Florida Senate - 2024                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 994
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì720974?Î720974                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  02/13/2024           .                                
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       The Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and
       Economic Development (Burgess) recommended the following:
       
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3  
    4         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1), paragraph (a)
    7  of subsection (2), subsections (5) and (7), paragraph (a) of
    8  subsection (16), and paragraph (a) of subsection (17) of section
    9  316.173, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   10         316.173 School bus infraction detection systems.—
   11         (1)
   12         (b) The school district may contract with a private vendor
   13  or manufacturer to install a school bus infraction detection
   14  system on any school bus within its fleet, whether owned,
   15  contracted, or leased, and for services including, but not
   16  limited to, the installation, operation, and maintenance of the
   17  system. The school district’s decision to install school bus
   18  infraction detection systems must be based solely on the need to
   19  increase public safety. An individual may not receive a
   20  commission from any revenue collected from violations detected
   21  through the use of a school bus infraction detection system. A
   22  private vendor or manufacturer may not receive a fee or
   23  remuneration based upon the number of violations detected
   24  through the use of a school bus infraction detection system.
   25  This paragraph may not be construed to prohibit a private vendor
   26  or manufacturer from receiving a fixed amount of collected
   27  proceeds for service rendered in relation to the installation,
   28  operation, or maintenance of school bus infraction detection
   29  systems.
   30         (2)(a) The school district must post high-visibility
   31  reflective signage on the rear of each school bus in which a
   32  school bus infraction detection system is installed and
   33  operational which indicates the use of such system. The signage
   34  must be in the form of one or more signs or stickers and must
   35  contain the following elements in substantially the following
   36  form:
   37         1. The words “STOP WHEN RED LIGHTS FLASH” or “DO NOT PASS
   38  WHEN RED LIGHTS FLASH.”
   39         2. The words “CAMERA ENFORCED.”
   40         3. A graphic depiction of a camera.
   41         (5) Within 30 days after receiving the information required
   42  in subsection (4), the law enforcement agency must, if it is
   43  determined determines that the motor vehicle violated s.
   44  316.172(1)(a) or (b), must send a notice of violation to the
   45  registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation
   46  specifying the remedies available under s. 318.14 and that the
   47  violator must pay the penalty under s. 318.18(5) or furnish an
   48  affidavit in accordance with subsection (10) within 30 days
   49  after the notice of violation is sent in order to avoid court
   50  fees, costs, and the issuance of a uniform traffic citation. The
   51  notice of violation must be sent by first-class mail and include
   52  all of the following:
   53         (a) A copy of one or more recorded images showing the motor
   54  vehicle involved in the violation, including an image showing
   55  the license plate of the motor vehicle.
   56         (b) The date, time, and location of the violation.
   57         (c) The amount of the civil penalty, the date by which the
   58  civil penalty must be paid, and instructions on how to pay the
   59  civil penalty.
   60         (d) Instructions on how to request a hearing to contest
   61  liability or the notice of violation.
   62         (e) A notice that the owner has the right to review, in
   63  person or remotely, the video and images recorded by the school
   64  bus infraction detection system which constitute a rebuttable
   65  presumption that the motor vehicle was used in violation of s.
   66  316.172(1)(a) or (b).
   67         (f) The time when, and the place or website at which, the
   68  recorded video and images may be examined and observed.
   69         (g) A warning that failure to pay the civil penalty or to
   70  contest liability within 30 days after the notice is sent will
   71  result in the issuance of a uniform traffic citation. A court
   72  that has jurisdiction over traffic violations shall determine
   73  whether a violation of this section has occurred. If a court
   74  finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a violation
   75  occurred, the court must uphold the violation. If the notice of
   76  violation is upheld, the court must require the petitioner to
   77  pay the penalty previously assessed under s. 318.18(5), and may
   78  also require the petitioner to pay costs, not to exceed those
   79  established in s. 316.0083(5)(e).
   80         (7) The civil penalties assessed and collected for a
   81  violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) or (b) enforced by a school bus
   82  infraction detection system must be remitted to the school
   83  district in which the violation occurred. Such civil penalties
   84  must be used for the installation, operation, or maintenance of
   85  school bus infraction detection systems on school buses,
   86  including student transportation safety initiatives, driver
   87  recruitment and retention stipends, or other student
   88  transportation safety enhancements for any other technology that
   89  increases the safety of the transportation of students, or for
   90  the administration and costs associated with the enforcement of
   91  violations as described in this section.
   92         (16)(a)1. Notwithstanding any other law, equipment deployed
   93  as part of A school bus infraction detection system as provided
   94  under this section may not be used for capable of automated or
   95  user-controlled remote surveillance. The collection of evidence
   96  by a school bus infraction detection system to enforce
   97  violations of s. 316.172 does not constitute remote
   98  surveillance.
   99         2. Video and images recorded as part of a the school bus
  100  infraction detection system may only be used for traffic
  101  enforcement and for purposes of determining criminal or civil
  102  liability for incidents captured by the school bus infraction
  103  detection system incidental to the permissible use of the school
  104  bus infraction detection system to document violations of s.
  105  316.172(1)(a) and (b) and may not be used for any other
  106  surveillance purposes.
  107         3. To the extent practicable, a school bus infraction
  108  detection system must use necessary technology to ensure that
  109  personal identifying information contained in the video or still
  110  images recorded by the system which is not relevant to the
  111  alleged violation, including, but not limited to, the identity
  112  of the driver and any passenger of a motor vehicle, the interior
  113  or contents of a motor vehicle, the identity of an uninvolved
  114  person, a number identifying the address of a private residence,
  115  and the contents or interior of a private residence, is
  116  sufficiently obscured so as not to reveal such personal
  117  identifying information.
  118         4. A notice of a violation or uniform traffic citation
  119  issued under this section may not be dismissed solely because a
  120  recorded video or still images reveal personal identifying
  121  information as provided in subparagraph 3. as long as a
  122  reasonable effort has been made to comply with this subsection.
  123         (17)(a) By October 1, 2023, and quarterly thereafter, each
  124  school district, in consultation with the law enforcement
  125  agencies with which it has interlocal agreements pursuant to
  126  this section, operating a school bus infraction detection system
  127  must submit, in consultation with the law enforcement agencies
  128  with which it has interlocal agreements pursuant to this
  129  section, a report to the department which details the results of
  130  the school bus infraction detection systems in the school
  131  district in the preceding quarter. The information from the
  132  school districts must be submitted in a form and manner
  133  determined by the department, which the department must make
  134  available to the school districts by August 1, 2023, and must
  135  include at least the following:
  136         1. The number of school buses that have a school bus
  137  infraction detection system installed, including the date of
  138  installation and, if applicable, the date the systems were
  139  removed.
  140         2. The number of notices of violations issued, the number
  141  that were contested, the number that were upheld, the number
  142  that were dismissed, the number that were issued as uniform
  143  traffic citations, and the number that were paid.
  144         3. Data for each infraction to determine locations in need
  145  of safety improvements. Such data may must include, but is not
  146  limited to, global positioning system coordinates of the
  147  infraction, the date and time of the infraction, and the name of
  148  the school that the school bus was transporting students to or
  149  from.
  150         4. Any other statistical data and information required by
  151  the department to complete the report required by paragraph (c).
  152         Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of section
  153  318.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  154         318.18 Amount of penalties.—The penalties required for a
  155  noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 or a criminal
  156  offense listed in s. 318.17 are as follows:
  157         (5)
  158         (c) In addition to the penalty under paragraph (a) or
  159  paragraph (b), $65 for a violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) or (b).
  160  If the alleged offender is found to have committed the offense,
  161  the court shall impose the civil penalty under paragraph (a) or
  162  paragraph (b) plus an additional $65. The additional $65
  163  collected under this paragraph shall be remitted to the
  164  Department of Revenue for deposit into the Emergency Medical
  165  Services Trust Fund of the Department of Health to be used as
  166  provided in s. 395.4036. If a violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) or
  167  (b) is enforced by a school bus infraction detection system
  168  pursuant to s. 316.173, the additional amount imposed on a
  169  notice of violation, on a the uniform traffic citation, or by
  170  the court under this paragraph must be $25, in lieu of the
  171  additional $65, and must be remitted to the participating school
  172  district and used pursuant to s. 316.173(7).
  173         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
  174  
  175  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  176  And the title is amended as follows:
  177         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  178  and insert:
  179                        A bill to be entitled                      
  180         An act relating to student transportation safety;
  181         amending s. 316.173, F.S.; providing construction;
  182         revising requirements for signage posted on the rear
  183         of a school bus indicating the use of a school bus
  184         infraction detection system; requiring a law
  185         enforcement agency to send a notice of violation to
  186         the registered owner involved in a violation within a
  187         specified timeframe after receiving certain
  188         information; requiring a court having jurisdiction
  189         over traffic violations to make a determination
  190         regarding whether a violation has occurred; requiring
  191         the court to uphold the violation if the court finds
  192         that a violation has occurred; requiring the court, if
  193         the violation is upheld, to require the petitioner to
  194         pay certain penalties and costs; revising the required
  195         uses for civil penalties assessed and collected for
  196         certain violations; prohibiting the use of school bus
  197         infraction detection systems for remote surveillance;
  198         providing construction; revising purposes for which
  199         video and images recorded as part of a school bus
  200         infraction detection system may be used; conforming
  201         provisions to changes made by the act; making
  202         technical changes; amending s. 318.18, F.S.; requiring
  203         that certain civil penalties be remitted to a
  204         participating school district operating a school bus
  205         with a school bus infraction detection system to be
  206         used for certain purposes; providing an effective
  207         date.