By: Armbrister S.B. No. 317
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the authority of a municipality to implement a
1-2 photographic traffic-control system; providing for imposition of
1-3 civil penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-6 (1) "Photographic traffic-control system" means a
1-7 system that:
1-8 (A) consists of a photographic camera and
1-9 vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with an
1-10 electrically operated traffic-control signal; and
1-11 (B) automatically produces one or more
1-12 photographs of a vehicle that is not operated in compliance with
1-13 the instructions of the traffic-control signal.
1-14 (2) "Traffic-control signal" has the meaning assigned
1-15 by Subsection (b), Section 18, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on
1-16 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
1-17 SECTION 2. PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC-CONTROL SYSTEM. (a) A
1-18 municipality by ordinance may implement a photographic
1-19 traffic-control system and provide that the owner of a motor
1-20 vehicle is liable for a civil penalty if, while facing a steady red
1-21 light on an electrically operated traffic-control signal, the
1-22 vehicle is operated in violation of the instructions of that
1-23 traffic-control signal, as specified by Subsection (c), Section 33,
2-1 Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's
2-2 Texas Civil Statutes).
2-3 (b) Sections 2 through 8, except Subdivisions (4) and (5),
2-4 Section 5, Article 6701d-24, Revised Statutes, apply to an
2-5 ordinance adopted under this Act as if a violation described in
2-6 Subsection (a) of this section were a violation of a municipal
2-7 ordinance relating to the parking or stopping of vehicles under
2-8 Section 1 of that article.
2-9 (c) If a municipality adopts an ordinance under this Act,
2-10 the ordinance must prescribe the amount of the civil penalty. The
2-11 amount of the civil penalty may not exceed the maximum fine
2-12 prescribed by the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways
2-13 (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) for a violation of
2-14 Subsection (c) of Section 33 of that Act.
2-15 (d) An ordinance adopted under this Act may provide that:
2-16 (1) a photograph taken by a photographic
2-17 traffic-control system is admissible in an administrative
2-18 adjudication hearing and is evidence sufficient to support a
2-19 finding that the vehicle identified by the photograph was operated
2-20 in violation of the instructions of an electrically operated
2-21 traffic-control signal; and
2-22 (2) the owner of a vehicle is not liable for a civil
2-23 penalty under the ordinance if at the time the vehicle was operated
2-24 in violation of the instructions of the traffic-control signal:
2-25 (A) the owner of the vehicle was a person in the
3-1 business of renting or leasing motor vehicles and the vehicle was
3-2 being operated by the lessee of the vehicle under a written rental
3-3 or lease agreement; or
3-4 (B) the vehicle was a stolen vehicle and being
3-5 operated without the effective consent of the owner.
3-6 (e) The imposition of a civil penalty on the owner of a
3-7 vehicle that is operated in violation of the instructions of a
3-8 traffic-control signal, as specified by Subsection (c), Section 33,
3-9 Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's
3-10 Texas Civil Statutes), is not a conviction under that Act.
3-11 SECTION 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM. A municipality that
3-12 implements a photographic traffic-control system under this Act
3-13 may:
3-14 (1) install and operate the system; or
3-15 (2) contract for the installation or operation of the
3-16 system.
3-17 SECTION 4. EFFECT OF ACT ON OTHER LAWS. This Act, or an
3-18 ordinance adopted by a municipality under this Act, does not affect
3-19 the enforcement in the municipality of Subsection (c), Section 33,
3-20 Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's
3-21 Texas Civil Statutes). No person shall be liable for a civil
3-22 penalty imposed pursuant to an ordinance adopted under this Act if
3-23 the operator of the motor vehicle has been convicted of violating
3-24 Subsection (c), Section 33, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on
3-25 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), for the
4-1 same violation of the instructions of the same traffic-control
4-2 signal.
4-3 SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect
4-4 September 1, 1995.
4-5 SECTION 6. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
4-6 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.