74R4909 JD-D
By Seidlits H.B. No. 916
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 916:
By Hilbert C.S.H.B. No. 916
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of a municipality to implement a
1-3 photographic traffic-control system; providing for imposition of a
1-4 civil penalty.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-7 (1) "Photographic traffic-control system" means a
1-8 system that:
1-9 (A) consists of a photographic camera and
1-10 vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with an
1-11 electrically operated traffic-control signal; and
1-12 (B) automatically produces one or more
1-13 photographs of a vehicle that is not operated in compliance with
1-14 the instructions of the traffic-control signal.
1-15 (2) "Traffic-control signal" has the meaning assigned
1-16 by Section 18(b), Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways
1-17 (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
1-18 SECTION 2. PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC-CONTROL SYSTEM. (a) A
1-19 municipality by ordinance may implement a photographic
1-20 traffic-control system and provide that the owner of a motor
1-21 vehicle is liable for a civil penalty if, while facing a steady red
1-22 light on an electrically operated traffic-control signal, the
1-23 vehicle is operated in violation of the instructions of that
1-24 traffic-control signal, as specified by Section 33(c), Uniform Act
2-1 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-2 Statutes).
2-3 (b) If a municipality adopts an ordinance under this Act,
2-4 the ordinance must prescribe the amount of the civil penalty. The
2-5 amount of the civil penalty may not exceed the maximum fine
2-6 prescribed by the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways
2-7 (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) for a violation of
2-8 Section 33(c) of that Act.
2-9 (c) Sections 2-8, except Sections 5(4) and (5), Article
2-10 6701d-24, Revised Statutes, apply to an ordinance adopted under
2-11 this Act as if a violation described in Subsection (a) of this
2-12 section were a violation of a municipal ordinance relating to the
2-13 parking or stopping of vehicles under Section 1 of that article.
2-14 (d) An ordinance adopted under this Act may provide that:
2-15 (1) a photograph taken by a photographic
2-16 traffic-control system is admissible in an administrative
2-17 adjudication hearing and is evidence sufficient to support a
2-18 finding that the vehicle identified by the photograph was operated
2-19 in violation of the instructions of an electrically operated
2-20 traffic-control signal; and
2-21 (2) the owner of a vehicle is not liable for a civil
2-22 penalty under the ordinance if at the time the vehicle was operated
2-23 in violation of the instructions of the traffic-control device:
2-24 (A) the owner of the vehicle was a person in the
2-25 business of renting or leasing motor vehicles and the vehicle was
2-26 being operated by the lessee of the vehicle under a written rental
2-27 or lease agreement; or
3-1 (B) the vehicle was a stolen vehicle and being
3-2 operated without the effective consent of the owner.
3-3 (e) The imposition of a civil penalty on the owner of a
3-4 vehicle that is operated in violation of the instructions of a
3-5 traffic-control signal, as specified by Section 33(c), Uniform Act
3-6 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-7 Statutes), is not a conviction under that Act.
3-8 SECTION 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM. A municipality that
3-9 implements a photographic traffic-control system under this Act
3-10 may:
3-11 (1) install and operate the system; or
3-12 (2) contract for the installation or operation of the
3-13 system.
3-14 SECTION 4. EFFECT OF ACT ON OTHER LAWS. This Act, or an
3-15 ordinance adopted by a municipality under this Act, does not affect
3-16 the enforcement in the municipality of Section 33(c), Uniform Act
3-17 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-18 Statutes).
3-19 SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect September
3-20 1, 1995.
3-21 SECTION 6. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
3-22 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.