Bill Text: NY A10169 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Permits the villages of Upper Brookville, Flower Hill, East Hampton, Westbury, Saddle Rock and Southampton located in Nassau and Suffolk county to adopt local laws to implement a demonstration program imposing monetary liability not to exceed fifty dollars on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator to comply with stop signs; permits such villages to install and operate stop sign photo violation monitoring systems as part of such demonstration program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-20 - print number 10169b [A10169 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A10169-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Permits the villages of Upper Brookville, Flower Hill, East Hampton, Westbury, Saddle Rock and Southampton located in Nassau and Suffolk county to adopt local laws to implement a demonstration program imposing monetary liability not to exceed fifty dollars on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator to comply with stop signs; permits such villages to install and operate stop sign photo violation monitoring systems as part of such demonstration program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-20 - print number 10169b [A10169 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A10169-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10169 IN ASSEMBLY May 10, 2024 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of 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 owner liability for failure of an operator to comply with stop signs in designated villages located within the counties of Nassau and Suffolk The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "protect 2 our pedestrians (POP) act". 3 § 2. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section 4 1174-b to read as follows: 5 § 1174-b. Owner liability for failure of operator to stop for a stop 6 sign in the village of Upper Brookville, the village of Flower Hill or 7 the village of East Hampton (each, a "village"). (a) Notwithstanding any 8 other provision of law, any village located within the county of Nassau 9 is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend a local law or 10 ordinance establishing a demonstration program imposing monetary liabil- 11 ity on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to 12 comply with subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred seventy-two of 13 this article. Such demonstration program shall empower such village to 14 install and operate stop sign photo violation monitoring systems which 15 may be stationary or mobile, and which may be installed on stop signs 16 within the boundaries of such village. 17 (b) Such demonstration program shall utilize necessary technologies to 18 ensure, to the extent practicable, that photographs produced by such 19 stop sign photo violation monitoring systems shall not include images 20 that identify the driver, the passengers, or the contents of the vehi- 21 cle. Provided, however, that no notice of liability issued pursuant to 22 this section shall be dismissed solely because a photograph or photo- 23 graphs allow for the identification of the driver, passengers, or the 24 contents of a vehicle, provided that such village has made a reasonable 25 effort to comply with the provisions of this paragraph. 26 (c) In any such village which has adopted a local law or ordinance 27 pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, the owner of a vehicle EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11300-05-4A. 10169 2 1 shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such 2 vehicle was used or operated with the permission of the owner, express 3 or implied, in violation of subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred 4 seventy-two of this article, and such violation is evidenced by informa- 5 tion obtained from a stop sign photo violation monitoring system. 6 (d) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the 7 following meanings: 8 1. "Owner" shall have the meaning as defined pursuant to section two 9 hundred thirty-nine of this chapter. 10 2. "Village" shall mean the village of Flower Hill, the village of 11 Upper Brookville or the village of East Hampton. 12 3. "Stop sign photo violation monitoring system" shall mean a vehicle 13 sensor installed to work in conjunction with a stop sign which automat- 14 ically produces two or more photographs, two or more microphotographs, a 15 videotape or other recorded images of each vehicle at the time it is 16 used or operated in violation of subdivision (a) of section eleven 17 hundred seventy-two of this article. 18 4. "Operator" means any person, corporation, firm, partnership, agen- 19 cy, association, organization or lessee that uses or operates a vehicle 20 with or without the permission of the owner, and an owner who operates 21 his or her own vehicle. 22 (e) A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by 23 the village in which the charged violation occurred, or a facsimile 24 thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, vide- 25 otape or other recorded images produced by a stop sign photo violation 26 monitoring system, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained 27 therein. Any photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded 28 images evidencing such a violation shall be available for inspection in 29 any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for such violation pursuant 30 to a local law or ordinance adopted pursuant to this section. 31 (f) An owner liable for a violation of subdivision (a) of section 32 eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to a local law or 33 ordinance adopted pursuant to this section shall be liable for monetary 34 penalties in accordance with a schedule of fines and penalties to be set 35 forth in such local law or ordinance. The liability of the owner pursu- 36 ant to this section shall not exceed fifty dollars for each violation; 37 provided, however, that such local law or ordinance may provide for an 38 additional penalty not in excess of twenty-five dollars for each 39 violation for the failure to respond to a notice of liability within the 40 prescribed time period. 41 (g) An imposition of liability under a local law or ordinance adopted 42 pursuant to this section shall not be deemed a conviction as an operator 43 and shall not be made part of the operating record of the person upon 44 whom such liability is imposed nor shall it be used for insurance 45 purposes in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage. 46 (h) 1. A notice of liability shall be sent by first class mail to each 47 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 48 (a) of section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to 49 this section. Personal delivery on the owner shall not be required. A 50 manual or automatic record of mailing prepared in the ordinary course of 51 business shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. 52 2. A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the 53 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 54 (a) of section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to 55 this section, the registration number of the vehicle involved in such 56 violation, the location where such violation took place, the date andA. 10169 3 1 time of such violation and the identification number of the camera which 2 recorded the violation or other document locator number. 3 3. The notice of liability shall contain information advising the 4 person charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest 5 the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall also 6 contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure to contest 7 in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of liabil- 8 ity and that a default judgment may be entered thereon. 9 4. The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the village 10 where the alleged violation occurred or by any other entity authorized 11 by such village to prepare and mail such notification of violation. 12 (i) Adjudication of the liability imposed upon owners by this section 13 shall be by the court having jurisdiction over traffic infractions. 14 (j) If an owner receives a notice of liability pursuant to this 15 section for any time period during which the vehicle was reported to the 16 police department as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to 17 an allegation of liability for a violation of subdivision (a) of section 18 eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to this section that 19 the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time 20 the violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For 21 purposes of asserting the defense provided by this subdivision, it shall 22 be sufficient that a certified copy of the police report on the stolen 23 vehicle be sent by first class mail to the traffic violations bureau or 24 court having jurisdiction. 25 (k) An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of liabil- 26 ity was issued pursuant to subdivision (h) of this section shall not be 27 liable for the violation of subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred 28 seventy-two of this article, provided that he or she sends to the traf- 29 fic violations bureau or court having jurisdiction a copy of the rental, 30 lease or other such contract document covering such vehicle on the date 31 of the violation, with the name and address of the lessee clearly legi- 32 ble, within thirty-seven days after receiving notice from the bureau or 33 court of the date and time of such violation, together with the other 34 information contained in the original notice of liability. Failure to 35 send such information within such thirty-seven day time period shall 36 render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed by this section. 37 Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this subdivision, the 38 lessee of such vehicle on the date of such violation shall be deemed to 39 be the owner of such vehicle for purposes of this section, shall be 40 subject to liability for the violation of subdivision (a) of section 41 eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to this section and 42 shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to subdivision (h) of this 43 section. 44 (l) 1. If the owner liable for a violation of subdivision (a) of 45 section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to this 46 section was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the 47 violation, the owner may maintain an action for indemnification against 48 the operator. 49 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no owner of a 50 vehicle shall be subject to a monetary fine imposed pursuant to this 51 section if the operator of such vehicle was operating such vehicle with- 52 out the consent of the owner at the time such operator failed to obey a 53 stop sign. For purposes of this subdivision there shall be a presumption 54 that the operator of such vehicle was operating such vehicle with the 55 consent of the owner at the time such operator failed to obey a stop 56 sign.A. 10169 4 1 (m) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability 2 of an operator of a vehicle for any violation of subdivision (a) of 3 section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article. 4 (n) Any village that adopts a demonstration program pursuant to subdi- 5 vision (a) of this section shall submit an annual report detailing the 6 results of the use of such stop sign photo violation monitoring system 7 to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker 8 of the assembly on or before the first day of June next succeeding the 9 effective date of this section and on the same date in each succeeding 10 year in which the demonstration program is operable. Such report shall 11 include, but not be limited to: 12 1. a description of the locations where stop sign photo violation 13 monitoring systems were used; 14 2. the aggregate number, type and severity of accidents reported at 15 intersections where a stop sign photo violation monitoring system is 16 used for the three years preceding the installation of such system, to 17 the extent the information is maintained by the department; 18 3. the aggregate number, type and severity of accidents reported at 19 intersections where a stop sign photo violation monitoring system is 20 used for the reporting year, as well as for each year that the stop sign 21 photo violation monitoring system has been operational, to the extent 22 the information is maintained by the department; 23 4. the number of events and number of violations recorded at each 24 intersection where a stop sign photo violation monitoring system is used 25 and in the aggregate on a daily, weekly and monthly basis; 26 5. the number of notices of liability issued for violations recorded 27 by such system at each intersection where a stop sign photo violation 28 monitoring system is used; 29 6. the number of fines imposed and total amount of fines paid after 30 first notice of liability; 31 7. the number and percentage of violations adjudicated and results of 32 such adjudications including breakdowns of dispositions made for 33 violations recorded by such systems which shall be provided at least 34 annually to such village by the respective courts and bureaus conducting 35 such adjudications; 36 8. the total amount of revenue realized by such village from such 37 adjudications including a breakdown of revenue realized by such village 38 for each year since deployment of its stop sign photo violation monitor- 39 ing system; 40 9. expenses incurred by such village in connection with the program; 41 and 42 10. quality of the adjudication process and its results which shall be 43 provided at least annually to such village by the respective courts 44 conducting such adjudications. 45 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 46 have become a law.
