S 7194: Authorizes the village of Round Lake, county of Saratoga to establish a demonstration program imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to stop for a stop sign in such village.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7194 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE April 3, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. TEDISCO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the public officers law, in relation to owner liability for failure of an operator to comply with stop signs in the village of Round Lake, county of Saratoga; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new 2 section 1172-a to read as follows: 3 § 1172-a. Owner liability for failure of operator to stop for a stop 4 sign. (a) 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the village of 5 Round Lake, county of Saratoga, is hereby authorized and empowered to 6 adopt and amend a local law or ordinance establishing a demonstration 7 program imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for fail- 8 ure of an operator thereof to stop for a stop sign in such village in 9 accordance with the provisions of this section. Such demonstration 10 program shall empower such village to install and operate stop sign 11 photo violation monitoring devices at no more than five intersections 12 within and under the jurisdiction of such village at any one time; 13 provided, however, that where one of the two highways joining one anoth- 14 er at such intersection is a state highway maintained by the state, such 15 village may install and operate such stop sign photo violation monitor- 16 ing device in a manner affecting traffic proceeding along such state 17 highway at such intersection if it has obtained approval in writing from 18 the department of transportation, and the department of transportation 19 may at any time rescind or modify such approval. 20 2. Such demonstration program shall utilize necessary technologies to 21 ensure, to the extent practicable, that photographs produced by such 22 stop sign photo violation monitoring devices shall not include images 23 that identify the driver, the passengers, or the contents of the vehi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11162-02-5 
 S. 7194 2 1 cle. Provided, however, that no notice of liability issued pursuant to 2 this section shall be dismissed solely because a photograph or photo- 3 graphs allow for the identification of the contents of a vehicle, 4 provided that such village has made a reasonable effort to comply with 5 the provisions of this paragraph. 6 (b) In any such village which has adopted a local law or ordinance 7 pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, the owner of a vehicle 8 shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such 9 vehicle was used or operated with the permission of the owner, express 10 or implied, in violation of subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred 11 seventy-two of this article, and such violation is evidenced by informa- 12 tion obtained from a stop sign photo violation monitoring device; 13 provided however that no owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penal- 14 ty imposed pursuant to this section where the operator of such vehicle 15 has been convicted of the underlying violation of subdivision (a) of 16 section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article. 17 (c) For purposes of this section, "owner" shall have the meaning 18 provided in article two-B of this chapter. For purposes of this section, 19 "stop sign photo violation monitoring device" shall mean a vehicle 20 sensor installed to work in conjunction with a stop sign which automat- 21 ically produces two or more photographs, two or more microphotographs, a 22 videotape or other recorded images of each vehicle at the time it is 23 used or operated in violation of subdivision (a) of section eleven 24 hundred seventy-two of this article. 25 (d) A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by 26 the village of Round Lake in which the charged violation occurred, or a 27 facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphoto- 28 graphs, videotape or other recorded images produced by a stop sign photo 29 violation monitoring device, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts 30 contained therein. Any photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other 31 recorded images evidencing such a violation shall be available for 32 inspection in any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for such 33 violation pursuant to a local law or ordinance adopted pursuant to this 34 section. 35 (e) An owner liable for a violation of subdivision (a) of section 36 eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to a local law or 37 ordinance adopted pursuant to this section shall be liable for monetary 38 penalties in accordance with a schedule of fines and penalties to be set 39 forth in such local law or ordinance. The liability of the owner pursu- 40 ant to this section shall not exceed fifty dollars for each violation; 41 provided, however, that such local law or ordinance may provide for an 42 additional penalty not in excess of twenty-five dollars for each 43 violation for the failure to respond to a notice of liability within the 44 prescribed time period. 45 (f) An imposition of liability under a local law or ordinance adopted 46 pursuant to this section shall not be deemed a conviction as an operator 47 and shall not be made part of the operating record of the person upon 48 whom such liability is imposed nor shall it be used for insurance 49 purposes in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage. 50 (g) 1. A notice of liability shall be sent by first class mail to each 51 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 52 (a) of section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to 53 this section. Personal delivery on the owner shall not be required. A 54 manual or automatic record of mailing prepared in the ordinary course of 55 business shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. 
 S. 7194 3 1 2. A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the 2 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 3 (a) of section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to 4 this section, the registration number of the vehicle involved in such 5 violation, the location where such violation took place, the date and 6 time of such violation and the identification number of the camera which 7 recorded the violation or other document locator number. 8 3. The notice of liability shall contain information advising the 9 person charged of the manner and the time in which they may contest the 10 liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall also 11 contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure to contest 12 in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of liabil- 13 ity and that a default judgment may be entered thereon. 14 4. The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the village 15 of Round Lake or by any other entity authorized by such village to 16 prepare and mail such notification of violation. 17 (h) Adjudication of the liability imposed upon owners by this section 18 shall be by a traffic violations bureau established pursuant to section 19 three hundred seventy of the general municipal law or, if there be none, 20 by the court having jurisdiction over traffic infractions. 21 (i) If an owner receives a notice of liability pursuant to this 22 section for any time period during which the vehicle was reported to the 23 police department as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to 24 an allegation of liability for a violation of subdivision (a) of section 25 eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to this section that 26 the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time 27 the violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For 28 purposes of asserting the defense provided by this subdivision it shall 29 be sufficient that a certified copy of the police report on the stolen 30 vehicle be sent by first class mail to the traffic violations bureau or 31 court having jurisdiction. 32 (j) An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of liabil- 33 ity was issued pursuant to subdivision (g) of this section shall not be 34 liable for the violation of subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred 35 seventy-two of this article, provided that they send to the traffic 36 violations bureau or court having jurisdiction a copy of the rental, 37 lease or other such contract document covering such vehicle on the date 38 of the violation, with the name and address of the lessee clearly legi- 39 ble, within thirty-seven days after receiving notice from the bureau or 40 court of the date and time of such violation, together with the other 41 information contained in the original notice of liability. Failure to 42 send such information within such thirty-seven-day time period shall 43 render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed by this section. 44 Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this subdivision, the 45 lessee of such vehicle on the date of such violation shall be deemed to 46 be the owner of such vehicle for purposes of this section, shall be 47 subject to liability for the violation of subdivision (a) of section 48 eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to this section and 49 shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to subdivision (g) of this 50 section. 51 (k) 1. If the owner liable for a violation of subdivision (a) of 52 section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to this 53 section was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the 54 violation, the owner may maintain an action for indemnification against 55 the operator. 
 S. 7194 4 1 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no owner of a 2 vehicle shall be subject to a monetary fine imposed pursuant to this 3 section if the operator of such vehicle was operating such vehicle with- 4 out the consent of the owner at the time such operator failed to stop 5 for a stop sign. For purposes of this subdivision there shall be a 6 presumption that the operator of such vehicle was operating such vehicle 7 with the consent of the owner at the time such operator failed to stop 8 for a stop sign. 9 (l) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability 10 of an operator of a vehicle for any violation of subdivision (a) of 11 section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article. 12 (m) Any village that adopts a demonstration program pursuant to subdi- 13 vision (a) of this section shall submit an annual report detailing the 14 results of the use of such stop sign photo violation monitoring devices 15 to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker 16 of the assembly on or before the first day of June next succeeding the 17 effective date of this section and on the same date in each succeeding 18 year in which the demonstration program is operable. Such report shall 19 include, but not be limited to: 20 1. a description of the locations where stop sign photo violation 21 monitoring devices were used; 22 2. the aggregate number, type and severity of accidents reported at 23 intersections where a stop sign photo violation monitoring device is 24 used for the three years preceding the installation of such devices, to 25 the extent the information is maintained by the department of motor 26 vehicles of this state; 27 3. the aggregate number, type and severity of accidents reported at 28 intersections where a stop sign photo violation monitoring device is 29 used for the reporting year, as well as for each year that the stop sign 30 photo violation monitoring device has been operational, to the extent 31 the information is maintained by the department of motor vehicles of 32 this state; 33 4. the number of events and number of violations recorded at each 34 intersection where a stop sign photo violation monitoring device is used 35 and in the aggregate on a daily, weekly and monthly basis; 36 5. the number of notices of liability issued for violations recorded 37 by such system at each intersection where a stop sign photo violation 38 monitoring device is used; 39 6. the number of fines imposed and total amount of fines paid after 40 first notice of liability; 41 7. the number and percentage of violations adjudicated and results of 42 such adjudications including breakdowns of dispositions made for 43 violations recorded by such devices which shall be provided at least 44 annually to such village by the respective courts and bureaus conducting 45 such adjudications; 46 8. the total amount of revenue realized by such village from such 47 adjudications including a breakdown of revenue realized by such village 48 for each year since deployment of its stop sign photo violation monitor- 49 ing devices; 50 9. expenses incurred by such village in connection with the program; 51 and 52 10. quality of the adjudication process and its results which shall be 53 provided at least annually to such village by the respective courts and 54 bureaus conducting such adjudications. 55 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 87 of the public officers law is amended 56 by adding a new paragraph (v) to read as follows: 
 S. 7194 5 1 (v) are photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded 2 images prepared under authority of section eleven hundred seventy-two-a 3 of the vehicle and traffic law. 4 § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 5 have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed five years 6 after such date.