the installation of cameras
on the school bus stop-arm to increase safety for passengers departing
the school bus by imposing financial liability on the owner of the
vehicle which will serve as a deterrent.
As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the
following respective meanings:
The City of North Tonawanda, New York.
The registered owner of a motor vehicle.
One or more individuals, a partnership, company, association,
corporation, trust, trustee or receiver or limited-liability company.
The City School District of the City of North Tonawanda,
New York.
A.
Pursuant to § 1174-a of the New York State Vehicle and
Traffic Law, the City hereby establishes a demonstration program imposing
monetary liability on the owner of a motor vehicle for the failure
of an operator thereof to comply with § 1174 of the New
York State Vehicle and Traffic Law when meeting a school bus marked
and equipped as provided in Subdivisions 20 and 21c of § 375
of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law and operated in the
City.
B.
This demonstration program empowers the City to install and operate,
or to cause to be installed and operated, school bus photo violation
monitoring systems which may be stationary or mobile. Such school
bus photo violation monitoring systems may be installed on school
buses owned and operated by the School District, or on school buses
privately owned and operated for compensation under contract with
the School District, provided that no such stationary school bus photo
violation monitoring system shall be installed and operated, or caused
to be installed and operated by the City, except on roadways under
the jurisdiction of the City and further provided no such mobile school
bus photo violation monitoring system shall be installed or operated
on school buses unless the City and the School District enter into
an agreement for such installation and operation.
As part of the demonstration program, the City will create procedures
for the proper handling and custody of photographs, microphotographs,
videotapes and other recorded images and data produced by such mobile
school bus photo violation monitoring systems in place on school buses
and for the forwarding of such photographs, microphotographs, videotapes
and other recorded images and data to the City. Any such agreement
entered into between the City and the School District must be approved
by majority vote of the North Tonawanda City Council and also by resolution
of the Board of the School District.
As part of the demonstration program, 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 violation monitoring device. Such measures shall
include:
A.
Utilization of necessary technologies to ensure, to the extent practicable,
that photographs produced by such school bus photo violation monitoring
devices shall not include images that identify the driver, the passengers,
the contents of the motor 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 motor vehicle, provided
that such City has made a reasonable effort to comply with the provisions
contained herein.
B.
A prohibition on the use or dissemination of motor vehicles'
license plate information and other information and images captured
by such school bus photo violation monitoring systems, except: 1)
as required to establish liability under this chapter or collect payment
of penalties; 2) as required by court order; or 3) as otherwise required
by law and oversight procedures to ensure compliance with the aforedescribed
privacy protection measures.
C.
The City shall the install signage in conformance with standards
established in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD),
maintained by the Commission of Transportation, at each roadway entrance
of the City boundaries giving notice that school bus photo violation
monitoring systems are used to enforce restrictions on motor vehicles
violating § 1174 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic
Law. For purposes of this chapter, the term "roadway" shall not include
state expressway routes or state interstate routes but shall include
controlled access highway exit ramps that enter the City boundaries
of the City.
The owner of a motor vehicle shall be liable for a monetary
penalty imposed pursuant to this chapter if such vehicle was used
or operated with the permission of the owner, expressed or implied,
in violation of § 1174 of the New York State Vehicle and
Traffic Law if such violation is evidenced by information obtained
from a school bus photo violation monitoring system; provided, however,
that no owner of a motor vehicle shall be liable for a monetary penalty
imposed pursuant to this chapter where the operator of such motor
vehicle has been convicted of the underlying violation of § 1174
of the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
A.
An owner of a motor vehicle liable for a violation of Subdivision
(a) of § 1174 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic
Law shall be liable for monetary penalties as provided herein. The
liability of the owner pursuant to this chapter shall be $250 for
a first violation; $275 for a second violation, provided the first
and second were committed within a period of 18 months; and $300 for
a third or subsequent violation, provided that all of which were committed
within a period of 18 months. An additional penalty in the amount
of $25 for each violation shall be due and payable resulting from
the failure of the owner to respond to a notice of liability within
the prescribed time period.
B.
An imposition of liability pursuant to this chapter shall not be
deemed a conviction as an operator 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 by first-class mail to each person
alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of Subdivision (a)
of § 1174 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law
pursuant to this chapter. 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.
B.
The notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the
person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of Subdivision
(a) of § 1174 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic
Law pursuant to this chapter, the registration number of the vehicle
involved in such violation, the location of 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.
The notice of liability shall include information advising the person
charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest
the liability alleged in the notice of liability. Such notice of liability
shall also contain a warning to advise the persons charged that 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.
D.
The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the City
or by such other entity authorized by the City to prepare and mail
such notice of liability and recover any such monetary penalty.
E.
Adjudication of the liability imposed upon owners by this chapter
shall be made by the City Court of the City of North Tonawanda, NY.
A.
For purposes of this chapter, there shall be a presumption that the
operator of such motor vehicle was operating such vehicle with the
consent of the owner at the time such operator failed to comply with
§ 1174 of The New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.
B.
If an owner receives a notice of liability pursuant to this chapter
for any time period during which the motor vehicle was reported to
the police as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to the
allegation of liability for a violation of Subdivision (a) of § 1174
of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law pursuant to this chapter
that the motor vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior
to the time the violation had occurred and had not been recovered
by such time. For purposes of asserting a defense provided by this
section, it shall be sufficient that a certified copy of the police
report on the stolen motor vehicle be sent by first-class mail to
the City Court of the City of North Tonawanda, NY.
C.
An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which notice of liability
was issued shall not be liable for the violation of Subdivision (a)
of § 1174 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law
provided he or she sends to the City Court of the City of North Tonawanda,
NY, a copy of the rental, lease or other such contract document covering
such motor 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 court of the date and time of such violation, together
with such other and further information contained in the original
notice of liability. Failure to send such information within such
thirty-seven-day time period shall render the owner liable for the
monetary penalty prescribed by this chapter. Where the lessor complies
with the provisions of this subsection, the lessee of such motor vehicle
on the date of such violation shall be deemed to be the owner of such
vehicle for purposes of this chapter shall be subject to liability
for the violation of Subdivision (a) of § 1174 of the Vehicle
and Traffic Law pursuant to this section and shall be sent a notice
of liability pursuant to this chapter.
D.
No owner of a motor vehicle shall be subject to a monetary penalty
imposed pursuant to this chapter if such owner can demonstrate by
clear and convincing evidence that such school bus stop-arms were
malfunctioning at the time of the alleged violation.
E.
No owner of a motor vehicle shall be subject to a monetary penalty
imposed pursuant to this chapter if the operator of such motor vehicle
was operating such motor vehicle without the consent of the owner
at the time such operator failed to comply with § 1174 of
the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law and the owner of the motor
vehicle is able to demonstrate to the court by clear and convincing
evidence that the motor vehicle was operated at the time of the violation
without the consent of the owner.
The demonstration program established by the City requires that
it submit an annual report on the results of the use of a school bus
photo violation monitoring system to the Governor, the President of
the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly on or before June 1, 2019,
and on the same date in each succeeding year in which the demonstration
program is operable. Such report shall include, but not be limited
to, the following:
A.
The number of buses and a description of the routes where stationary
and mobile school bus photo violation monitoring systems were used.
B.
The aggregate number, type and severity of accidents reported at
locations where a school bus photo violation monitoring system is
used for the year preceding the installation of such a system, to
the extent the information is maintained by the New York State Department
of Motor Vehicles.
C.
The number of violations recorded at each location where a school
bus photo violation monitoring system is used and in the aggregate
on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
D.
The number of convictions for violations of Subdivision (a) of § 1174
of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law recorded at each location
where a school bus photo violation monitoring system is used on an
annual basis, to the extent the information is maintained by the Department
of Motor Vehicles of this state.
E.
The total number of notices of liability issued for violations recorded
by such systems.
F.
The number of monetary penalties and total amount of monetary penalties
paid after the first notice of liability issued for violations recorded
by such systems.
G.
The number of violations adjudicated and results of such adjudications,
including breakdowns of dispositions made for violations recorded
by such systems, which shall be provided at least annually to such
City by the courts conducting such adjudications.
H.
The total amount of revenue realized by the City.
I.
The expenses incurred by the City in connection with the program.
J.
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 monetary penalties were paid on or before the hearing
date; and the total number of default judgments entered. Such information
shall be provided at least annually to the City by the court conducting
such adjudications.
K.
A description of public education activities conducted to warn motorists
of the dangers of overtaking and passing stopped school buses.
This demonstration program shall expire on December 1, 2024,
unless extended further by act of the New York State Legislature.
