STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4710 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SCHIAVONI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to owner liability for failure of an operator to comply with stop signs in designated villages located within the counties of Nassau and Suffolk The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "protect 2 our pedestrians (POP) act". 3 § 2. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section 4 1174-b to read as follows: 5 § 1174-b. Owner liability for failure of operator to stop for a stop 6 sign in the village of Upper Brookville, the village of Flower Hill, the 7 village of East Hampton, the village of Westbury, the village of Saddle 8 Rock or the village of Southampton (each, a "village"). (a) Notwith- 9 standing any other provision of law, any village located within the 10 county of Nassau or the county of Suffolk is hereby authorized and 11 empowered to adopt and amend a local law or ordinance establishing a 12 demonstration program imposing monetary liability on the owner of a 13 vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to comply with subdivision 14 (a) of section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article. Such demon- 15 stration program shall empower such village to install and operate stop 16 sign photo violation monitoring systems which may be stationary or 17 mobile, and which may be installed on stop signs within the boundaries 18 of such village. 19 (b) Such demonstration program shall utilize necessary technologies to 20 ensure, to the extent practicable, that photographs produced by such 21 stop sign photo violation monitoring systems shall not include images 22 that identify the driver, the passengers, or the contents of the vehi- 23 cle. Provided, however, that no notice of liability issued pursuant to 24 this section shall be dismissed solely because a photograph or photo- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08504-01-5

A. 4710 2 1 graphs allow for the identification of the driver, passengers, or the 2 contents of a vehicle, provided that such village has made a reasonable 3 effort to comply with the provisions of this paragraph. 4 (c) In any such village which has adopted a local law or ordinance 5 pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, the owner of a vehicle 6 shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such 7 vehicle was used or operated with the permission of the owner, express 8 or implied, in violation of subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred 9 seventy-two of this article, and such violation is evidenced by informa- 10 tion obtained from a stop sign photo violation monitoring system. 11 (d) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the 12 following meanings: 13 1. "Owner" shall have the meaning as defined pursuant to section two 14 hundred thirty-nine of this chapter. 15 2. "Village" shall mean the village of Flower Hill, the village of 16 Upper Brookville, the village of East Hampton, the village of Westbury, 17 the village of Saddle Rock or the village of Southampton. 18 3. "Stop sign photo violation monitoring system" shall mean a vehicle 19 sensor installed to work in conjunction with a stop sign which automat- 20 ically produces two or more photographs, two or more microphotographs, a 21 videotape or other recorded images of each vehicle at the time it is 22 used or operated in violation of subdivision (a) of section eleven 23 hundred seventy-two of this article. 24 4. "Operator" means any person, corporation, firm, partnership, agen- 25 cy, association, organization or lessee that uses or operates a vehicle 26 with or without the permission of the owner, and an owner who operates 27 such owner's own vehicle. 28 (e) A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by 29 the village in which the charged violation occurred, or a facsimile 30 thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, vide- 31 otape or other recorded images produced by a stop sign photo violation 32 monitoring system, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained 33 therein. Any photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded 34 images evidencing such a violation shall be available for inspection in 35 any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for such violation pursuant 36 to a local law or ordinance adopted pursuant to this section. 37 (f) An owner liable for a violation of subdivision (a) of section 38 eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to a local law or 39 ordinance adopted pursuant to this section shall be liable for monetary 40 penalties in accordance with a schedule of fines and penalties to be set 41 forth in such local law or ordinance. The liability of the owner pursu- 42 ant to this section shall not exceed fifty dollars for each violation; 43 provided, however, that such local law or ordinance may provide for an 44 additional penalty not in excess of twenty-five dollars for each 45 violation for the failure to respond to a notice of liability within the 46 prescribed time period. 47 (g) An imposition of liability under a local law or ordinance adopted 48 pursuant to this section shall not be deemed a conviction as an operator 49 and shall not be made part of the operating record of the person upon 50 whom such liability is imposed nor shall it be used for insurance 51 purposes in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage. 52 (h) 1. A notice of liability shall be sent by first class mail to each 53 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 54 (a) of section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to 55 this section. Personal delivery on the owner shall not be required. A

A. 4710 3 1 manual or automatic record of mailing prepared in the ordinary course of 2 business shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. 3 2. A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the 4 person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of subdivision 5 (a) of section eleven hundred seventy-two of this article pursuant to 6 this section, the registration number of the vehicle involved in such 7 violation, the location where such violation took place, the date and 8 time of such violation and the identification number of the camera which 9 recorded the violation or other document locator number. 10 3. The notice of liability shall contain information advising the 11 person charged of the manner and the time in which such person may 12 contest the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability 13 shall also contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure 14 to contest in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission 15 of liability and that a default judgment may be entered thereon. 16 4. The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the village 17 where the alleged violation occurred or by any other entity authorized 18 by such village to prepare and mail such notification of violation. 19 (i) Adjudication of the liability imposed upon owners by this section 20 shall be by the court having jurisdiction over traffic infractions. 21 (j) 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 (k) An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of liabil- 33 ity was issued pursuant to subdivision (h) 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 such owner sends to the traf- 36 fic 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 (h) of this 50 section. 51 (l) 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.

A. 4710 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 obey a 5 stop sign. For purposes of this subdivision there shall be a presumption 6 that the operator of such vehicle was operating such vehicle with the 7 consent of the owner at the time such operator failed to obey a stop 8 sign. 9 (m) 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 (n) 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 system 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 systems were used; 22 2. the aggregate number, type and severity of accidents reported at 23 intersections where a stop sign photo violation monitoring system is 24 used for the three years preceding the installation of such system, to 25 the extent the information is maintained by the department; 26 3. the aggregate number, type and severity of accidents reported at 27 intersections where a stop sign photo violation monitoring system is 28 used for the reporting year, as well as for each year that the stop sign 29 photo violation monitoring system has been operational, to the extent 30 the information is maintained by the department; 31 4. the number of events and number of violations recorded at each 32 intersection where a stop sign photo violation monitoring system is used 33 and in the aggregate on a daily, weekly and monthly basis; 34 5. the number of notices of liability issued for violations recorded 35 by such system at each intersection where a stop sign photo violation 36 monitoring system is used; 37 6. the number of fines imposed and total amount of fines paid after 38 first notice of liability; 39 7. the number and percentage of violations adjudicated and results of 40 such adjudications including breakdowns of dispositions made for 41 violations recorded by such systems which shall be provided at least 42 annually to such village by the respective courts and bureaus conducting 43 such adjudications; 44 8. the total amount of revenue realized by such village from such 45 adjudications including a breakdown of revenue realized by such village 46 for each year since deployment of its stop sign photo violation monitor- 47 ing system; 48 9. expenses incurred by such village in connection with the program; 49 and 50 10. quality of the adjudication process and its results which shall be 51 provided at least annually to such village by the respective courts 52 conducting such adjudications. 53 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 54 have become a law.

Enacts the "protect our pedestrians (POP) act"

What's Happening

Why It Matters