Report Title:

Highway Safety.

 

Description:

Establishes the photo speed imaging detector system program.  Authorizes counties to administer the program.


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

352

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

relating to highway safety.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the prevalence of drivers violating Hawaii's traffic laws has become intolerable, particularly drivers who violate the speed limit.  These violations endanger the lives of motorists and pedestrians and compound the already hazardous conditions on Hawaii's roads and highways.  It has become increasingly common to hear reports of speeding hit-and-run drivers who have run over children or the elderly.  Speeding has also been the common denominator in many recent, highly publicized motor vehicle crashes that have claimed a number of lives.

     The legislature further finds that in other jurisdictions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and other countries throughout the world, two technological innovations--namely, photo red light imaging and photo speed imaging detector systems--have already demonstrated their reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness in identifying and deterring those who speed.

     Photo speed imaging detector systems are safe, quick, cost-effective, and efficient.  No traffic stop is involved, thus police officers are not at risk from passing traffic or armed violators.  Moreover, while a motivated traffic officer may average fifteen or twenty tickets per shift, the photo speed imaging detector system can write two tickets per second.

     These systems provide numerous benefits.  Not only are streets safer, but police officers are also freed from time-consuming traffic enforcement duties and have more time to respond to priority calls.  A violator is less likely to go to court, since the color photograph of the violation, imprinted with the time, date, and location of the violation and the violator's speed, can be used as evidence in court.  Few cases are contested in other jurisdictions using this system, and officers make fewer court appearances, saving court costs.

     The system may also result in lower insurance costs for safe drivers through an overall reduction in crashes and injuries and places system costs on the violators who have created the need for the program, not on law-abiding taxpayers.  Traffic laws are enforced without partiality, and safety and efficiency are increased by reducing the number of high-speed chases and the number of personnel required for traffic accident clean-up, investigation, and court testimony.

     The legislature finds that the photo speed imaging detector system created by Act 234, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, and implemented in January 2002, generated intense public opposition.  As a result of this opposition, the legislature repealed Act 234 in its entirety.  However, the majority of the opposition to this program resulted largely from the method of implementing the program.  The public perceived that the program was operated more to maximize revenue for the vendor running the program than to improve traffic safety.  In particular, vans in which the cameras were mounted were often placed at locations that did not necessarily have a history of speed-related accidents and instead were used to monitor locations with a heavy traffic flow traveling at lower speeds.  This arrangement permitted the vendor to issue the maximum number of citations in the shortest period of time and at the least cost, thereby maximizing the potential return to the vendor without improving traffic safety.

     Speeding whether on a highway or through a red light--frequently causes injury and death.  When speeding occurs, the accidents involved are almost always more serious.  More recently, a number of cases of fatal crashes involved vehicles traveling at speeds far exceeding the posted speed limit.  The legislature finds that there is an immediate need to remedy the steadily worsening traffic conditions in Hawaii and that the implementation of a photo speed imaging detector system program will help to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people of this state, while at the same time offering substantial cost savings.

     The purpose of this Act is to:

     (1)  Establish a photo speed imaging detector system program to improve enforcement of the speed limits;

     (2)  Allow counties to implement the photo speed imaging detector system program in areas where excessive speeding has been found to be a problem;

     (3)  Authorize fines collected under county programs to be deposited into a general fund account; and

     (4)  Authorize funds from this general fund account to be expended in the county in which the fine was collected for the establishment, operation, management, and maintenance of a photo speed imaging detector systems program.

 

PART I

     SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

Chapter

PHOTO SPEED IMAGING DETECTOR SYSTEM PROGRAM

     §    -1  Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

    "County" means the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui, and the city and county of Honolulu.

    "County highway" has the same meaning as used in section 264-1.

    "Department" means the department of transportation.

    "Excessive speeding" has the same meaning as used in section 291C-105.

    "Motor vehicle" has the same meaning as defined in section 291C‑1.

    "Photo speed imaging detector" means a device used for traffic enforcement that includes a vehicle sensor that works in conjunction with a camera or similar device designed to automatically produce a photographic, digital, or other visual image of a vehicle traveling in excess of the legal speed limit and a photographic, digital, or other visual image of the driver of the motor vehicle.

    "State highway" has the same meaning as used in section 264-1.

    "Traffic-control signal" has the same meaning as defined in section 291C-1.

    §     -2  Photo speed imaging detector system program; established.  There is established the photo speed imaging detector system program, which may be implemented by any county on state or county highways within the respective county to enforce the excessive speeding law of the State under section 291C-105 in areas where excessive speeding occurs on a regular basis as determined by the county.

    §   -3  County powers and duties.  Each county may establish and implement, in accordance with this chapter, a photo speed imaging detector system program that imposes monetary liability on the driver of a motor vehicle for failure to comply with section 291C-105.  Each county may provide for the procurement, location, installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of photo speed imaging detector systems within the program.  Where a photo speed imaging detector system affects state property, the department shall cooperate with and assist the county as needed to install, maintain, and repair the system.

    §   -4  Photo speed imaging detector system program requirements.  (a)  Photo speed imaging detector system program equipment shall be operated from a fixed pole, post, or other fixed structure on a state or county highway in areas where excessive speeding occurs on a regular basis as determined by the county.

    (b)  Signs and other official traffic-control devices indicating that excessive speeding laws are enforced by a photo speed imaging detector system shall be posted on all major routes entering the area where the system is installed to provide, as far as practicable, notice to drivers of the existence and operation of the system.

    (c)  Proof of a violation of section 291C-105 shall be as evidenced by information obtained from a photo speed imaging detector system.  A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by the county's agent or employee, or a facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images produced by the system, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein.  Any photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images evidencing a violation shall be available for inspection in any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for that violation.

    (d)  No summons or citation pursuant to the photo speed imaging detector system program shall be issued unless it contains a clear and unobstructed photographic, digital, or other visual image of the driver of the motor vehicle.

    (e)  The conditions specified in this section shall not apply when the information gathered is used for highway safety research, or to issue warning citations not involving a fine or court appearance or affecting a person's driving record.

    §   -5  Summons or citations.  (a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, whenever any motor vehicle is determined by means of a photo speed imaging detector system to be in excess of the legal speed limit in violation of section 291C-105, the county shall cause a summons or citation, as described in this section, and which is postmarked within seventy-two hours of the time of the incident, to be sent by certified or registered mail to the registered owner of the vehicle at the address on record at the vehicle licensing division.  If the end of the seventy-two-hour period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday, then the ending period shall run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday.

    (b)  There shall be a form of summons or citation for use in citing violators as specified in subsection (a) that shall not mandate the physical arrest of those violators.  The form and content of the summons or citation shall be as adopted or prescribed by the administrative judge of the district courts and shall be printed on a form commensurate with the form of other summonses or citations used in modern methods of arrest, so designed to include all necessary information to make the summons or citation valid within the laws of the State; provided that any summons or citation issued under this chapter shall contain a clear and unobstructed photographic, digital, or other visual image of the driver of the motor vehicle that is to be used as evidence of the violation.

    (c)  Every citation shall be consecutively numbered and each copy thereof shall bear the number of its respective original.

    (d)  Upon receipt of the summons or citation, the registered owner shall respond as provided for in chapter 291D.  A mail receipt from the post office is prima facie evidence of the registered owner's receipt of notification.  The registered owner shall be determined by the identification of the vehicle's registration plates.

    (e)  The county, or the county's agent or employee, shall be available to testify as to the authenticity of the information provided pursuant to this section.

    §   -6  Registered owner's responsibility for a summons or citation.  In any proceeding for a violation of this chapter, the information contained in the summons or citation mailed in accordance with section    -5 shall be deemed prima facie evidence that the registered owner of the vehicle violated section 291C‑105.

    §   -7  Prima facie evidence.  (a)  Whenever the photo speed imaging detector system determines a motor vehicle to be in violation of section 291C‑105, evidence that the motor vehicle described in the citations or summons issued pursuant to this chapter was operated in violation of section 291C‑105, together with proof that the person to whom the summons or citation was sent was the registered owner of the motor vehicle at the time of the violation, shall constitute prima facie evidence that the registered owner of the motor vehicle was the person who committed the violation.

    (b)  The registered owner of the vehicle may rebut such evidence in subsection (a) by any one of the following:

     (1)  Submitting a written statement as provided in section 291D-6(b)(2);

     (2)  Testifying in open court under oath that the person was not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation;

     (3)  Calling witnesses to testify in open court under oath that the person was not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation;

     (4)  Presenting extrinsic evidence that the person was not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation;

     (5)  Presenting, prior to the return date established on the citation or summons issued pursuant to this chapter, a letter of verification of loss from the police department indicating that the motor vehicle has been reported stolen prior to the time of the violation, to the court adjudicating the alleged violation; or

     (6)  Identifying the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offense.

    §   -8  Failure to comply with summons or citation.  If the registered owner of the vehicle does not return an answer in response to a summons or citation within a period of twenty-one days upon receipt of the summons or citation, the district court shall issue, pursuant to section 291D-7(e), a notice of entry of judgment of default to the registered owner of the motor vehicle.

    §   -9  Liability for rental or U‑drive vehicle.  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if the registered owner of record is the lessor of a rental or U‑drive motor vehicle, as defined in section 286‑2, pursuant to a written lease agreement, the lessee at the time of the violation shall be responsible for the summons or citation; provided that:

     (1)  The lessor shall be responsible for the summons or citation if the lessor does not provide the court having jurisdiction over the summons or citation with the name and address of the lessee within thirty days after a notice containing the date, time, and location of the violation and the license number of the vehicle is sent to the lessor; and

     (2)  The administrative judge of the court having jurisdiction over the summons or citation may waive the requirement of providing the name and address of the lessee and impose on the lessor an administrative fee of $       per citation.

§    -10  Penalty.  The penalties for a violation of excessive speeding where the charge has been initiated under this chapter shall be as provided in section 291C-105 (c).

§    -11  Personal and confidential information; fines for unauthorized disclosure.  All personal and confidential information made available by any government agency to an agent of any county for the photo speed imaging detector system program shall be kept confidential and shall be used only for the purposes for which the information was furnished.  Any agent receiving government records pursuant to this section shall be subject to the same restrictions on disclosure of the records as the originating agency.  Any agent, or officer or employee of any agent, who intentionally discloses or provides a copy or personal and confidential information obtained from a photo speed imaging detector system to any person or agency with actual knowledge that disclosure is prohibited, shall be fined not more than $       ; provided that the fine shall not preclude the application of penalties or fines otherwise provided for by law.

§    -12  Photo speed imaging detector system program account established.  (a)  There is established, as a special account within the general fund, a photo speed imaging detector system program account, into which shall be paid revenues collected pursuant to this chapter.

     (b)  All fines collected under this chapter shall be deposited into the photo speed imaging detector system program account.  Moneys in the account shall be expended in the county in which the fine was imposed, for purposes that include the establishment, operation, management, and maintenance of a photo speed imaging detector system program.

§    -13  Rules.  The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 as may be necessary to implement this Act."

PART II

     SECTION 3.  Section 291C-163, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  This chapter shall not be deemed to prevent counties with respect to streets and highways under their jurisdiction from:

     (1)  Regulating or prohibiting stopping, standing, or parking except as pro­vided in section 291C-111;

     (2)  Regulating traffic by means of police officers or official traffic-control devices;

     (3)  Regulating or prohibiting processions or assemblages on the highways;

     (4)  Designating particular highways or roadways for use by traffic moving in one direction;

     (5)  Establishing speed limits for vehicles in public parks;

     (6)  Designating any highway as a through highway or designating any intersection as a stop or yield intersection;

     (7)  Restricting the use of highways;

     (8)  Regulating the operation and equipment of and requiring the registration and inspection of bicycles, including the requirement of a registration fee;

     (9)  Regulating or prohibiting the turning of vehicles or specified types of vehicles;

    (10)  Altering or establishing speed limits;

    (11)  Requiring written accident reports;

    (12)  Designating no-passing zones;

    (13)  Prohibiting or regulating the use of controlled-access roadways by any class or kind of traffic;

    (14)  Prohibiting or regulating the use of heavily traveled streets by any class or kind of traffic found to be incompatible with the normal and safe movement of traffic;

    (15)  Establishing minimum speed limits;

    (16)  Designating hazardous railroad grade [crossing;] crossings;

    (17)  Designating and regulating traffic on play streets;

    (18)  Prohibiting pedestrians from crossing a roadway in a business district or any designated highway except in a crosswalk;

    (19)  Restricting [pedestrian] pedestrians from crossing at unmarked crosswalks;

    (20)  Regulating persons propelling push carts;

    (21)  Regulating persons upon skates, coasters, sleds, and other toy vehicles;

    (22)  Adopting and enforcing such temporary or experimental regulations as may be necessary to cover emergencies or special conditions;

    (23)  Adopting maximum and minimum speed limits on streets and highways within their respective jurisdictions;

    (24)  Adopting requirements on stopping, standing, and parking on streets and highways within their respective jurisdictions except as provided in section 291C‑111;

    (25)  Implementing a photo speed imaging detector system program pursuant to chapter     ; or

   [(25)] (26)  Adopting such other traffic regulations as are specifically authorized by this chapter."

     SECTION 4.  Section 291C-165, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  In every case when a citation is issued, the original of the citation shall be given to the violator; provided that:

     (1)  In the case of an unattended vehicle, the original of the citation shall be affixed to the vehicle as provided for in section 291C-167; [or]

     (2)  In the case of:

          (A)  A vehicle utilizing the high occupancy vehicle lane illegally[; or], the original of the citation shall be sent by certified or registered mail, with a return receipt that is postmarked within forty-eight hours of the time of the incident, as provided in section 291C-223; or

          (B)  A vehicle illegally utilizing a parking space reserved for persons with disabilities, where the violator refuses the citation[;

 the original of the citation shall be sent by certified or registered mail, with a return receipt that is postmarked within forty-eight hours of the time of the incident, as provided in section 291C-223 for vehicles illegally utilizing the high occupancy vehicle lane, or within seventy-two hours of the time of the incident for vehicles illegally utilizing a parking space reserved for persons with disabilities, to the registered owner of the vehicle at the address on record at the vehicle licensing division.]

, the original of the citation shall be sent to the registered owner of the vehicle at the address on record at the vehicle licensing division within seventy-two hours of the time of the incident;

          or

     (3)  In the case of a motor vehicle determined under the photo speed imaging detector system program established pursuant to chapter       to be excessively speeding in violation of section 291C-105, the original of the citation shall be sent to the registered owner of the vehicle at the address on record at the vehicle licensing division within seventy-two hours of the time of the incident.

     If the end of the applicable forty-eight or seventy-two hour period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday, then the ending period shall run until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday; provided that the administrative judge of the district courts may allow a carbon copy of the citation to be given to the violator or affixed to the vehicle and provide for the disposition of the original and any other copies of the citation."

     SECTION 5.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $      or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007-2008 for the purposes of establishing the photo speed imaging detector system program to be allocated as follows:

     $             to the city and county of Honolulu;

     $             to the county of Maui;

     $             to the county of Hawaii; and

     $             to the county of Kauai.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the counties for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 6.  It is the intent of this Act neither to jeopardize the receipt of any federal aid nor to impair the obligation of the State or any agency thereof to the holders of any bond issued by the State or by any such agency, and to the extent, and only to the extent, necessary to effectuate this intent, the governor may modify the strict provisions of this Act, but shall promptly report any such modification with reasons therefor to the legislature at its next session thereafter for review by the legislature.

     SECTION 7.  If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

     SECTION 8.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

     SECTION 9.  Upon enactment, the revisor of statutes shall insert the number of this chapter into sections 291C-163 and 291C-165, Hawaii Revised Statutes, where indicated in sections 3 and 4 of this Act, respectively.

     SECTION 10.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 11.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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