SB 131

Abstract

This Act authorizes the State and its counties and municipalities to install and use vehicle height monitoring systems ("vehicle height monitoring system") to assist in the enforcement of applicable State, county, or municipal law regarding motor vehicle size. This Act is patterned after Maryland's vehicle height monitoring system law, under which the City of Baltimore recently implemented an ordinance to use vehicle height monitoring system. This Act does not create a new violation. It does establish the following: - Requirements for the Department of Transportation ("DelDOT") to conduct the initial identification of potential locations for vehicle height monitoring system and analysis of the appropriateness of each location. - Requirements for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security ("DSHS") to select a system vendor for use by the State, counties, and municipalities through an open competitive procurement process. - Requirements for DSHS to approve and install vehicle height monitoring systems on State-maintained roads. - Requirements for a county or municipality to approve and install vehicle height monitoring system on the roads maintained by the county or municipality. A county or municipality must adopt an ordinance before approving or installing a vehicle height monitoring system. - Requirements and maintenance of vehicle height monitoring system, including the designation of a vehicle height monitoring system technician to maintain a daily set-up log for each vehicle height monitoring system in use. Daily set-up logs may be admitted as evidence in any court proceeding for a violation captured by a vehicle height monitoring system. - That the owner of a motor vehicle captured by a vehicle height monitoring system is liable for the violation, unless the owner can demonstrate that someone else was in control or possession of the motor vehicle when the violation occurred. - A civil penalty under this section is limited to $250 for second violations, and $500 for third and subsequent violations. A first violation is subject only to a warning notice, with no fine. - Requirements for the information that must be included in a citation under this section and that a citation must be mailed within 30 days of the violation. - What must be included in an image recorded by a vehicle height monitoring system to use the image as evidence. - Limitations on the consequences of being liable under this section. A violation may not be used to assess points on the person's driver license, recorded on the person's driving record, treated as a parking violation, or considered in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage. - The State or a county or municipality may designate a contractor to administer and process citations under this section, but a contractor's fee may not be contingent on the number of citations issued or paid. - That this section does not apply to certain vehicles, such as emergency vehicles or school buses. Under this Act, the owner of a motor vehicle is liable for a violation that occurs while the owner uses the vehicle or an employee of the owner uses the vehicle for the purposes of employment. If, however, a driver other than an employee of the owner violates this Act while using the owner’s vehicle, a mechanism is in place to allow the owner to rebut the presumption that the owner was driving the vehicle at the time of the violation (see line 121).