By Armbrister S.B. No. 297
76R117 JD-F
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 monitoring system; providing for imposition of
1-4 a civil penalty.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 7, Transportation Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Chapter 707 to read as follows:
1-8 CHAPTER 707. PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC MONITORING SYSTEMS
1-9 Sec. 707.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-10 (1) "Photographic traffic monitoring system" means a
1-11 system that:
1-12 (A) consists of a camera and vehicle sensor
1-13 installed to work in conjunction with an electrically operated
1-14 traffic-control signal; and
1-15 (B) automatically produces at least two recorded
1-16 images of a vehicle that is not operated in compliance with the
1-17 instructions of the traffic-control signal.
1-18 (2) "Recorded image" includes a photograph,
1-19 microphotograph, or digital image.
1-20 (3) "Traffic-control signal" has the meaning assigned
1-21 by Section 541.304.
1-22 Sec. 707.002. PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC MONITORING SYSTEM.
1-23 (a) A municipality by ordinance may:
1-24 (1) implement a photographic traffic monitoring system
2-1 and provide that the owner of a motor vehicle, or the lessee of a
2-2 motor vehicle rented or leased from a person in the business of
2-3 renting or leasing motor vehicles, is liable for a civil penalty
2-4 if, while facing a steady red signal on an electrically operated
2-5 traffic-control signal, the vehicle is operated in violation of the
2-6 instructions of that traffic-control signal, as specified by
2-7 Section 544.007(d); and
2-8 (2) adopt rules and procedures necessary for the
2-9 photographic traffic monitoring system.
2-10 (b) An ordinance adopted under Subsection (a) must specify
2-11 the amount of the civil penalty, which may not exceed $100.
2-12 Sec. 707.003. HEARING PROCESS. (a) An ordinance adopted
2-13 under Section 707.002 must establish a hearing process for the
2-14 resolution of civil penalties by the municipality. The hearing
2-15 process must provide procedural and substantive due process to
2-16 alleged offenders.
2-17 (b) The hearing process may include the administrative
2-18 adjudication hearing provisions described by Sections
2-19 682.004-682.011.
2-20 Sec. 707.004. ADMISSIBILITY OF RECORDED IMAGE MADE BY
2-21 PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC MONITORING SYSTEM. A recorded image made by a
2-22 photographic traffic monitoring system is admissible in an
2-23 administrative adjudication hearing and is evidence sufficient to
2-24 support a finding that the vehicle identified by the image was
2-25 operated in violation of the instructions of an electrically
2-26 operated traffic-control signal.
2-27 Sec. 707.005. NONLIABILITY OF MOTOR VEHICLE OWNER. (a) The
3-1 owner of a motor vehicle is not liable for a civil penalty under an
3-2 ordinance adopted under Section 707.002 if:
3-3 (1) at the time the vehicle was operated in violation
3-4 of the instructions of a traffic-control signal:
3-5 (A) the owner was a person in the business of
3-6 renting or leasing motor vehicles, the vehicle was being operated
3-7 by the lessee of the vehicle under a written rental or lease
3-8 agreement, and the owner complies with the requirements of
3-9 Subsection (b);
3-10 (B) the traffic-control signal was not in proper
3-11 position and sufficiently legible to an ordinarily observant
3-12 person; or
3-13 (C) the vehicle was a stolen vehicle being
3-14 operated without the effective consent of the owner and the owner
3-15 complies with the requirements of Subsection (c); or
3-16 (2) the owner or another person was convicted under
3-17 Subtitle C for the violation.
3-18 (b) Subsection (a)(1)(A) applies only if the owner of the
3-19 motor vehicle provides the municipality with the name, address, and
3-20 driver's license number of the lessee of the vehicle.
3-21 (c) Subsection (a)(1)(C) applies only if the owner of the
3-22 vehicle provides the municipality with a copy of a police report
3-23 showing that the vehicle was a stolen vehicle.
3-24 Sec. 707.006. CIVIL PENALTY NOT A CONVICTION. The
3-25 imposition of a civil penalty under this chapter on the owner of a
3-26 motor vehicle operated in violation of the instructions of a
3-27 traffic-control signal is not a conviction under Subtitle C.
4-1 Sec. 707.007. IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM. A municipality that
4-2 implements a photographic traffic monitoring system under this
4-3 chapter may:
4-4 (1) install and operate the system; or
4-5 (2) contract for the installation or operation of the
4-6 system.
4-7 Sec. 707.008. EFFECT OF CHAPTER ON OTHER LAWS. This
4-8 chapter, or an ordinance adopted by a municipality under this
4-9 chapter, does not affect the enforcement in that municipality of
4-10 Section 544.007(d).
4-11 SECTION 2. Section 542.202(a), Transportation Code, is
4-12 amended to read as follows:
4-13 (a) This subtitle does not prevent a local authority, with
4-14 respect to a highway under its jurisdiction and in the reasonable
4-15 exercise of the police power, from:
4-16 (1) regulating traffic by police officers or
4-17 traffic-control devices;
4-18 (2) regulating the stopping, standing, or parking of a
4-19 vehicle;
4-20 (3) regulating or prohibiting a procession or
4-21 assemblage on a highway;
4-22 (4) regulating the operation and requiring
4-23 registration and licensing of a bicycle, including payment of a
4-24 registration fee;
4-25 (5) regulating the time, place, and manner in which a
4-26 roller skater may use a highway;
4-27 (6) regulating the speed of a vehicle in a public
5-1 park;
5-2 (7) regulating or prohibiting the turning of a vehicle
5-3 or specified type of vehicle at an intersection;
5-4 (8) designating an intersection as a stop intersection
5-5 or a yield intersection and requiring each vehicle to stop or yield
5-6 at one or more entrances to the intersection;
5-7 (9) designating a highway as a through highway;
5-8 (10) designating a highway as a one-way highway and
5-9 requiring each vehicle on the highway to move in one specific
5-10 direction;
5-11 (11) designating school crossing guards and school
5-12 crossing zones;
5-13 (12) altering a speed limit as authorized by this
5-14 subtitle; [or]
5-15 (13) adopting other traffic rules specifically
5-16 authorized by this subtitle; or
5-17 (14) implementing a photographic traffic monitoring
5-18 system under Chapter 707.
5-19 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-20 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.