Violations of the provisions of this chapter
shall be charged as violations of the applicable sections of the Vehicle
and Traffic Law and subject to the penalties as provided for by § 1800
of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. In addition, the fact that an automobile
which is illegally parked is registered in the name of a person shall
be considered prima facie proof that such person was in control of
the automobile at the time of such parking.
[Added 9-5-2023 by L.L. No. 2-2023]
A.
Purpose. The purpose of this section is to impose monetary liability
on the owner of a motor vehicle under circumstances where the operator
of the motor vehicle fails to stop for a school bus displaying a red
visual signal and stop-arm. 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 board and depart from a stopped school bus. The installation of
cameras on the school bus stop-arm is intended to increase safety
for passengers boarding and departing the school bus by imposing financial
liability on the owner of the vehicle, in order to deter such dangerous
behavior.
B.
OWNER
PERSON
SCHOOL DISTRICT
VILLAGE
Definitions. As used in this § 240.29.1, the following
definitions shall apply:
The registered owner of a motor vehicle.
One or more individuals, a partnership, company, association,
corporation, limited liability company, trust, trustee, receiver,
or other entity.
The Scotia-Glenville Central School District.
The Village of Scotia, New York.
C.
Adoption of Demonstration Program. Pursuant to § 1174-a
of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law, the Village 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-a of the New York State Vehicle and
Traffic Law when meeting a school bus marked and equipped as provided
in Subdivisions 20 and 21(c) of Section 375 of the New York State
Vehicle and Traffic Law and operated in the Village. This demonstration
program empowers the Village 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 the 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 Village, except on roadways under the jurisdiction
of the Village, and further provided that no such mobile school bus
photo violation monitoring system shall be installed or operated on
school buses unless the Village and the school district enter into
an agreement for such installation and operation.
D.
Custody procedures. As part of the demonstration program, the Village
will create procedures for the proper handling and custody of photographs,
micro photographs, 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, micro
photographs, videotapes and other recorded images and data to the
Village. Any such agreement entered into between the Village and the
school district must be approved by a majority vote of the Village
Board of the Village of Scotia and also by resolution of the board
of the school district.
E.
Privacy procedures. As part of the demonstration program, the Village
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:
(1)
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, if the Village has made a reasonable effort to comply with
the provisions contained herein;
(2)
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:
(3)
Installation of signage in conformance with standards established
in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), as maintained
by the Commission of Transportation, at each roadway entrance of the
Village 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 or exit the boundaries of the
Village;
(4)
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 section. 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 no violation occurred;
and
F.
Owner liability. The Owner 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 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.
G.
Monetary penalties. An owner liable for a violation of Subsection (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 if the first and second were committed within a period of 18 months; and $300 for a third, or subsequent, violation, if all violations 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.
H.
Effect of imposition of liability. 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.
I.
Notice of liability. 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 to 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:
(1)
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 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;
(2)
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;
(3)
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; and
(4)
Be prepared and mailed by the Village or by such other entity
authorized by the Village to prepare and mail such notice of liability
and recover any such monetary penalty.
J.
Adjudication. Adjudication of the liability imposed upon owners by
this chapter shall be made by the Village Court of the Village of
Scotia, New York.
K.
Presumption of owner liability. 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.
L.
Defenses.
(1)
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 subsection, 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 Village Court of the Village of Scotia, New York.
(2)
Vehicles leased to others. 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 the owner sends to the Village Court of the Village of Scotia, New York, 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 L, the lessee of such motor vehicle on the date of such violation shall be deemed to be the owner 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.
M.
Other defenses. No owner shall be subject to a monetary penalty imposed
pursuant to this chapter if:
(1)
Such Owner can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence
that such school bus stop arms were malfunctioning at the time of
the alleged violation; or
(2)
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.
N.
Reporting requirements. As required by Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174-a,
the Village must 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, 2024, and on the same date in each succeeding year
in which the demonstration program is in effect. Such report shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1)
The number of buses and a description of the routes where stationary
and mobile school bus photo violation monitoring systems were used;
(2)
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 system, to
the extent the information is maintained by the New York State Department
of Motor Vehicles;
(3)
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;
(4)
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;
(5)
The total number of notices of liability issued for violations
recorded by such systems;
(6)
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;
(7)
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
Village by the courts conducting such adjudications;
(8)
The total amount of revenue realized by the Village;
(9)
The expenses incurred by the Village in connection with the
program;
(10)
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 Village by the court conducting
such adjudications; and
(11)
A description of public education activities conducted to warn
motorists of the dangers of overtaking and passing stopped school
buses.
O.
Severability. The provisions of this section are declared to be severable,
and if any section, subsection, sentence, clause or part thereof is,
for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court
of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity
of any remaining sections, subsections, clauses or part of this section.
P.
Effective date. This section shall take effect upon filing with the
New York Secretary of State.
Q.
Expiration. This demonstration program shall expire on December 1,
2024, unless extended further by act of the New York State Legislature.
In the event of an extension by the New York State Legislature, the
demonstration program set forth herein shall not otherwise expire
unless this section is repealed.
