BILL REQ. #: H-1095.1
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2013 Regular Session |
Read first time 02/05/13. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
AN ACT Relating to clarifying the use of automated traffic safety cameras at intersections with two or more arterial highways; and reenacting and amending RCW 46.63.170.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 46.63.170 and 2012 c 85 s 3 and 2012 c 83 s 7 are each
reenacted and 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 prepare an
analysis of the locations within the jurisdiction where automated
traffic safety cameras are proposed to be located: (i) Before enacting
an ordinance allowing for the initial use of automated traffic safety
cameras; and (ii) before adding additional cameras or relocating any
existing camera to a new location within the jurisdiction. Automated
traffic safety cameras may be used 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. Beginning one year after June 7, 2012, cities and counties
using automated traffic safety cameras must post an annual report of
the number of traffic accidents that occurred at each location where an
automated traffic safety camera is located as well as the number of
notices of infraction issued for each camera and any other relevant
information about the automated traffic safety cameras that the city or
county deems appropriate on the city's or county's web site.
(b) Use of automated traffic safety cameras is restricted to the
following locations only: (i) Intersections of two or more arterials
with traffic control signals that have yellow change interval durations
in accordance with RCW 47.36.022, which interval durations may not be
reduced after placement of the camera; (ii) railroad crossings; and
(iii) school speed zones.
(c) During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, automated traffic safety
cameras may be used to detect speed violations for the purposes of
section 201(2), chapter 367, Laws of 2011 if the local legislative
authority first enacts an ordinance authorizing the use of cameras to
detect speed violations.
(d) 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. The primary purpose of camera placement is
to take pictures of the vehicle and vehicle license plate when an
infraction is occurring. Cities and counties shall consider installing
cameras in a manner that minimizes the impact of camera flash on
drivers.
(e) 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) The registered owner of a vehicle is responsible for an
infraction under RCW 46.63.030(1)(d) 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) 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) All locations where an automated traffic safety camera is used
must be clearly marked at least thirty days prior to activation of the
camera 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. Signs placed in automated traffic
safety camera locations after June 7, 2012, must follow the
specifications and guidelines under the manual of uniform traffic
control devices for streets and highways as adopted by the department
of transportation under chapter 47.36 RCW.
(i) 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).
The amount of the fine issued for an infraction generated through the
use of an automated traffic safety camera shall not exceed the amount
of a fine issued for other parking infractions within the jurisdiction.
However, the amount of the fine issued for a traffic control signal
violation detected through the use of an automated traffic safety
camera shall not exceed the monetary penalty for a violation of RCW
46.61.050 as provided under RCW 46.63.110, including all applicable
statutory assessments.
(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 2011-2013
fiscal biennium, an automated traffic safety camera includes a camera
used to detect speed violations for the purposes of section 201(2),
chapter 367, Laws of 2011.
(6) During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, this section does not
apply to automated traffic safety cameras for the purposes of section
216(5), chapter 367, Laws of 2011.