2006 Code of Virginia § 46.2-819.1 - Installation and use of photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identification system in conju...

46.2-819.1. Installation and use of photo-monitoring system or automaticvehicle identification system in conjunction with certain toll facilities;penalty.

A. The operator of any toll facility or the locality within which such tollfacility is located may install and operate or cause to be installed andoperated a photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identificationsystem, or both, at locations where tolls are collected for the use of suchtoll facility. The operator of a toll facility shall send an invoice or billfor unpaid tolls to the registered owner of a vehicle as part of anelectronic or manual toll collection process, prior to seeking remedies underthis section.

B. Information collected by a photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicleidentification system installed and operated pursuant to subsection A shallbe limited exclusively to that information that is necessary for thecollection of unpaid tolls. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, allphotographs, microphotographs, electronic images, or other data collected bya photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identification system shall beused exclusively for the collection of unpaid tolls and shall not (i) be opento the public; (ii) be sold and/or used for sales, solicitation, or marketingpurposes; (iii) be disclosed to any other entity except as may be necessaryfor the collection of unpaid tolls or to a vehicle owner or operator as partof a challenge to the imposition of a toll; and (iv) be used in a court in apending action or proceeding unless the action or proceeding relates to aviolation of this section or upon order from a court of competentjurisdiction. Information collected under this section shall be purged andnot retained later than 30 days after the collection and reconciliation ofany unpaid tolls, administrative fees, and/or civil penalties. Any entityoperating a photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identificationsystem shall annually certify compliance with this section and make allrecords pertaining to such system available for inspection and audit by theCommonwealth Transportation Commissioner or the Commissioner of theDepartment of Motor Vehicles or their designee. Any violation of thissubsection shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition to any finesor other penalties provided for by law, any money or other thing of valueobtained as a result of a violation of this section shall be forfeited to theCommonwealth.

The toll facility operator may impose and collect an administrative fee inaddition to the unpaid toll so as to recover the expenses of collecting theunpaid toll, which administrative fee shall be reasonably related to theactual cost of collecting the unpaid toll and not exceed $100 per violation.Such fee shall not be levied upon the operator of the vehicle until thesecond unpaid toll has been documented. The operator of the vehicle shall paythe unpaid tolls and any administrative fee detailed in an invoice or billissued by a toll facility operator. If paid within 30 days of notification,the administrative fee shall not exceed $25.

C. If the matter proceeds to court, the registered owner or operator of avehicle shall be liable for a civil penalty as follows: for a first offense,$50; for a second offense within one year from the first offense, $100; for athird offense within two years from the second offense, $250; and for afourth and any subsequent offense within three years from the second offense,$500 plus, in each case, the unpaid toll, all accrued administrative feesimposed by the toll facility operator, and applicable court costs if thevehicle is found, as evidenced by information obtained from aphoto-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identification system asprovided in this section, to have used such a toll facility without paymentof the required toll.

D. Any action under this section shall be brought in the General DistrictCourt of the city or county in which the toll facility is located.

E. Proof of a violation of this section shall be evidenced by informationobtained from a photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identificationsystem as provided in this section. A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by atechnician employed or authorized by the operator of a toll facility or bythe locality wherein the toll facility is located, or a facsimile of such acertificate, based on inspection of photographs, microphotographs,videotapes, or other recorded images produced by a photo-monitoring system,or of electronic data collected by an automatic vehicle identificationsystem, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. Anyphotographs, microphotographs, videotape, or other recorded images orelectronic data evidencing such a violation shall be available for inspectionin any proceeding to adjudicate the liability for such violation under thissection. A record of communication by an automatic vehicle identificationdevice with the automatic vehicle identification system at the time of aviolation of this section shall be prima facie evidence that the automaticvehicle identification device was located in the vehicle registered to usesuch device in the records of the Virginia Department of Transportation.

F. It shall be prima facie evidence that the vehicle described in the summonsissued pursuant to subsection K of this section was operated in violation ofthis section.

Upon a finding by a court of competent jurisdiction that the vehicledescribed in the summons issued pursuant to subsection K of this section wasin violation of this section, the court shall impose a civil penalty upon theregistered owner or operator of such vehicle in accordance with the amountsspecified in subsection C of this section, together with applicable courtcosts, the operator's administrative fee and the toll due. Penalties assessedas the result of action initiated by the Virginia Department ofTransportation shall be remanded by the clerk of the court which adjudicatedthe action to the Virginia Department of Transportation's Toll FacilitiesRevolving Fund. Penalties assessed as the result of action initiated by anoperator of a toll facility other than the Virginia Department ofTransportation shall be remanded by the clerk of the court which adjudicatedthe action to the treasurer or director of finance of the county or city inwhich the violation occurred for payment to the toll facility operator.

The registered owner of such vehicle shall be given reasonable notice by wayof a summons as provided in subsection K of this section that his vehicle hadbeen used in violation of this section and such owner shall be given noticeof the time and place of the hearing as well as the civil penalty and costsfor such offense.

Upon the filing of an affidavit with the court at least 14 days prior to thehearing date by the registered owner of the vehicle stating that he was notthe driver of the vehicle on the date of the violation and providing thelegal name and address of the operator of the vehicle at the time of theviolation, a summons will also be issued to the alleged operator of thevehicle at the time of the offense.

In any action against a vehicle operator, an affidavit made by the registeredowner providing the name and address of the vehicle operator at the time ofthe violation shall constitute prima facie evidence that the person named inthe affidavit was operating the vehicle at all the relevant times relating tothe matter named in the affidavit.

If the registered owner of the vehicle produces a certified copy of a policereport showing that the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolenprior to the time of the alleged offense and remained stolen at the time ofthe alleged offense, then the court shall dismiss the summons issued to theregistered owner of the vehicle.

G. Upon a finding by a court that a person has three or more unpaid tolls andsuch person fails to pay the required penalties, fees, and unpaid tolls, thecourt shall notify the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, whoshall refuse to issue or renew any vehicle registration certificate of anyapplicant or the license plate issued for the vehicle driven in thecommission of the offense until the court has notified the Commissioner thatsuch penalties, fees, and unpaid tolls have been paid. If it is proven thatthe vehicle owner was not the operator at the time of the offense and upon afinding by a court that the person identified in an affidavit pursuant tosubsection F as the operator violated this section and such person fails topay the required penalties, fees, and unpaid tolls, the court shall notifythe Commissioner, who shall refuse to issue or renew any vehicle registrationcertificate of any applicant or the license plate issued for any vehicleowned or co-owned by such person until the court has notified theCommissioner that such penalties, fees, and unpaid tolls have been paid. Suchfunds representing payment of unpaid tolls and all administrative fees of thetoll facility operator shall be transferred from the court to the VirginiaDepartment of Transportation's Toll Facilities Revolving Fund or, in the caseof an action initiated by an operator of a toll facility other than theVirginia Department of Transportation, to the treasurer or director offinance of the county or city in which the violation occurred for payment tothe toll facility operator. The Commissioner shall collect a $40administrative fee from the registered owner or operator of the vehicle todefray the cost of processing and removing an order to deny registration orregistration renewal.

H. For purposes of this section, "operator of a toll facility other than theVirginia Department of Transportation" means any agency, politicalsubdivision, authority, or other entity authorized by the Code of Virginia tooperate such toll facility; "owner" means the registered owner of a vehicleon record with the Department of Motor Vehicles. For purposes of thissection, "owner" does not mean a vehicle rental or vehicle leasing company;"photo-monitoring system" means a vehicle sensor installed to work inconjunction with a toll collection device that automatically produces one ormore photographs, one or more microphotographs, a videotape, or otherrecorded images of each vehicle at the time it is used or operated inviolation of this section; "automatic vehicle identification system" meansan electronic vehicle identification system installed to work in conjunctionwith a toll collection device that automatically produces an electronicrecord of each vehicle equipped with an automatic vehicle identificationdevice that uses a toll facility; and "automatic vehicle identificationdevice" means an electronic device that communicates by wirelesstransmission with an automatic vehicle identification system.

I. Any vehicle rental or vehicle leasing company, if named in a summons,shall be released as a party to the action if it provides the operator of thetoll facility a copy of the vehicle rental agreement or lease or an affidavitidentifying the renter or lessee prior to the date of hearing set forth inthe summons. Upon receipt of such rental agreement, lease, or affidavit, anotice shall be mailed to the renter or lessee identified therein. Release ofthis information shall not be deemed a violation of any provision of theGovernment Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act ( 2.2-3800 etseq.) or the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act ( 38.2-600 etseq.). The toll facility operator shall allow at least 30 days from the dateof such mailing before pursuing other remedies under this section. In anyaction against the vehicle operator, a copy of the vehicle rental agreement,lease, or affidavit identifying the renter or lessee of the vehicle at thetime of the violation is prima facie evidence that the person named in therental agreement, lease, or affidavit was operating the vehicle at all therelevant times relating to the matter named in the summons.

J. Imposition of a civil penalty pursuant to this section shall not be deemeda conviction as an operator and shall not be made part of the driving recordof the person upon whom such civil penalty is imposed nor shall it be usedfor insurance purposes in the provision of motor vehicle insurance coverage.

K. On a form prescribed by the Supreme Court, a summons for a violation ofthis section may be executed pursuant to 19.2-76.2. Toll facility personnelor their agents mailing such summons shall be considered conservators of thepeace for the sole and limited purpose of mailing such summons.Notwithstanding the provisions of 19.2-76, a summons for a violation ofthis section may be executed by mailing by first-class mail a copy thereof tothe address of the owner of the vehicle as shown on the records of theDepartment of Motor Vehicles or, if the registered owner has named andprovided a valid address for the operator of the vehicle at the time of theviolation in an affidavit executed pursuant to subsection F, such namedoperator of the vehicle. If the summoned person fails to appear on the dateof return set out in the summons mailed pursuant to this section, the summonsshall be executed in the manner set out in 19.2-76.3.

L. The operator of a toll facility may enter into an agreement with theDepartment of Motor Vehicles, in accordance with the provisions ofsubdivision 21 of subsection B of 46.2-208, to obtain vehicle ownerinformation regarding the registered owners of vehicles that fail to paytolls required for the use of toll facilities and with the VirginiaDepartment of Transportation to obtain any information that is necessary toconduct electronic toll collection. Information provided to the operator of atoll facility shall only be used for the collection of unpaid tolls and theoperator of the toll facility shall be subject to the same conditions andpenalties regarding release of the information as contained in subsection B.

M. No person shall be subject to both the provisions of this section and toprosecution under 46.2-819 for actions arising out of the same transactionor occurrence.

(1998, c. 802; 2001, cc. 803, 852; 2003, c. 768; 2004, c. 924; 2005, c. 862;2006, c. 859.)