H 4748 Session 112 (1997-1998)
H 4748 General Bill, By Townsend and Keegan
Similar(S 992)
A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION
57-5-1495 SO AS TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS RELATED TO THE COLLECTION OF TOLLS, TO
PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN PERSONS ARE LIABLE FOR FAILURE TO PAY TOLLS, TO PROVIDE
FOR PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO PAY TOLLS, TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT,
NOTIFICATION, AND ADJUDICATION PROCEDURES FOR TOLL VIOLATIONS, AND TO PROVIDE
FOR ELECTRONIC COLLECTION OF TOLLS AND RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS
AND OTHER RECORDED IMAGES USED DURING TOLL COLLECTION.
03/04/98 House Introduced and read first time HJ-4
03/04/98 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-4
A BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976, BY ADDING SECTION 57-5-1495 SO AS TO PROVIDE
DEFINITIONS RELATED TO THE COLLECTION OF TOLLS,
TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN PERSONS ARE LIABLE FOR
FAILURE TO PAY TOLLS, TO PROVIDE FOR PENALTIES FOR
FAILURE TO PAY TOLLS, TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT,
NOTIFICATION, AND ADJUDICATION PROCEDURES FOR
TOLL VIOLATIONS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR ELECTRONIC
COLLECTION OF TOLLS AND RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE
OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND OTHER RECORDED IMAGES USED
DURING TOLL COLLECTION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 57-5-1495. (A) As used in this section:
(1) 'Electronic toll collection system' means a system of
collecting tolls or charges which is capable of charging an account
holder the appropriate toll or charge by transmission of information
from an electronic device on a motor vehicle to the toll lane, which
information is used to charge the account the appropriate toll or
charge.
(2) 'Lessor' mean any person, corporation, firm, partnership,
agency, association, or organization renting or leasing vehicles to a
lessee under a rental agreement, lease, or otherwise wherein the said
lessee has the exclusive use of the vehicle for any period of time.
(3) 'Lessee' means any person, corporation, firm, partnership,
agency, association, or organization that rents, leases, or contracts for
the use of one or more vehicles and has exclusive use of the vehicles
for any period of time.
(4) 'Owner' means a person or an entity who, at the time of a toll
violation and with respect to the vehicle involved in the violation, is
the registrant or co-registrant of the vehicle with the division of
motor vehicles of this State or another state, territory, district,
province, nation, or jurisdiction.
(5) 'Photo-monitoring system' means a vehicle sensor installed
to work in conjunction with a toll collection facility which
automatically produces one or more photographs, one or more
microphotographs, a videotape, or other recorded images of a vehicle
at the time it is used or operated in violation of toll collection
regulations.
(6) 'Toll violation' means the passage of a vehicle through a toll
collection point without payment of the required toll.
(7) 'Vehicle' means a device in, upon, or by which a person or
property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except
devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
(B) Notwithstanding another provision of law, when a vehicle is
driven through a turnpike facility without payment of the required
toll, the owner and operator of the vehicle is jointly and severally
liable to the Department of Transportation to pay the required toll,
administrative fees, and civil penalty as provided in this section. The
department or its authorized agent may enforce collection of the
required toll as provided for in this section.
(C) A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by an agent of the
department, or a facsimile of it, that a toll violation has occurred,
based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, videotape,
or other recorded images produced by a photo-monitoring system, is
prima facie evidence of the violation and is admissible in any
proceeding charging a toll violation pursuant to this section. A
photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image
evidencing a violation must be available for inspection by the party
charged and is admissible into evidence in a proceeding to adjudicate
liability for a violation.
(D) The department or its authorized agent may assess and collect
administrative fees of:
(1) not more than ten dollars for the first toll violation within a
period of one year;
(2) not more than twenty-five dollars for each subsequent toll
violation within a period of one year.
(E) Upon failure to pay the required toll and administrative fees to
the department within thirty days of the notice, the owner or operator
may be cited for failure to pay a toll pursuant to this subsection and,
upon an adjudication of liability, is subject to a civil penalty not to
exceed fifty dollars for each violation as contained in subsection (F).
An owner or operator who has been convicted of a violation of
Section 57-5-1490 is not liable for the penalty imposed by this
subsection.
(F) If a magistrate determines that the person or entity charged
with liability under this section is liable, the magistrate shall collect
the unpaid tolls and administrative fee and forward them to the
department or its authorized agent. The magistrate also may impose
a civil penalty of up to fifty dollars for each violation, plus court
costs and attorney's fees. The civil penalty must be distributed in the
same manner as other fines and penalties collected by the magistrate.
Notwithstanding another provision of law:
(1) adjudication of liability pursuant to this section must be
made by the magistrate's court of the county in which the toll facility
is located; and
(2) an imposition of liability pursuant to this section must be
based upon a preponderance of evidence submitted and is not a
conviction as an operator pursuant to Section 57-5-1490.
(G) The department or its authorized agent shall send:
(1) a 'First Notice to Pay Toll' to the owner or operator of a
vehicle which, on one occasion in any twelve-month period, is
identified as having been involved in a toll violation. The first notice
must require payment to the department of the required toll, plus an
administrative fee as provided for in subsection (D), within thirty
days of the mailing of the notice;
(2) a 'Second Notice to Pay Toll' to the owner or operator of a
vehicle which is identified as having been involved in a second toll
violation in a twelve-month period, or who has failed to respond to
a 'First Notice to Pay Toll' within the required time period. The
second notice must require payment to the department of the required
tolls, plus an administrative fee as provided for in subsection (D) for
each violation within thirty days of the mailing of the notice;
(3) a 'Failure to Pay a Toll' citation to the owner or operator of
a vehicle which is identified as having been involved in a third toll
violation in a twelve-month period, or who has failed to respond to
the second notice within the required time period. The citation
requires payment to the department of the unpaid tolls, plus an
administrative fee of not more than twenty-five dollars for each
violation, within thirty days, or the recipient's appearance in
magistrate's court of the county in which the violation occurred to
contest the citation. The citation is a traffic citation within the
meaning of Chapter 25, Title 56; and
(4) notwithstanding another provision of law, the notices and
citation required by subsection (G) by first-class mail to the owner or
operator of the vehicle identified as being involved in the toll
violation. If a vehicle is registered in two or more names, the notices
or citation must be mailed to the first name listed on the registration
records. Notwithstanding another provision of law, personal delivery
of the notices and citation is not required. A manual or automatic
record of the mailing of the notices or citation prepared in the
ordinary course of business is prima facie evidence of the mailing of
the notices or citation;
(5) the notices and citation required by this subsection must
contain the following information:
(a) the name and address of the person or entity alleged to be
liable for a failure to pay a toll pursuant to this section;
(b) the registration number of the vehicle involved in the toll
violation;
(c) the location where the toll violation took place;
(d) the date and time of the toll violation;
(e) the identification number of the photo-monitoring system
which recorded the violation or other document locator number;
(f) information advising of the manner and time in which
liability may be contested; and
(g) warning advising that failure to contest liability in the
manner and time provided in this section is an admission of liability.
(H) If a vehicle owner receives a notice or citation pursuant to this
section for a period during which the vehicle involved in the toll
violation was:
(1) reported to a law enforcement division as having been
stolen, a valid defense to an allegation of liability for a failure to pay
a toll is that the vehicle had been reported to a law enforcement
division as stolen before the time the violation occurred and had not
been recovered by the time of the violation. If an owner receives a
notice or citation pursuant to this section for a violation which
occurred during a time period in which the vehicle was stolen, but
which had not been reported to a law enforcement division as having
been stolen, a valid defense to an allegation of liability for a toll
violation pursuant to this section is that the vehicle was reported as
stolen within two hours after the discovery of the theft by the owner.
For purposes of asserting the defense provided by this subitem, a
certified copy of the police report on the stolen vehicle, sent by
first-class mail to the department, its agent, or the magistrate's court
having jurisdiction of the citation within thirty days after receipt of
the notices or citation, is sufficient;
(2) leased to another person or entity, the lessor is not liable for
the violation if the lessor sends to the department or to the court
having jurisdiction over the citation a copy of the rental, lease, or
another contract document covering the vehicle on the date of the
violation, with the name and address of the lessee clearly legible,
within thirty days after receiving the notices or citation. Failure to
send the information within the thirty-day period renders the lessor
liable for the unpaid tolls and any administrative fees or penalties
assessed pursuant to this section. If the lessor complies with the
provisions of this subitem, the lessee of the vehicle on the date of the
violation is subject to liability for the failure to pay the toll if the
department or its agent mails a notice of liability to the lessee within
thirty days after receipt of a copy of the rental, lease, or other contract
document.
(I) If a person or entity receives a notice or citation pursuant to
this section, it is a valid defense to liability that the person or entity
that receives the notice was not the owner of the vehicle at the time
of the toll violation.
(J) If an owner who pays the required tolls, fees, or penalties, or
all of them pursuant to this section was not the operator of the vehicle
at the time of the violation, the owner may maintain an action for
indemnification against the operator.
(K) An owner of a vehicle is not liable for a penalty imposed
pursuant to this section if the operator of the vehicle has been
convicted of a violation of Section 57-5-1490 for the same incident.
(L) On turnpike facilities where electronic toll collection systems
are utilized:
(1) a person who wants to make payment of tolls electronically
must apply to the department or its authorized agent to become an
account holder. The department or its authorized agent, in its
discretion, may deny the application of a person. A person whose
application is accepted must execute an account holder's agreement.
The terms of the account holder's agreement must be established by
the department;
(2) the department shall ensure that adequate and timely notice
is given to all electronic toll collection system account holders to
inform them when their accounts are delinquent. The owner of a
vehicle who is an account holder under the electronic toll collection
system is not liable for a failure to pay a toll pursuant to the
provisions of this section unless the department or its authorized
agent has first sent a notice of delinquency to the account holder and
the account holder was delinquent at the time of the violation;
(3) the department shall not sell, distribute, or make available
the names and addresses of electronic toll collection system account
holders, without the account holder's consent, to any entity that uses
the information for commercial purposes. However, this restriction
does not preclude the exchange of this information between entities
with jurisdiction over or operating a toll highway bridge or tunnel;
(4) information or data collected by the department or its
authorized agent for the purpose of establishing and monitoring
electronic toll collection accounts is not subject to disclosure under
the Freedom of Information Act;
(5) notwithstanding another provision of law, all information,
data, photographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded
images prepared pursuant to this section must be for the exclusive use
of the department or its authorized agent in the discharge of its duties
under this section and must not be open to the public, subject to the
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, nor used in a court
in an action or a proceeding pending unless the action or proceeding
relates to the imposition of or indemnification for liability pursuant
to this section."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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