Under current law, the governing body of a municipality may not enact a traffic
ordinance unless the ordinance strictly conforms to current state traffic law or the
ordinance is expressly authorized by law. State law imposes liability on the owner
of a vehicle that is observed violating certain laws or local ordinances, including laws
or local ordinances that prohibit fleeing a traffic officer, failing to yield the

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right-of-way to an emergency vehicle or funeral procession, passing a fire truck or
school bus, and parking in a parking space designated for vehicles with special
registration plates.

This bill authorizes the governing body of a county, city, village, or town to enact
an ordinance that permits the use of a traffic control photographic system (TCPS) on
highways under the jurisdiction of the county, city, village, or town to detect and
identify motor vehicles that fail to stop at red traffic signals at intersections and to
wait for a green signal (red light violations). A TCPS is defined as an electronic
system that consists of a photographic, video, or electronic camera and a vehicle
sensor that work in conjunction with a traffic control signal to automatically produce
photographs, stamped with the time and date, of motor vehicles traveling through
an intersection. With exceptions, the vehicle owner is subject to a forfeiture for the
red light violation detected by a TCPS, but if the vehicle owner successfully asserts
certain defenses, the lessee or operator of the vehicle is subject to a forfeiture for the
violation. The bill requires the ordinance to include a provision that allows a traffic
officer employed by the county, city, village, or town to issue a citation to the owner
of a vehicle for a red light violation that is detected by a TCPS or, in limited
circumstances, to the operator of such a vehicle. The ordinance must require the
local authority to send to the owner, or in limited circumstances the lessee or
operator, of the vehicle, by certified mail, the traffic citation and a duplicate of the
photograph, video, or digital image of the vehicle failing to stop at a red traffic signal.
The ordinance also must require that any photograph or other image produced by the
TCPS be focused on the rear license plate of the vehicles moving through an
intersection. The governing body of a county, city, village, or town that uses a TCPS
is required to erect signs at a sufficient distance from an intersection monitored by
a TCPS to warn motor vehicle operators that the intersection is monitored by a
TCPS.

If an owner is issued a traffic citation for a violation of the local ordinance, it
is not a defense that the owner was not in control of the vehicle at the time of the
violation, except that the owner may assert the following defenses:

1. The vehicle was reported stolen before the violation occurred or within a
reasonable time after the violation occurred.

2. If the vehicle is owned by, and registered in the name of, a lessor, a lessee who
is identified by the lessor had possession of the vehicle at the time of the traffic signal
violation. The lessee may be issued a citation for the red light violation.

3. If the vehicle is owned by a motor vehicle dealer, the vehicle was being
operated by another person on a trial run and the dealer provided a traffic officer
with the person's name, address, and operator's license number. The vehicle
operator may be issued a citation for the red light violation.

4. Any other defense established by the county, city, village, or town that is
specified in the ordinance.

Except for the service requirements described above, the procedure applicable
to citations for red light violations detected by a TCPS is the same as that applicable
to citations for nonmoving traffic violations (parking tickets), including potential
vehicle registration suspension for unpaid citations. A person convicted of a red light

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violation detected by a TCPS is subject to a forfeiture of not more than $50 but is not
subject to additional surcharges, costs, or fees. The person's operating privilege may
not be suspended or revoked and the person may not be assessed any demerit points
on his or her driving record.