[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
As used in this Part, the following words shall have the following respective meanings:
CITY
The City of Rochester.
OWNER
The registered owner of a motor vehicle.
SCHOOL BUS PHOTO VIOLATION MONITORING SYSTEM
A device that is capable of operating independently of an enforcement officer which is installed on a school bus to work in conjunction with a school bus stop-arm and which automatically produces two or more photographs, two or more microphotographs, a videotape or other recorded images of a vehicle at the time it is used or operated in violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174.
SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Rochester City School District.
STOPPED SCHOOL BUS VIOLATION
A violation of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174(a), which requires a motor vehicle operator to stop when approaching a bus that is signaling a stop to receive or discharge passengers using the stop arms, lights and other equipment provided for in Subdivisions 20 and 21-c of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
A. 
There is hereby established, pursuant to NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174-a, a demonstration program (the program) imposing monetary liability on owners of vehicles for failure of the operators thereof to comply with § 1174(a) of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, when meeting a school bus marked and equipped as provided in Subdivisions 20 and 21-c of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375 (stopped school bus violation), and operated in the City.
B. 
To carry out the program, the City is hereby authorized to enter into an agreement with the School District to provide for the installation, maintenance, and use of school bus photo violation monitoring systems as well as for the proper handling and custody of data received by the such systems, subject to the provisions of § 1174-a of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law. This authorization is contingent upon the City's enactment of an ordinance and the School District's approval of a resolution pursuant to §§ 1604, 1709, 2503, 2554 or 2590-h of the NYS Education Law, as applicable, each of which approves the terms of the agreement. Once the School District has entered into an agreement with the City, such systems shall be installed on school buses owned or operated by the School District or privately owned and operated for compensation under a contract with the School District.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
A. 
The entire costs to the School District of the installation, maintenance and use of school bus photo violation monitoring systems pursuant to the agreement authorized by this Part shall be borne entirely by the City School District's certification of any such costs and the City's reimbursement of such costs shall be conducted on an annual basis in accordance with the schedule set forth in § 1174-a of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law. Not later than 20 days after each such payment is submitted or is due, whichever occurs first, the School District shall submit to the State's Director of the Budget and to the chairpersons of the fiscal committees of the State Legislature a report showing the amount of costs so certified and the amount of payments so received or due. If the City fails to make the required payment by the 20th day after the date such payment was due, School District shall notify the same state parties of such occurrence within 24 hours of such date and the program shall be suspended until such time as the City makes the required payment to the School District. The School District shall notify the same state parties of such payment within seven business days of its receipt; provided, however, that any notice of liability issued prior to such date shall not be voided.
B. 
The School District shall provide any information necessary or desirable to the City in order to meet the City's reporting obligatins under § 1174-a of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law.
C. 
Pursuant to § 1174-a(a)(3)(i) of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, the School District shall be prohibited from accessing any photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, other recorded images and data from school bus photo violation monitoring systems but shall provide, pursuant to the agreement with the City, as provided in this Part, for the proper handling and custody of such photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, other recorded images and data produced by such systems, and for the forwarding of such photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, other recorded images and data to the City for the purpose of determining whether a stopped school bus violation has been committed.
D. 
Photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, other recorded images and data produced by school bus photo violation monitoring systems shall be destroyed:
(1) 
90 days after the date of the alleged stopped school bus violation if a notice of liability is not issued for such alleged violation pursuant to this Part; or
(2) 
Upon final disposition of a notice of liability for an alleged stopped school bus violation issued pursuant to this Part.
E. 
The City shall adopt and enforce measures to protect the privacy of drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists whose identity and identifying information may be captured by a school bus photo monitoring device. Such measures shall include:
(1) 
Using necessary technologies to ensure, to the extent practicable, that photographs produced by such school photo violation monitoring systems shall not include images that identify the driver, the passengers, the contents of the vehicle, pedestrians and cyclists; provided, however, that no notice of liability issued pursuant to this Part shall be dismissed solely because a photograph or photographs allow for the identification of the contents of a vehicle, provided that the City has made a reasonable effort to comply with the provisions of this subsection;
(2) 
Prohibiting the use or dissemination of vehicles' license plate information and other information and images captured by school bus photo violation monitoring systems except:
(a) 
As required to establish liability under this Part or to collect payment of penalties;
(b) 
As required by court order; or
(c) 
As otherwise required by law;
(3) 
Implementing oversight procedures to ensure compliance with the privacy protection measures required herein; and
(4) 
Such additional measures as may be mandated by NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174-a or other applicable law.
F. 
The City shall undertake the installation of signage giving notice of the installation and use of school bus photo violation monitoring systems to enforce against Stopped School Bus Violations. Such signage shall conform to standards established in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices and shall be installed at each roadway entering the boundaries of the City. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "roadway" shall not include state expressway routes or state interstate routes but shall include controlled-access highway exit ramps that enter the boundaries of the City.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
A. 
An owner liable for a stopped school bus violation shall be liable for monetary penalties in accordance with the following schedule:
(1) 
$250 for a first violation;
(2) 
$275 for a second violation committed within 18 months of the first violation;
(3) 
$300 for a third violation or subsequent violation all of which were committed within 18 months from the first violation; and
(4) 
An additional penalty of $25 for each violation for the failure to respond to a notice of liability within the prescribed time period.
B. 
An imposition of liability under this Part shall not be deemed a conviction and shall not be made part of the operating record of the person upon whom such liability is imposed, nor shall it be factored into the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage.
C. 
The fines and penalties paid to the City pursuant to this Part shall be deposited in the City's General Fund.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
A. 
A notice of liability shall be sent as provided by state law by first-class mail to each person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174. Personal delivery on the owner shall not be required. A manual or automatic record of mailing prepared in the ordinary course of business shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. The notice of liability shall be prepared and mailed by the City, or by any other entity authorized by the City to prepare and mail such notice of liability and recover any such monetary penalty.
B. 
A notice of liability shall contain the name and address of the person alleged to be liable as an owner for a violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174, the registration number of the vehicle involved in such violation, the location where such violation took place, the date and time of such violation and the identification number of the camera which recorded the violation or other document locator number, and the registration number of the school bus on which the school bus photo violation monitoring system which recorded the violation was installed. The notice shall contain such additional information as may be required by § 1174-a of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law or by the Rochester Traffic Violations Agency, City's Violations Bureau, or Rochester City Court adjudicating the matter pursuant to § 6-167 of this Part.
C. 
A notice of liability shall contain information advising the person charged of the manner and the time in which he or she may contest the liability alleged in the notice. Such notice of liability shall also contain a warning to advise the persons charged that failure to contest in the manner and time provided shall be deemed an admission of liability and that a default judgment may be entered thereon.
D. 
A notice of liability may contain such other information as the entity causing such notice of liability to be mailed deems appropriate to communicate the law, and the adjudicatory process if the addressee of the notice wishes to contest the notice of liability.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
A. 
The owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this Part if such vehicle was used or operated with the permission of the owner, express or implied, in violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174 and such violation is evidenced by information obtained from a school bus photo violation monitoring system; provided, however, that no owner of a vehicle shall be liable for a penalty imposed pursuant to this Part where the operator of such vehicle has been convicted of the underlying violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174. For the purpose of i) this section, and ii) this Part, there shall be a presumption that such vehicle was used and operated with the consent of the owner at the time it was used and operated in violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174.
B. 
If the owner receives a notice of liability pursuant to § 6-165 of this Part for any time period during which the vehicle was reported to the police as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to an allegation of liability for a violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174 pursuant to this Part that the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the time the violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. For purposes of asserting the defense provided by this subsection, it shall be sufficient that a certified copy of the police report on the stolen vehicle be sent or delivered to the agency, bureau, court or other body that is adjudicating the matter pursuant to § 6-167.
C. 
An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of liability was issued pursuant to this Part shall not be liable for the violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174, provided that he or she complies with the provisions of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law and otherwise sends to the agency, bureau, court or other body that is adjudicating the matter pursuant to § 6-167 herein, a copy of the rental, lease or other such contract document covering such vehicle on the date of the violation, with the name and address of the lessee clearly legible, within 37 days after receiving notice from the agency or entity which caused such notice of liability to be issued, together with the information contained in the original notice of liability. Failure to send such information within the thirty-seven-day time period shall render the owner liable for the penalty prescribed by this Part. Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this subsection, the lessee of such vehicle for purposes of this section shall be deemed to be the owner of such vehicle on the date of such violation, shall be subject to liability for the violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174-a and shall be sent a notice of liability pursuant to § 6-165 of this Part.
D. 
A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by the City in which the charged violation occurred, or a facsimile thereof, upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, and other recorded images produced by a school bus photo violation monitoring system, and other documents or declarations pertaining to inspections by the department of transportation, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. Such certificate, or a facsimile thereof, shall provide the identification number of the school bus photo violation monitoring system which recorded the violation, a statement confirming that at the time such violation was recorded by such school bus photo violation monitoring system, such school bus photo violation monitoring system was installed on a school bus marked and equipped as provided in Subdivisions 20 and 21-c of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375 as evidenced by a valid certificate of inspection issued to such school bus by the NYS Department of Transportation pursuant to NYS Transportation Law § 140 and the safety rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and the registration number of the school bus to which such school bus photo violation monitoring system was attached. Any photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded images evidencing such a violation shall include a recorded image of the outside of the motor vehicle involved in such violation, the registration number of such vehicle, at least one activated school bus stop-arm, and an electronic indicator or indicators showing the activation of the flashing red signal lamps of the school bus to which the school bus photo violation monitoring system producing such photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded images was installed at the time such violation occurred, and shall be available for inspection in any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for such violation pursuant to a local law or ordinance adopted pursuant to this section. Where recorded images from a school bus photo violation monitoring system attached to a school bus, as certified pursuant to this subsection, show the activation of at least one school bus stop-arm and an electronic indicator or indicators as required pursuant to this subsection, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such school bus was stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any passengers or because a school bus in front of it had stopped to receive or discharge any passengers. A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employed by City in which the charged violation occurred, or a facsimile thereof, after reviewing evidence that on the day the charged violation occurred such school bus had a valid certificate of inspection issued by the NYS Department of Transportation pursuant to NYS Transportation Law and the safety rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, shall be prima facie evidence that such school bus was marked and equipped as provided in Subdivisions 20 and 21-c of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375 and that the flashing red signal lamp of such school bus was in operation at the time the violation occurred.
E. 
It shall be a defense to any prosecution for or allegation of a violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174 pursuant to this Part that such school bus stop-arms were malfunctioning at the time of the alleged violation.
F. 
The presumptions and defenses to owner liability provided for herein may be adjusted to account for existing or modified provisions of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law or of other applicable law.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
The adjudication of liability imposed upon owners pursuant to this Part shall be conducted by the Rochester Traffic Violations Agency in accordance with NYS General Municipal Law §§ 371 and 371-a, or by the Parking Violations Bureau in accordance with NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law §§ 235, Subdivision 1(f), and 237, Subdivision 7, and City Charter § 6-6C, or by the Rochester City Court when preceded by multiple prior adjudicated violations in accordance with NYS General Municipal Law § 371, or by such other agency, bureau, board or court mandated by the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law or other applicable law.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
If the owner held liable for a violation of Subdivision (a) of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174 pursuant to this Part was not the operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the owner may maintain an action for indemnification against the operator.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
A. 
The City shall develop and cause to be submitted an annual report on the results of the use of a school bus photo violation monitoring system to the Governor, the temporary president of the Senate and the speaker of the Assembly on or before June 1 of each year in which the program is operable. Such report shall include any information required by § 1174-a(m) of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, and such other information required by other provisions of said law or other applicable laws.
B. 
Pursuant to the requirements of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174-a, courts, bureaus, and agencies conducting adjudications as a result of this Part shall report at least annually to the City on the quality of the adjudication process and its results, including the total number of hearings scheduled, rescheduled, and held; the total number of persons scheduled for such hearings; the total number of cases where fines were paid on or before the hearing date; and the total number of default judgments entered.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 3-2025]
The program set forth in this Part shall expire on December 1, 2029, unless extended further by act of the New York State Legislature; provided, however, that the expiration of the program shall not affect or disregard any act done or violation committed prior to the expiration date, so that the motor vehicle owner's liability for a monetary penalty for such prior act or violation may be asserted and collected as fully and to the same extent as if the program had not expired.