Bill Text: CA AB2687 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Automated traffic enforcement systems.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-04 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB2687 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2687-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2687

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Introduced by Assembly Member Flora

February 14, 2024

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An act to amend Section 21455.5 of add and repeal Section 21455.8 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2687, as amended, Flora. Automated traffic enforcement systems.

Existing law authorizes the limit line, intersection, or other places where a driver is required to stop to be equipped with an automated traffic enforcement system if the governmental agency utilizing the system meets certain requirements. requirements, including, among other things, that the system is visible to traffic approaching from all directions in which the automated traffic enforcement system is being utilized to issue citations. Existing law requires a local jurisdiction utilizing an automated traffic enforcement system to commence a program to issue only warning notices for 30 days before issuing citations. Existing law authorizes only a governmental agency to operate an automated enforcement system.

This bill would delete obsolete provisions of those requirements and would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes.

This bill would, until January 1, 2030, authorize a city or city and county to establish an automated traffic enforcement system for a period of 5 years if, among other things, the system meets the criteria specified above. The bill would require a violation of any traffic law that is recorded by an automated traffic enforcement system to be subject only to a civil penalty, and would prohibit the Department of Motor Vehicles from suspending or revoking the privilege of a violator to drive a motor vehicle. The bill would require a notice of violation to be in writing and issued to the registered owner of the vehicle within 15 calendar days of the date of the violation.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Section 21455.8 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:

21455.8.

 (a) A city or city and county may establish, for a period of five years, an automated traffic enforcement system pursuant to this section if all of the following are met:

(1) The system meets the criteria specified in Section 21455.5.

(2) A violation of any traffic law that is recorded by an automated traffic enforcement system authorized pursuant to Section 21455.5 and this section shall be subject only to a civil penalty, and shall not result in the department suspending or revoking the privilege of a violator to drive a motor vehicle or in a violation point being assessed against the violator.

(3) The automated traffic enforcement system shall capture images of the rear license plate of vehicles running red lights and notices of violation shall only be issued to registered owners of those vehicles based on that evidence.

(4) A civil penalty shall not be assessed against an authorized emergency vehicle.

(5) The notice of violation shall be in writing and issued to the registered owner of the vehicle within 15 calendar days of the date of the violation. The notice of violation shall include all of the following information:

(A) The violation, including reference to the vehicle law that was violated.

(B) The date, approximate time, and location where the violation occurred.

(C) The vehicle license number and the name and address of the registered owner of the vehicle.

(D) A statement that payment is required to be made no later than 30 calendar days from the date of mailing of the notice of violation, or that the violation may be contested pursuant to Section 22427.

(E) The amount of the civil penalty due for that violation and the procedures for the payment of the civil penalty or for contesting the notice of violation.

(F) An affidavit of nonliability, and information of what constitutes nonliability, information as to the effect of executing the affidavit, and instructions for returning the affidavit to the processor. If the affidavit of nonliability is returned to the processing agency within 30 calendar days of the mailing of the notice of violation, together with proof of a written lease or rental agreement between a bona fide rental company, as defined in Section 1939.01 of the Civil Code, or a personal vehicle sharing program, as defined in Section 11580.24 of the Insurance Code, and its customer that identifies the renter or lessee, the processing agency shall serve or mail a notice of violation to the renter or lessee identified in the affidavit of nonliability. If the affidavit of nonliability is returned to the processing agency within 30 calendar days of the mailing of the notice of violation, together with proof of a copy of a police report indicating the vehicle had been stolen at the time of the violation, the processing agency shall not subject the registered owner to a civil violation.

(G) A proof of service consistent with Section 1013a of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(6) Revenues derived from utilizing an automated traffic enforcement system shall first be used to recover the costs of operating the system.

(b) This section shall remain in effect until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.

SECTION 1.Section 21455.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:

21455.5.

(a)The limit line, the intersection, or a place designated in Section 21455, where a driver is required to stop, may be equipped with an automated traffic enforcement system if the governmental agency utilizing the system meets both of the following requirements:

(1)Identifies the system by signs posted within 200 feet of an intersection where a system is operating that clearly indicate the system’s presence and are visible to traffic approaching from all directions in which the automated traffic enforcement system is being utilized to issue citations. A governmental agency utilizing this type of system does not need to post signs visible to traffic approaching the intersection from directions not subject to the automated traffic enforcement system.

(2)Locates the system at an intersection and ensures that the system meets the criteria specified in Section 21455.7.

(b)Before issuing citations under this section, a local jurisdiction utilizing an automated traffic enforcement system shall commence a program to issue only warning notices for 30 days. The local jurisdiction shall also make a public announcement of the automated traffic enforcement system at least 30 days before commencing the enforcement program.

(c)Only a governmental agency, in cooperation with a law enforcement agency, may operate an automated traffic enforcement system. A governmental agency that operates an automated traffic enforcement system shall do both of the following:

(1)Develop uniform guidelines for screening and issuing violations and for the processing and storage of confidential information, and establish procedures to ensure compliance with those guidelines.

(2)Perform administrative functions and day-to-day functions, including all of the following:

(A)Establishing guidelines for the selection of a location. Before installing an automated traffic enforcement system, the governmental agency shall make and adopt a finding of fact establishing that the system is needed at a specific location for reasons related to safety.

(B)Ensuring that the equipment is regularly inspected.

(C)Certifying that the equipment is properly installed and calibrated, and is operating properly.

(D)Regularly inspecting and maintaining warning signs placed under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).

(E)Overseeing the establishment or change of signal phases and the timing thereof.

(F)Maintaining controls necessary to ensure that only those citations that have been reviewed and approved by law enforcement are delivered to violators.

(d)The activities listed in subdivision (c) that relate to the operation of the system may be contracted out by the governmental agency, if it maintains overall control and supervision of the system. However, the activities listed in paragraph (1) of, and subparagraphs (A), (D), (E), and (F) of paragraph (2) of, subdivision (c) shall not be contracted out to the manufacturer or supplier of the automated traffic enforcement system.

(e)The printed representation of computer-generated information, video, or photographic images stored by an automated traffic enforcement system does not constitute an out-of-court hearsay statement by a declarant under Division 10 (commencing with Section 1200) of the Evidence Code.

(f)(1)Notwithstanding Article 1 (commencing with Section 7922.500) and Article 2 (commencing with Section 7922.525) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 10 of Title 1 of the Government Code, or any other law, photographic records made by an automated traffic enforcement system shall be confidential, and shall be made available only to governmental agencies and law enforcement agencies and only for the purposes of this article.

(2)Confidential information obtained from the Department of Motor Vehicles for the administration or enforcement of this article shall be held confidential, and shall not be used for any other purpose.

(3)Except for court records described in Section 68152 of the Government Code, the confidential records and information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) may be retained for up to six months from the date the information was first obtained, or until final disposition of the citation, whichever date is later, after which time the information shall be destroyed in a manner that shall preserve the confidentiality of a person included in the record or information.

(g)Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the registered owner or an individual identified by the registered owner as the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation shall be permitted to review the photographic evidence of the alleged violation.

(h)(1)A contract between a governmental agency and a manufacturer or supplier of automated traffic enforcement equipment shall not include provision for the payment or compensation to the manufacturer or supplier based on the number of citations generated, or as a percentage of the revenue generated, as a result of the use of the equipment authorized under this section.

(2)Paragraph (1) does not apply to a contract that was entered into by a governmental agency and a manufacturer or supplier of automated traffic enforcement equipment before January 1, 2004, unless that contract is renewed, extended, or amended on or after January 1, 2004.

(3)A governmental agency that proposes to install or operate an automated traffic enforcement system shall not consider revenue generation, beyond recovering its actual costs of operating the system, as a factor when considering whether or not to install or operate a system within its local jurisdiction.

(i)A manufacturer or supplier that operates an automated traffic enforcement system pursuant to this section shall, in cooperation with the governmental agency, submit an annual report to the Judicial Council that includes all of the following information if this information is in the possession of, or readily available to, the manufacturer or supplier:

(1)The number of alleged violations captured by the systems they operate.

(2)The number of citations issued by a law enforcement agency based on information collected from the automated traffic enforcement system.

(3)For citations identified in paragraph (2), the number of violations that involved traveling straight through the intersection, turning right, and turning left.

(4)The number and percentage of citations that are dismissed by the court.

(5)The number of traffic collisions at each intersection that occurred before and after the installation of the automated traffic enforcement system.