By Cain S.B. No. 876
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 876:
By Alexander C.S.S.B. No. 876
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 or a photographic preferential
1-4 traffic lane enforcement system; providing for imposition of civil
1-5 penalties.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-8 (1) "Photographic preferential traffic lane
1-9 enforcement system" means a system that:
1-10 (A) consists of a photographic camera and
1-11 vehicle sensor; and
1-12 (B) automatically produces one or more
1-13 photographs of a vehicle using a preferential traffic lane.
1-14 (2) "Photographic traffic-control system" means a
1-15 system that:
1-16 (A) consists of a photographic camera and
1-17 vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with an
1-18 electrically operated traffic-control signal; and
1-19 (B) automatically produces one or more
1-20 photographs of a vehicle that is not operated in compliance with
1-21 the instructions of the traffic-control signal.
1-22 (3) "Preferential traffic lane" means a traffic lane
1-23 on a street or highway where motor vehicle usage is limited to
1-24 buses, vehicles occupied by a minimum number of persons, or car
2-1 pool vehicles.
2-2 (4) "Traffic-control signal" has the meaning assigned
2-3 by Section 18(b), Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways
2-4 (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
2-5 SECTION 2. PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC-CONTROL AND PREFERENTIAL
2-6 TRAFFIC LANE ENFORCEMENT SYSTEMS. (a) A municipality by ordinance
2-7 may implement a photographic preferential traffic lane enforcement
2-8 system and provide that the owner of a motor vehicle is liable for
2-9 a civil penalty if the vehicle is operated in violation of a
2-10 limitation as to the type or class of vehicle that is permitted to
2-11 use a preferential traffic lane.
2-12 (b) A municipality by ordinance may implement a photographic
2-13 traffic-control system and provide that the owner of a motor
2-14 vehicle is liable for a civil penalty if, while facing a steady red
2-15 light on an electrically operated traffic-control signal, the
2-16 vehicle is operated in violation of the instructions of that
2-17 traffic-control signal, as specified by Section 33(c), Uniform Act
2-18 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-19 Statutes).
2-20 (c) Sections 2 through 8, except Subdivisions (4) and (5),
2-21 Section 5, Article 6701d-24, Revised Statutes, apply to an
2-22 ordinance adopted under this Act as if a violation described in
2-23 Subsection (a) or (b) of this section were a violation of a
2-24 municipal ordinance relating to the parking or stopping of vehicles
2-25 under Section 1 of that article.
2-26 (d) An ordinance adopted under Subsection (a) of this
2-27 section may provide that a photograph taken by a photographic
3-1 preferential traffic lane enforcement system is admissible in an
3-2 administrative adjudication hearing and is evidence sufficient to
3-3 support a finding that the vehicle identified by the photograph was
3-4 operated in violation of the limitation as to the type or class of
3-5 vehicle that is permitted to use the preferential traffic lane.
3-6 (e) If a municipality adopts an ordinance under this
3-7 Subsection (b) of this section, the ordinance must prescribe the
3-8 amount of the civil penalty. The amount of the civil penalty may
3-9 not exceed the maximum fine prescribed by the Uniform Act
3-10 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-11 Statutes) for a violation of Section 33(c) of that Act.
3-12 (f) An ordinance adopted under Subsection (b) of this
3-13 section may provide that:
3-14 (1) a photograph taken by a photographic
3-15 traffic-control system is admissible in an administrative
3-16 adjudication hearing and is evidence sufficient to support a
3-17 finding that the vehicle identified by the photograph was operated
3-18 in violation of the instructions of an electrically operated
3-19 traffic-control signal; and
3-20 (2) the owner of a vehicle is not liable for a civil
3-21 penalty under the ordinance if at the time the vehicle was operated
3-22 in violation of the instructions of the traffic-control signal:
3-23 (A) the owner of the vehicle was a person in the
3-24 business of renting or leasing motor vehicles and the vehicle was
3-25 being operated by the lessee of the vehicle under a written rental
3-26 or lease agreement; or
3-27 (B) the vehicle was a stolen vehicle and being
4-1 operated without the effective consent of the owner.
4-2 (g) The imposition of a civil penalty on the owner of a
4-3 vehicle that is operated in violation of the instructions of a
4-4 traffic-control signal, as specified by Section 33(c), Uniform Act
4-5 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-6 Statutes), is not a conviction under that Act.
4-7 SECTION 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEMS. A municipality that
4-8 implements a photographic traffic-control system or preferential
4-9 traffic lane enforcement system under this Act may:
4-10 (1) install and operate the system; or
4-11 (2) contract for the installation or operation of the
4-12 system.
4-13 SECTION 4. EFFECT OF ACT ON OTHER LAWS. This Act, or an
4-14 ordinance adopted by a municipality under Subsection (b) of Section
4-15 2 of this Act, does not affect the enforcement in the municipality
4-16 of Section 33(c), Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways
4-17 (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). No person shall be
4-18 liable for a civil penalty imposed pursuant to an ordinance adopted
4-19 under Subsection (b) of Section 2 of this Act if the operator of
4-20 the motor vehicle has been convicted of violating Section 33(c) of
4-21 the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d,
4-22 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) for the same violation of the
4-23 instructions of the same traffic-control signal.
4-24 SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect September
4-25 1, 1995.
4-26 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.