Bill Text: FL S0994 | 2024 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Student Transportation Safety

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2024-05-17 - Chapter No. 2024-190, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/SB 7002 (Ch. 2024-159) [S0994 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S0994-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2024                       CS for CS for SB 994
       
       
        
       By the Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and
       Economic Development; the Committee on Transportation; and
       Senator Burgess
       
       
       
       606-03286-24                                           2024994c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to student transportation safety;
    3         amending s. 316.173, F.S.; providing construction;
    4         revising requirements for signage posted on the rear
    5         of a school bus indicating the use of a school bus
    6         infraction detection system; requiring a law
    7         enforcement agency to send a notice of violation to
    8         the registered owner involved in a violation within a
    9         specified timeframe after receiving certain
   10         information; requiring a court having jurisdiction
   11         over traffic violations to make a determination
   12         regarding whether a violation has occurred; requiring
   13         the court to uphold the violation if the court finds
   14         that a violation has occurred; requiring the court, if
   15         the violation is upheld, to require the petitioner to
   16         pay certain penalties and costs; revising the required
   17         uses for civil penalties assessed and collected for
   18         certain violations; prohibiting the use of school bus
   19         infraction detection systems for remote surveillance;
   20         providing construction; revising purposes for which
   21         video and images recorded as part of a school bus
   22         infraction detection system may be used; conforming
   23         provisions to changes made by the act; making
   24         technical changes; amending s. 318.18, F.S.; requiring
   25         that certain civil penalties be remitted to a
   26         participating school district operating a school bus
   27         with a school bus infraction detection system to be
   28         used for certain purposes; providing an effective
   29         date.
   30          
   31  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   32  
   33         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1), paragraph (a)
   34  of subsection (2), subsections (5) and (7), paragraph (a) of
   35  subsection (16), and paragraph (a) of subsection (17) of section
   36  316.173, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   37         316.173 School bus infraction detection systems.—
   38         (1)
   39         (b) The school district may contract with a private vendor
   40  or manufacturer to install a school bus infraction detection
   41  system on any school bus within its fleet, whether owned,
   42  contracted, or leased, and for services including, but not
   43  limited to, the installation, operation, and maintenance of the
   44  system. The school district’s decision to install school bus
   45  infraction detection systems must be based solely on the need to
   46  increase public safety. An individual may not receive a
   47  commission from any revenue collected from violations detected
   48  through the use of a school bus infraction detection system. A
   49  private vendor or manufacturer may not receive a fee or
   50  remuneration based upon the number of violations detected
   51  through the use of a school bus infraction detection system.
   52  This paragraph may not be construed to prohibit a private vendor
   53  or manufacturer from receiving a fixed amount of collected
   54  proceeds for service rendered in relation to the installation,
   55  operation, or maintenance of school bus infraction detection
   56  systems.
   57         (2)(a) The school district must post high-visibility
   58  reflective signage on the rear of each school bus in which a
   59  school bus infraction detection system is installed and
   60  operational which indicates the use of such system. The signage
   61  must be in the form of one or more signs or stickers and must
   62  contain the following elements in substantially the following
   63  form:
   64         1. The words “STOP WHEN RED LIGHTS FLASH” or “DO NOT PASS
   65  WHEN RED LIGHTS FLASH.”
   66         2. The words “CAMERA ENFORCED.”
   67         3. A graphic depiction of a camera.
   68         (5) Within 30 days after receiving the information required
   69  in subsection (4), the law enforcement agency must, if it is
   70  determined determines that the motor vehicle violated s.
   71  316.172(1)(a) or (b), must send a notice of violation to the
   72  registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation
   73  specifying the remedies available under s. 318.14 and that the
   74  violator must pay the penalty under s. 318.18(5) or furnish an
   75  affidavit in accordance with subsection (10) within 30 days
   76  after the notice of violation is sent in order to avoid court
   77  fees, costs, and the issuance of a uniform traffic citation. The
   78  notice of violation must be sent by first-class mail and include
   79  all of the following:
   80         (a) A copy of one or more recorded images showing the motor
   81  vehicle involved in the violation, including an image showing
   82  the license plate of the motor vehicle.
   83         (b) The date, time, and location of the violation.
   84         (c) The amount of the civil penalty, the date by which the
   85  civil penalty must be paid, and instructions on how to pay the
   86  civil penalty.
   87         (d) Instructions on how to request a hearing to contest
   88  liability or the notice of violation.
   89         (e) A notice that the owner has the right to review, in
   90  person or remotely, the video and images recorded by the school
   91  bus infraction detection system which constitute a rebuttable
   92  presumption that the motor vehicle was used in violation of s.
   93  316.172(1)(a) or (b).
   94         (f) The time when, and the place or website at which, the
   95  recorded video and images may be examined and observed.
   96         (g) A warning that failure to pay the civil penalty or to
   97  contest liability within 30 days after the notice is sent will
   98  result in the issuance of a uniform traffic citation. A court
   99  that has jurisdiction over traffic violations shall determine
  100  whether a violation of this section has occurred. If a court
  101  finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a violation
  102  occurred, the court must uphold the violation. If the notice of
  103  violation is upheld, the court must require the petitioner to
  104  pay the penalty previously assessed under s. 318.18(5), and may
  105  also require the petitioner to pay costs, not to exceed those
  106  established in s. 316.0083(5)(e).
  107         (7) The civil penalties assessed and collected for a
  108  violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) or (b) enforced by a school bus
  109  infraction detection system must be remitted to the school
  110  district in which the violation occurred. Such civil penalties
  111  must be used for the installation, operation, or maintenance of
  112  school bus infraction detection systems on school buses,
  113  including student transportation safety initiatives, driver
  114  recruitment and retention stipends, or other student
  115  transportation safety enhancements for any other technology that
  116  increases the safety of the transportation of students, or for
  117  the administration and costs associated with the enforcement of
  118  violations as described in this section.
  119         (16)(a)1. Notwithstanding any other law, equipment deployed
  120  as part of A school bus infraction detection system as provided
  121  under this section may not be used for capable of automated or
  122  user-controlled remote surveillance. The collection of evidence
  123  by a school bus infraction detection system to enforce
  124  violations of s. 316.172 does not constitute remote
  125  surveillance.
  126         2. Video and images recorded as part of a the school bus
  127  infraction detection system may only be used for traffic
  128  enforcement and for purposes of determining criminal or civil
  129  liability for incidents captured by the school bus infraction
  130  detection system incidental to the permissible use of the school
  131  bus infraction detection system to document violations of s.
  132  316.172(1)(a) and (b) and may not be used for any other
  133  surveillance purposes.
  134         3. To the extent practicable, a school bus infraction
  135  detection system must use necessary technology to ensure that
  136  personal identifying information contained in the video or still
  137  images recorded by the system which is not relevant to the
  138  alleged violation, including, but not limited to, the identity
  139  of the driver and any passenger of a motor vehicle, the interior
  140  or contents of a motor vehicle, the identity of an uninvolved
  141  person, a number identifying the address of a private residence,
  142  and the contents or interior of a private residence, is
  143  sufficiently obscured so as not to reveal such personal
  144  identifying information.
  145         4. A notice of a violation or uniform traffic citation
  146  issued under this section may not be dismissed solely because a
  147  recorded video or still images reveal personal identifying
  148  information as provided in subparagraph 3. as long as a
  149  reasonable effort has been made to comply with this subsection.
  150         (17)(a) By October 1, 2023, and quarterly thereafter, each
  151  school district, in consultation with the law enforcement
  152  agencies with which it has interlocal agreements pursuant to
  153  this section, operating a school bus infraction detection system
  154  must submit, in consultation with the law enforcement agencies
  155  with which it has interlocal agreements pursuant to this
  156  section, a report to the department which details the results of
  157  the school bus infraction detection systems in the school
  158  district in the preceding quarter. The information from the
  159  school districts must be submitted in a form and manner
  160  determined by the department, which the department must make
  161  available to the school districts by August 1, 2023, and must
  162  include at least the following:
  163         1. The number of school buses that have a school bus
  164  infraction detection system installed, including the date of
  165  installation and, if applicable, the date the systems were
  166  removed.
  167         2. The number of notices of violations issued, the number
  168  that were contested, the number that were upheld, the number
  169  that were dismissed, the number that were issued as uniform
  170  traffic citations, and the number that were paid.
  171         3. Data for each infraction to determine locations in need
  172  of safety improvements. Such data may must include, but is not
  173  limited to, global positioning system coordinates of the
  174  infraction, the date and time of the infraction, and the name of
  175  the school that the school bus was transporting students to or
  176  from.
  177         4. Any other statistical data and information required by
  178  the department to complete the report required by paragraph (c).
  179         Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of section
  180  318.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  181         318.18 Amount of penalties.—The penalties required for a
  182  noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 or a criminal
  183  offense listed in s. 318.17 are as follows:
  184         (5)
  185         (c) In addition to the penalty under paragraph (a) or
  186  paragraph (b), $65 for a violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) or (b).
  187  If the alleged offender is found to have committed the offense,
  188  the court shall impose the civil penalty under paragraph (a) or
  189  paragraph (b) plus an additional $65. The additional $65
  190  collected under this paragraph shall be remitted to the
  191  Department of Revenue for deposit into the Emergency Medical
  192  Services Trust Fund of the Department of Health to be used as
  193  provided in s. 395.4036. If a violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) or
  194  (b) is enforced by a school bus infraction detection system
  195  pursuant to s. 316.173, the additional amount imposed on a
  196  notice of violation, on a the uniform traffic citation, or by
  197  the court under this paragraph must be $25, in lieu of the
  198  additional $65, and must be remitted to the participating school
  199  district and used pursuant to s. 316.173(7).
  200         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.