AB 1160, as amended, Harper. Vehicles: automated traffic enforcement systems.
Existing law authorizes the limit line, intersection, or other places where a driver is required to stop to be equipped with an automated traffic enforcement system, as defined, if the system meets certain requirements. Existing law authorizes a governmental agency to contract out the operation of the system under certain circumstances, except for specified activities, that include, among other things, establishing guidelines for selection of the location of the system.
This bill would, beginning January 1, 2016, prohibit a governmental agency from installing an automated traffic enforcement system. The bill would authorize a governmental agency that is operating an automatic traffic enforcement system on that date to continue to do so after that date only if the agency begins conducting a traffic safety study on or before February 28, 2016, at each intersection where a system is in use to determine whether the use of the system resulted in a reduction in the number of traffic accidents at that intersection. The bill would require the governmental agency to terminate the use of an automated traffic enforcement system at an intersection no later than January 1, 2018, if the traffic safety study shows that the use of the system did not reduce the number of traffic accidents that occurred at that intersection.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 21455.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended
2to read:
(a) Except or provided in subdivision (k), the limit
4line, the intersection, or a place designated in Section 21455, where
5a driver is required to stop, may be equipped with an automated
6traffic enforcement system if the governmental agency using the
7system meets all of the following requirements:
8(1) Identifies the system by signs posted within 200 feet of an
9intersection where a system is operating that clearly indicate the
10system’s presence and are visible to traffic approaching from all
11directions in which the automated traffic enforcement system is
12being used to issue citations. A governmental agency using a
13system does not need to post signs visible to traffic approaching
14the
intersection from directions not subject to the automated traffic
15enforcement system. Automated traffic enforcement systems
16installed as of January 1, 2013, shall be identified no later than
17January 1, 2014.
18(2) Locates the system at an intersection and ensures that the
19system meets the criteria specified in Section 21455.7.
20(b) Prior to issuing citations under this section, a local
21jurisdiction using an automated traffic enforcement system shall
22commence a program to issue only warning notices for 30 days.
23The local jurisdiction shall also make a public announcement of
24the automated traffic enforcement system at least 30 days prior to
25the commencement of the enforcement program.
26(c) Only a governmental agency, in
cooperation with a law
27enforcement agency, may operate an automated traffic enforcement
28system. A governmental agency that operates an automated traffic
29enforcement system shall do all of the following:
30(1) Develop uniform guidelines for screening and issuing
31violations and for the processing and storage of confidential
32information. Establish procedures to ensure compliance with those
33guidelines. A governmental agency that operates an automated
P3 1traffic enforcement system installed on or before January 1, 2013
2shall establish those guidelines by January 1, 2014.
3(2) Perform administrative functions and day-to-day functions,
4including, but not limited to, all of the following:
5(A) Establishing guidelines
for the selection of a location.
6
Commencing January 1, 2013, before installing an automated
7traffic enforcement system the governmental agency shall make
8and adopt a finding of fact establishing that the system is needed
9at a specific location for reasons related to safety.
10(B) Ensuring that the equipment is regularly inspected.
11(C) Certifying that the equipment is properly installed and
12calibrated, and is operating properly.
13(D) Regularly inspecting and maintaining warning signs placed
14
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).
15(E) Overseeing the establishment, change, and timing of signal
16phases.
17(F) Maintaining controls necessary to ensure that only those
18citations that have been reviewed and approved by law enforcement
19are delivered to violators.
20(d) The activities listed in subdivision (c) that relate to the
21operation of the system may be contracted out by the governmental
22agency, if it maintains overall control and supervision of the
23system. However, the activities listed in paragraph (1) of, and
24
subparagraphs (A), (D), (E), and (F) of paragraph (2) of,
25subdivision (c) shall not be contracted out to the manufacturer or
26supplier of the automated traffic enforcement system.
27(e) The printed representation of computer-generated
28information, video, or photographic images stored by an automated
29traffic enforcement system does not constitute an out-of-court
30hearsay statement by a declarant under Division 10 (commencing
31with Section 1200) of the Evidence Code.
32(f) (1) Notwithstanding Section 6253 of the Government Code,
33or any other law, photographic records made by an automated
34traffic enforcement system shall be confidential, and shall be made
35available only to governmental agencies and law enforcement
36agencies and only for the purposes of this
article.
37(2) Confidential information obtained from the Department of
38Motor Vehicles for the administration or enforcement of this article
39shall be held confidential, and shall not be used for any other
40purpose.
P4 1(3) Except for court records described in Section 68152 of the
2Government Code, the confidential records and information
3described in paragraphs (1) and (2) may be retained for up to six
4months from the date the information was first obtained, or until
5final disposition of the citation, whichever date is later, after which
6time the information shall be destroyed in a manner that will
7preserve the confidentiality of any person included in the record
8or information.
9(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), the
registered owner or any
10individual identified by the registered owner as the driver of the
11vehicle at the time of the alleged violation shall be permitted to
12review the photographic evidence of the alleged violation.
13(h) (1) A contract between a governmental agency and a
14manufacturer or supplier of automated traffic enforcement
15equipment shall not includebegin insert aend insert provision for the payment or
16compensation to the manufacturer or supplier based on the number
17of citations generated, or as a percentage of the revenue generated,
18as a result of the use of the equipment authorized under this section.
19(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a contract that was entered
20into by a
governmental agency and a manufacturer or supplier of
21automated traffic enforcement equipment before January 1, 2004,
22unless that contract is renewed, extended, or amended on or after
23January 1, 2004.
24(3) A governmental agency that proposes to install or operate
25an automated traffic enforcement system shall not consider revenue
26generation, beyond recovering its actual costs of operating the
27system, as a factor when considering whether or not to install or
28operate a system within its local jurisdiction.
29(i) A manufacturer or supplier that operates an automated traffic
30enforcement system pursuant to this section shall, in cooperation
31with the governmental agency, submit an annual report to the
32Judicial Council that includes, but is not limited to, all of the
33following information
if this information is in the possession of,
34or readily available to, the manufacturer or supplier:
35(1) The number of alleged violations captured by the systems
36they operate.
37(2) The number of citations issued by a law enforcement agency
38based on information collected from the automated traffic
39enforcement system.
P5 1(3) For citations identified in paragraph (2), the number of
2violations that involved traveling straight through the intersection,
3turning right, and turning left.
4(4) The number and percentage of citations that are dismissed
5by the court.
6(5) The number of traffic collisions at each
intersection that
7occurred prior to, and after the installation of, the automated traffic
8enforcement system.
9(j) If a governmental agency using an automated traffic
10enforcement system has posted signs on or before January 1, 2013,
11that met the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of
12this section as it read on January 1, 2012, the governmental agency
13shall not remove those signs until signs are posted that meet the
14requirements specified in this section, as it reads on January 1,
152013.
16(k) (1) Commencing January 1, 2016, a governmental agency
17shall not install an automated traffic enforcement system.
18(2) A governmental agency that is operating an automated traffic
19enforcement
system on January 1, 2016, may continue to operate
20the automated traffic enforcement system after that date only if
21the agency begins conducting, on or before February 28, 2016, a
22traffic safety study at each intersection where an automated traffic
23enforcement system is in use to determine whether the use of the
24system resulted in a reduction in the number of traffic accidents
25at that intersection. The traffic safety study shall be conducted
26according to standards consistent with the analysis of data approved
27by the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
28for automated traffic enforcement systems.
29(3) If the traffic safety study shows that the use of an automated
30traffic enforcement system did not reduce the number of traffic
31accidents that occurred at an intersection, the governmental agency
32shall terminate the use of the
system at that intersection no later
33than January 1, 2018.
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