STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6653
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 12, 2013
___________
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 each county with a population of one million or more a demon-
stration program to enforce maximum speed limits 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-b to read as follows:
3 § 1180-b. Owner liability for failure of operator to comply with
4 applicable maximum speed limit. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision
5 of law, each county with a population of one million or more is hereby
6 authorized and empowered to establish a demonstration program imposing
7 monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator
8 thereof to comply with the applicable maximum speed limit in such county
9 in accordance with the provisions of this section. Such county, for
10 purposes of the implementation of such program, shall operate speed
11 limit photo devices within such county at no more than fifty locations
12 at any one time during any year of such program. Such speed limit photo
13 devices may be stationary or mobile and shall be activated at locations
14 selected by such county. Such speed limit photo devices shall be placed
15 at locations based on criteria, including but not limited to whether the
16 location is within a quarter mile of a school, speeding data, accident
17 history, proximity to facilities for senior citizens or disabled
18 persons, roadway geometry and equitable geographic distribution.
19 2. In any county that has established a demonstration program pursuant
20 to subdivision one of this section, the owner of a vehicle shall be
21 liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such vehicle
22 was used or operated with the permission of the owner, express or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10042-01-3
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1 implied, in violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of section eleven
2 hundred eighty of this article, and such violation is evidenced by
3 information obtained from a speed limit photo device; provided however
4 that no owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursu-
5 ant to this section where the operator of such vehicle has been
6 convicted of the underlying violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of
7 section eleven hundred eighty of this article.
8 3. Such demonstration program shall utilize necessary technologies to
9 ensure, to the extent practicable, that photographs produced by such
10 speed limit photo devices shall not include images that identify the
11 driver, the passengers or the contents of the vehicle, provided, howev-
12 er, that no notice of liability issued pursuant to this section shall be
13 dismissed solely because a photograph or photographs allow for the iden-
14 tification of the driver, the passengers or other contents of a vehicle,
15 provided that such county has made a reasonable effort to comply with
16 the provisions of this subdivision.
17 4. Such demonstration program shall include a prohibition on the use
18 or dissemination of vehicles' license plate information and other infor-
19 mation and images captured by speed cameras except as required to estab-
20 lish liability under this section or collect payment of penalties;
21 except as required to respond to a request by law enforcement officials
22 pertaining to a specific accident or specific incident of alleged crimi-
23 nal conduct; or except as otherwise required by law.
24 5. For purposes of this section, "owner" shall have the meaning
25 provided in section two hundred thirty-nine of this chapter. For
26 purposes of this section, "speed limit photo device" shall mean equip-
27 ment that takes a film or digital camera-based photograph, microphoto-
28 graph, video, or other recorded image which is linked with a violation
29 detection system that synchronizes the taking of such image of a vehicle
30 at the time the vehicle is used or operated in violation of subdivision
31 (c) or (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article.
32 6. A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by the
33 county in which the charged violation occurred or its vendor or contrac-
34 tor, or a facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs,
35 microphotographs, videotape or other recorded images produced by a speed
36 limit photo device, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained
37 therein. Any photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded
38 images evidencing such a violation shall be available for inspection in
39 any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for such violation pursuant
40 to this section.
41 7. An owner liable for a violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of
42 section eleven hundred eighty of this article shall be liable for mone-
43 tary penalties in accordance with a schedule of fines and penalties
44 promulgated by the parking violations bureau of such county; provided,
45 however, that the monetary penalty for driving at a speed in excess of
46 the maximum speed limit by ten or more miles per hour and less than
47 thirty miles per hour shall not exceed fifty dollars, and the monetary
48 penalty for driving in excess of the maximum speed limit by thirty or
49 more miles per hour shall not exceed one hundred dollars; provided,
50 further, that an owner shall be liable for an additional penalty not to
51 exceed twenty-five dollars for each violation for the failure to respond
52 to a notice of liability within the prescribed time period.
53 8. An imposition of liability pursuant to this section shall not be
54 deemed a conviction as an operator and shall not be made part of the
55 operating record of the person upon whom such liability is imposed nor
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1 shall it be used for insurance purposes in the provision of motor vehi-
2 cle insurance coverage.
3 9. (a) A notice of liability shall be sent by first class mail in
4 accordance with this section to each person alleged to be liable as an
5 owner for a violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of section eleven
6 hundred eighty of this article. Personal delivery on the owner shall not
7 be required. A manual or automatic record of mailing prepared in the
8 ordinary course of business shall be prima facie evidence of the facts
9 contained therein.
10 (b) A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the
11 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision
12 (c) or (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article, the regis-
13 tration number of the vehicle involved in such violation, the location
14 where such violation took place, the date and time of such violation and
15 the identification number of the speed limit photo device which recorded
16 the violation or other document locator number.
17 (c) The notice of liability shall contain information advising the
18 person charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest
19 the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall also
20 contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure to contest
21 in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of liabil-
22 ity and that a default judgment may be entered thereon.
23 (d) The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the agency
24 or agencies designated by such county.
25 10. If an owner of a vehicle receives a notice of liability pursuant
26 to this section for any time period during which such vehicle was
27 reported to the police department as having been stolen, it shall be a
28 valid defense to an allegation of liability for a violation of subdivi-
29 sion (c) or (d) of section eleven hundred eighty of this article that
30 the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time
31 the violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For
32 purposes of asserting the defense provided by this subdivision it shall
33 be sufficient that an original incident form issued by the police on the
34 stolen vehicle be sent by first class mail to the parking violations
35 bureau of such county.
36 11. (a) An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of
37 liability was issued pursuant to subdivision nine of this section shall
38 not be liable for the violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of section
39 eleven hundred eighty of this article, provided that:
40 (i) prior to the violation, the lessor has filed with such parking
41 violations bureau in accordance with the provisions of section two
42 hundred thirty-nine of this chapter; and
43 (ii) within thirty-seven days after receiving notice from such bureau
44 of the date and time of a liability, together with the other information
45 contained in the original notice of liability, the lessor submits to
46 such bureau the correct name and address of the lessee of the vehicle
47 identified in the notice of liability at the time of such violation,
48 together with such other additional information contained in the rental,
49 lease or other contract document, as may be reasonably required by such
50 bureau pursuant to regulations that may be promulgated for such purpose.
51 (b) Failure to comply with subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of this
52 subdivision shall render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed in
53 this section.
54 (c) Where the lessor complies with the provisions of paragraph (a) of
55 this subdivision, the lessee of such vehicle on the date of such
56 violation shall be deemed to be the owner of such vehicle for purposes
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1 of this section, shall be subject to liability for such violation pursu-
2 ant to this section and shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to
3 subdivision nine of this section.
4 12. If the owner liable for a violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of
5 section eleven hundred eighty of this article pursuant to this section
6 was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the
7 owner may maintain an action for indemnification against the operator.
8 13. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability
9 of an operator of a vehicle for any violation of subdivision (c) or (d)
10 of section eleven hundred eighty of this article.
11 14. Any county that adopts a demonstration program pursuant to subdi-
12 vision one of this section shall submit a report on the results of the
13 use of speed limit photo devices to the governor, the temporary presi-
14 dent of the senate and the speaker of the assembly by April first, two
15 thousand twenty. Such report shall include, but not be limited to:
16 (a) a description of the locations where speed limit photo devices
17 were used;
18 (b) the number of violations recorded at each such location and in the
19 aggregate on a daily, weekly and monthly basis;
20 (c) the total number of notices of liability issued;
21 (d) the number of fines and total amount of fines paid after first
22 notice of liability;
23 (e) the number of violations adjudicated and results of such adjudi-
24 cations including breakdowns of dispositions made;
25 (f) the total amount of revenue realized by such county; and
26 (g) quality of the adjudication process and its results.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
28 have become a law and shall expire 5 years after such effective date
29 when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed repealed.
