BILL REQ. #: H-0300.4
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/26/11. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
AN ACT Relating to regulating the use of automated traffic safety cameras; amending RCW 46.63.170; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The purpose of law enforcement is to protect
and serve, not collect and serve. Anything that corrupts this
fundamental goal of guaranteeing public safety demeans and degrades the
role of the law enforcement community in the eyes of the public.
Automated traffic safety cameras are rapidly devolving into just
such a degradation. Rather than fulfilling the original purpose for
which the devices were approved, these cameras are instead seen by some
as an opportunity to fleece the public in the guise of improving public
safety. Although the cameras may still serve a legitimate purpose,
further restrictions are necessary to ensure that misuse is prevented
and that the public's faith in the fairness of the system is upheld.
Sec. 2 RCW 46.63.170 and 2010 c 161 s 1127 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) The use of automated traffic safety cameras for issuance of
notices of infraction is subject to the following requirements:
(a) The appropriate local legislative authority must first
((enact)) adopt an ordinance allowing for their use to detect one or
more of the following: Stoplight, railroad crossing, or school speed
zone violations. At a minimum, the local ordinance must contain the
restrictions described in this section and provisions for public notice
and signage. Cities and counties using automated traffic safety
cameras before July 24, 2005, are subject to the restrictions described
in this section, but are not required to enact an authorizing
ordinance.
(b) A local legislative authority that adopts an ordinance allowing
for the use of automated traffic safety cameras must submit the
ordinance to the voters within its jurisdiction at the next general
election. The ordinance must be approved by a majority of the voters
before automated traffic safety cameras may be used within the
jurisdiction.
(c) In cities and counties using automated traffic safety cameras
before July 24, 2005, the local legislative authority must submit a
proposition to the voters within its jurisdiction at the next general
election. The proposition must ask voters to approve or reject the
continued use of automated traffic safety cameras. If the proposition
is not approved by a majority of the voters, automated traffic safety
cameras may not be used within the jurisdiction unless the local
legislative authority meets the requirements for cities and counties
not using automated safety cameras before July 24, 2005.
(d) Use of automated traffic safety cameras is restricted to two-arterial intersections where the duration of the yellow change interval
for the stoplight is at least four seconds, railroad crossings, and
school speed zones only.
(((c))) (e) During the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium, automated traffic
safety cameras may be used to detect speed violations for the purposes
of section 201(2), chapter 470, Laws of 2009 if the local legislative
authority first enacts an ordinance authorizing the use of cameras to
detect speed violations.
(((d))) (f) Automated traffic safety cameras may only take pictures
of the vehicle and vehicle license plate and only while an infraction
is occurring. The picture must not reveal the face of the driver or of
passengers in the vehicle.
(((e))) (g) A notice of infraction must be mailed to the registered
owner of the vehicle within fourteen days of the violation, or to the
renter of a vehicle within fourteen days of establishing the renter's
name and address under subsection (3)(a) of this section. The law
enforcement officer issuing the notice of infraction shall include with
it a certificate or facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of
photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images produced by an
automated traffic safety camera, stating the facts supporting the
notice of infraction. This certificate or facsimile is prima facie
evidence of the facts contained in it and is admissible in a proceeding
charging a violation under this chapter. The photographs,
microphotographs, or electronic images evidencing the violation must be
available for inspection and admission into evidence in a proceeding to
adjudicate the liability for the infraction. A person receiving a
notice of infraction based on evidence detected by an automated traffic
safety camera may respond to the notice by mail.
(((f))) (h) The registered owner of a vehicle is responsible for an
infraction under RCW 46.63.030(1)(e) unless the registered owner
overcomes the presumption in RCW 46.63.075, or, in the case of a rental
car business, satisfies the conditions under subsection (3) of this
section. If appropriate under the circumstances, a renter identified
under subsection (3)(a) of this section is responsible for an
infraction.
(((g))) (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all
photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images prepared under this
section are for the exclusive use of law enforcement in the discharge
of duties under this section and are not open to the public and may not
be used in a court in a pending action or proceeding unless the action
or proceeding relates to a violation under this section. No
photograph, microphotograph, or electronic image may be used for any
purpose other than enforcement of violations under this section nor
retained longer than necessary to enforce this section.
(((h))) (j) All locations where an automated traffic safety camera
is used must be clearly marked by placing signs in locations that
clearly indicate to a driver that he or she is entering a zone where
traffic laws are enforced by an automated traffic safety camera.
(((i))) (k) If a county or city has established an authorized
automated traffic safety camera program under this section, the
compensation paid to the manufacturer or vendor of the equipment used
must be based only upon the value of the equipment and services
provided or rendered in support of the system, and may not be based
upon a portion of the fine or civil penalty imposed or the revenue
generated by the equipment.
(2) Infractions detected through the use of automated traffic
safety cameras are not part of the registered owner's driving record
under RCW 46.52.101 and 46.52.120. Additionally, infractions generated
by the use of automated traffic safety cameras under this section shall
be processed in the same manner as parking infractions, including for
the purposes of RCW 3.50.100, 35.20.220, 46.16A.120, and 46.20.270(3).
However, the amount of the fine issued for an infraction generated
through the use of an automated traffic safety camera shall not exceed
the lesser of the amount of a fine issued for other parking infractions
within the jurisdiction or fifty dollars.
(3) If the registered owner of the vehicle is a rental car
business, the law enforcement agency shall, before a notice of
infraction being issued under this section, provide a written notice to
the rental car business that a notice of infraction may be issued to
the rental car business if the rental car business does not, within
eighteen days of receiving the written notice, provide to the issuing
agency by return mail:
(a) A statement under oath stating the name and known mailing
address of the individual driving or renting the vehicle when the
infraction occurred; or
(b) A statement under oath that the business is unable to determine
who was driving or renting the vehicle at the time the infraction
occurred because the vehicle was stolen at the time of the infraction.
A statement provided under this subsection must be accompanied by a
copy of a filed police report regarding the vehicle theft; or
(c) In lieu of identifying the vehicle operator, the rental car
business may pay the applicable penalty.
Timely mailing of this statement to the issuing law enforcement
agency relieves a rental car business of any liability under this
chapter for the notice of infraction.
(4) Nothing in this section prohibits a law enforcement officer
from issuing a notice of traffic infraction to a person in control of
a vehicle at the time a violation occurs under RCW 46.63.030(1) (a),
(b), or (c).
(5) For the purposes of this section, "automated traffic safety
camera" means a device that uses a vehicle sensor installed to work in
conjunction with an intersection traffic control system, a railroad
grade crossing control system, or a speed measuring device, and a
camera synchronized to automatically record one or more sequenced
photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images of the rear of a
motor vehicle at the time the vehicle fails to stop when facing a
steady red traffic control signal or an activated railroad grade
crossing control signal, or exceeds a speed limit in a school speed
zone as detected by a speed measuring device. During the 2009-2011
fiscal biennium, an automated traffic safety camera includes a camera
used to detect speed violations for the purposes of section 201(2),
chapter 470, Laws of 2009.
(6) During the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium, this section does not
apply to automated traffic safety cameras for the purposes of section
218(2), chapter 470, Laws of 2009.