BILL NUMBER: SB 1051 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hancock
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An act to amend Sections 40240 and 40241 of the Vehicle Code,
relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1051, as introduced, Hancock. Vehicles: parking enforcement:
video image evidence.
Existing law authorizes the City and County of San Francisco (San
Francisco) to enforce parking violations in specified transit-only
traffic lanes through the use of video imaging, and authorizes San
Francisco to install automated forward facing parking control devices
on city-owned public transit vehicles for the purpose of video
imaging parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes.
Existing law requires a designated employee, who is qualified by San
Francisco, to review video image recordings for the purpose of
determining whether a parking violation occurred in a transit-only
traffic lane, and to issue a notice of parking violation to a
registered owner of a vehicle within 15 calendar days of the date of
the violation. Existing laws makes these video image records
confidential, and provides that these records are available only to
public agencies to enforce parking violations. Existing law
establishes the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.
This bill would extend these provisions to the Alameda-Contra
Costa Transit District, thereby authorizing the district to enforce
parking violations in specified transit-only traffic through the use
of video imaging evidence and to install automated forward facing
parking control devices on district-owned public transit vehicles.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the Alameda-Contra Costa
Transit District.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that
limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the
writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings
demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need
for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 40240 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
40240. (a) The City and County of San Francisco and the
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District may install automated
forward facing parking control devices on city-owned or
district-owned public transit vehicles, as defined by Section
99211 of the Public Utilities Code, for the purpose of video imaging
of parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes.
Citations shall be issued only for violations captured during the
posted hours of operation for a transit-only traffic lane. The
devices shall be angled and focused so as to capture video images of
parking violations and not unnecessarily capture identifying images
of other drivers, vehicles, and pedestrians. The devices shall record
the date and time of the violation at the same time as the video
images are captured.
(b) Prior to issuing notices of parking violations pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 40241, the City and County of San
Francisco and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
shall commence a program to issue only warning notices for 30 days.
The City and County of San Francisco and the Alameda-Contra
Costa Transit District shall also make a public announcement of
the program at least 30 days prior to commencement of issuing
notices of parking violations.
(c) A designated employee of the City and County of San
Francisco, Francisco, or the Alameda-Contra Costa
Transit District, who is qualified by the city and county
or the district to issue parking citations, shall review video
image recordings for the purpose of determining whether a parking
violation occurred in a transit-only traffic lane. A violation of a
statute, regulation, or ordinance governing vehicle parking under
this code, under a federal or state statute or regulation, or under
an ordinance enacted by the City and County of San Francisco or
the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District occurring in a
transit-only traffic lane observed by the designated employee in the
recordings is subject to a civil penalty.
(d) The registered owner shall be permitted to review the video
image evidence of the alleged violation during normal business hours
at no cost.
(e) (1) Except as it may be included in court records described in
Section 68152 of the Government Code, or as provided in paragraph
(2), the video image evidence may be retained for up to six months
from the date the information was first obtained, or 60 days after
final disposition of the citation, whichever date is later, after
which time the information shall be destroyed.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 26202.6 of the Government Code, video
image evidence from forward facing automated enforcement devices that
does not contain evidence of a parking violation occurring in a
transit-only traffic lane shall be destroyed within 15 days after the
information was first obtained.
(f) Notwithstanding Section 6253 of the Government Code, or any
other provision of law, the video image records are confidential.
Public agencies shall use and allow access to these records only for
the purposes authorized by this article.
(g) For purposes of this article, "local agency" means the City
and County of San Francisco. Francisco and
the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.
(h) For purposes of this article, "transit-only traffic lane"
means any designated transit-only lane on which use is restricted to
mass transit vehicles, or other designated vehicles including taxis
and vanpools, during posted times.
SEC. 2. Section 40241 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
40241. (a) A designated employee of the local agency shall issue
a notice of a parking violation to the registered owner of a vehicle
within 15 calendar days of the date of the violation. The notice of
violation shall set forth the violation of a statute, regulation, or
ordinance governing vehicle parking under this code, under a federal
or state statute or regulation, or under an ordinance enacted by the
City and County of San Francisco or the Alameda-Contra Costa
Transit District occurring in a transit-only traffic lane, a
statement indicating that payment is required within 21 calendar days
from the date of citation issuance, and the procedure for the
registered owner, lessee, or rentee to deposit the parking penalty or
contest the citation pursuant to Section 40215. The notice of a
parking violation shall also set forth the date, time, and location
of the violation, the vehicle license number, registration expiration
date if visible, the color of the vehicle, and, if possible, the
make of the vehicle. The notice of parking violation, or copy of the
notice, shall be considered a record kept in the ordinary course of
business of the City and County of San Francisco or the
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District and shall be prima facie
evidence of the facts contained in the notice. The City and County of
San Francisco or the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
shall send information regarding the process for requesting
review of the video image evidence along with the notice of parking
violation.
(b) The notice of parking violation shall be served by depositing
the notice in the United States mail to the registered owner's last
known address listed with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Proof of
mailing demonstrating that the notice of parking violation was mailed
to that address shall be maintained by the local agency. If the
registered owner, by appearance or by mail, makes payment to the
processing agency or contests the violation within either 21 calendar
days from the date of mailing of the citation, or 14 calendar days
after the mailing of the notice of delinquent parking violation, the
parking penalty shall consist solely of the amount of the original
penalty.
(c) If, within 21 days after the notice of parking violation is
issued, the local agency determines that, in the interest of justice,
the notice of parking violation should be canceled, the local agency
shall cancel the notice of parking violation pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 40215. The reason for the cancellation shall be set
forth in writing.
(d) Following an initial review by the local agency, and an
administrative hearing, pursuant to Section 40215, a contestant may
seek court review by filing an appeal pursuant to Section 40230.
(e) The City and County of San Francisco or the
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District may contract with a
private vendor for the processing of notices of parking violations
and notices of delinquent violations. The City and County of San
Francisco and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit
District shall maintain overall control and supervision of the
program.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique circumstances relating to enforcing parking
violations in transit-only traffic lanes in the Alameda-Contra Costa
Transit District .
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this
act, which amends Section 40240 of the Vehicle Code, imposes a
limitation on the public's right of access to the meetings of public
bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the
meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution.
Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the
following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this
limitation and the need for protecting that interest:
In order to protect the individual privacy rights of those
individuals depicted in video camera footage relating to parking
violations, it is necessary that this act limit the public's right of
access to the images captured by an automated parking control device
installed on Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District-owned public
transit vehicles.