Authorizes a photo radar demonstration program in cities of one million or more imposing civil liability upon vehicle owners for maximum speed limit violations; authorizes such program to install a photo radar device on McGuinness Boulevard in the borough of Brooklyn; provides for the repeal of such demonstration program after three years.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10556A
SPONSOR: Rules (Lentol) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to civil
liability of vehicle owners for maximum speed limit violations and
providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill authorizes a photo radar demonstration program in New York
City imposing civil liability upon vehicle owners for violations of
maximum speed limits.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
The vehicle and Traffic law is amended by adding a new section 1160-b.
Owner liability for failure of operator to comply with maximum speed
limits.
JUSTIFICATION:
This measure authorizes the City of New York to install and operate
photo radar devices on McGuiness Boulevard. McGuinness Boulevard is a
North/South Four-lane Arterial Street stretching over one mile through
the heart of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It is a notorious corridor for motor
vehicles traveling at extremely dangerous speeds, leading to numerous
severe injuries and deaths. According to data from the New York State
Department of Transportation, from 2005-2009 there were 57 crashes
involving motorists crashing into pedestrians or bicyclists, an average
of nearly one crash par month. Of the 57 crashes, 44 involved pedestri-
ans--resulting in one pedestrian death. The remaining 13 crashes
involved bicyclists and resulted in three bicyclist deaths.
In the Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan released in August 2010,
the New York City Department of Transportation found that pedestrian
fatalities occur disproportionately along multi-lane streets and
avenues, like McGuinness Boulevard, and that speeding, driver inatten-
tion and failure to yield are the underlying factors behind the vast
majority of pedestrian fatalities or serious injury.
A study recently conducted by Transportation Alternatives demonstrated
that 66 percent of drivers traveling McGuiness Boulevard exceeded the
30-mph city speed limit. As the neighborhood's population continues to
grow, increased pedestrian and bicyclist traffic will only exacerbate
the problem. It is imperative that measures be taken immediately to slow
traffic along this corridor if we are to prevent future injuries and
deaths.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10556--A
IN ASSEMBLY
June 5, 2012
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Lentol) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to civil
liability of vehicle owners for maximum speed limit violations 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-b to read as follows:
3 § 1180-b. Owner liability for failure of operator to comply with maxi-
4 mum speed limits. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each
5 city with a population of one million or more is hereby authorized and
6 empowered to adopt and amend a local law or ordinance establishing a
7 demonstration program imposing monetary liability on the owner of a
8 vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to comply with maximum speed
9 limits in such city in accordance with the provisions of this section.
10 Such demonstration program shall empower the city of New York to install
11 and operate a photo radar device on McGuinness Boulevard in the borough
12 of Brooklyn within such city.
13 (b) In any city which has adopted a local law or ordinance pursuant to
14 subdivision (a) of this section, the owner of a vehicle shall be liable
15 for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such vehicle was used
16 or operated with the permission of the owner, express or implied, in
17 violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this
18 article, and such violation is evidenced by information obtained from a
19 photo radar system; provided however that no owner of a vehicle shall be
20 liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section where the operator
21 of such vehicle has been convicted of the underlying violation of subdi-
22 vision (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article.
23 (c) For purposes of this section, "owner" shall have the meaning
24 provided in article two-B of this chapter. For purposes of this section,
25 "photo radar system" shall mean a speed camera installed to work in
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15989-02-2
A. 10556--A 2
1 conjunction with Doppler radar and a computer monitoring system which
2 automatically produces two or more photographs, two or more microphoto-
3 graphs, a videotape or other recorded images of each vehicle at the time
4 it is used or operated in violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven
5 hundred eighty of this article.
6 (d) A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by
7 the city in which the charged violation occurred, or a facsimile there-
8 of, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, videotape or
9 other recorded images produced by a photo radar system, shall be prima
10 facie evidence of the facts contained therein. Any photographs, micro-
11 photographs, videotape or other recorded images evidencing such a
12 violation shall be available for inspection in any proceeding to adjudi-
13 cate the liability for such violation pursuant to a local law or ordi-
14 nance adopted pursuant to this section.
15 (e) An owner liable for a violation of subdivision (d) of section
16 eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to a local law or ordi-
17 nance adopted pursuant to this section shall be liable for monetary
18 penalties in accordance with a schedule of fines and penalties to be set
19 forth in such local law or ordinance, except that in a city which, by
20 local law, has authorized the adjudication of such owner liability by a
21 parking violations bureau, such schedule shall be promulgated by such
22 bureau. The liability of the owner pursuant to this section shall not
23 exceed one hundred dollars for each violation; provided, however, that
24 such local law or ordinance may provide for an additional penalty not in
25 excess of twenty-five dollars for each violation for the failure to
26 respond to a notice of liability within the prescribed time period.
27 (f) An imposition of liability under a local law or ordinance adopted
28 pursuant to this section shall not be deemed a conviction as an operator
29 and shall not be made part of the operating record of the person upon
30 whom such liability is imposed nor shall it be used for insurance
31 purposes in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage.
32 (g) 1. A notice of liability shall be sent by first class mail to each
33 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision
34 (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this
35 section. Personal delivery on the owner shall not be required. A manual
36 or automatic record of mailing prepared in the ordinary course of busi-
37 ness shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein.
38 2. A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the
39 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision
40 (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this
41 section, the registration number of the vehicle involved in such
42 violation, the location where such violation took place, the date and
43 time of such violation and the identification number of the camera which
44 recorded the violation or other document locator number.
45 3. The notice of liability shall contain information advising the
46 person charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest
47 the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall also
48 contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure to contest
49 in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of liabil-
50 ity and that a default judgment may be entered thereon.
51 4. The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the city
52 having jurisdiction over the intersection where the violation occurred,
53 or by any other entity authorized by the city to prepare and mail such
54 notification of violation.
55 (h) Adjudication of the liability imposed upon owners by this section
56 shall be by a traffic violations bureau established pursuant to section
A. 10556--A 3
1 three hundred seventy of the general municipal law or, if there be none,
2 by the court having jurisdiction over traffic infractions, except that
3 any city which has established an administrative tribunal to hear and
4 determine complaints of traffic infractions constituting parking, stand-
5 ing or stopping violations may, by local law, authorize such adjudi-
6 cation by such tribunal.
7 (i) If an owner receives a notice of liability pursuant to this
8 section for any time period during which the vehicle was reported to the
9 police department as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to
10 an allegation of liability for a violation of subdivision (d) of section
11 eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this section that the
12 vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time the
13 violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For purposes
14 of asserting the defense provided by this subdivision it shall be suffi-
15 cient that a certified copy of the police report on the stolen vehicle
16 be sent by first class mail to the traffic violations bureau, court
17 having jurisdiction or parking violations bureau.
18 (j) 1. In a city where the adjudication of liability imposed upon
19 owners pursuant to this section is by a traffic violations bureau or a
20 court having jurisdiction, an owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to
21 which a notice of liability was issued pursuant to subdivision (g) of
22 this section shall not be liable for the violation of subdivision (d) of
23 section eleven hundred eighty of this article, provided that he or she
24 sends to the traffic violations bureau or court having jurisdiction a
25 copy of the rental, lease or other such contract document covering such
26 vehicle on the date of the violation, with the name and address of the
27 lessee clearly legible, within thirty-seven days after receiving notice
28 from the bureau or court of the date and time of such violation, togeth-
29 er with the other information contained in the original notice of
30 liability. Failure to send such information within such thirty-seven day
31 time period shall render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed by
32 this section. Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this
33 paragraph, the lessee of such vehicle on the date of such violation
34 shall be deemed to be the owner of such vehicle for purposes of this
35 section, shall be subject to liability for the violation of subdivision
36 (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this
37 section and shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to subdivision
38 (g) of this section.
39 2. (i) In a city which, by local law, has authorized the adjudication
40 of liability imposed upon owners by this section by a parking violations
41 bureau, an owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of
42 liability was issued pursuant to subdivision (g) of this section shall
43 not be liable for the violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven
44 hundred eighty of this article, provided that:
45 (A) prior to the violation, the lessor has filed with the bureau in
46 accordance with the provisions of section two hundred thirty-nine of
47 this chapter; and
48 (B) within thirty-seven days after receiving notice from the bureau of
49 the date and time of a liability, together with the other information
50 contained in the original notice of liability, the lessor submits to the
51 bureau the correct name and address of the lessee of the vehicle identi-
52 fied in the notice of liability at the time of such violation, together
53 with such other additional information contained in the rental, lease or
54 other contract document, as may be reasonably required by the bureau
55 pursuant to regulations that may be promulgated for such purpose.
A. 10556--A 4
1 (ii) Failure to comply with clause (B) of subparagraph (i) of this
2 paragraph shall render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed in
3 this section.
4 (iii) Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this paragraph,
5 the lessee of such vehicle on the date of such violation shall be deemed
6 to be the owner of such vehicle for purposes of this section, shall be
7 subject to liability for such violation pursuant to this section and
8 shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to subdivision (g) of this
9 section.
10 (k) If the owner liable for a violation of subdivision (d) of section
11 eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this section was not
12 the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the owner may
13 maintain an action for indemnification against the operator.
14 (l) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability
15 of an operator of a vehicle for any violation of subdivision (d) of
16 section eleven hundred eighty of this article.
17 (m) The photo radar devices installed and operated pursuant to the
18 demonstration program, established under subdivision (a) of this
19 section, shall be used solely for the purposes of carrying out photo-
20 monitoring for such demonstration program.
21 (n) Any city which adopts a demonstration program pursuant to subdivi-
22 sion (a) of this section shall submit a report on the results of the use
23 of a photo radar system to the governor, the temporary president of the
24 senate and the speaker of the assembly by March first, two thousand
25 thirteen. Such report shall include, but not be limited to:
26 1. a description of the locations where photo radar systems were used;
27 2. the number of violations recorded at each such location and in the
28 aggregate on a daily, weekly and monthly basis;
29 3. the total number of notices of liability issued;
30 4. the number of fines and total amount of fines paid after first
31 notice of liability;
32 5. the number of violations adjudicated and results of such adjudi-
33 cations including breakdowns of dispositions made;
34 6. the total amount of revenue realized by such city; and
35 7. quality of the adjudication process and its results.
36 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
37 have become a law and shall remain in full force and effect for three
38 years after such effective date when upon such date the provisions of
39 this act shall be deemed repealed; provided, however, any such local
40 laws as may be enacted pursuant to this act shall remain in full force
41 and effect only until the expiration of three years from such effective
42 date.
