46.2-819.5 - Enforcement through use of photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identification system in conjunction with usage of Dulles Access Highway.
§ 46.2-819.5. Enforcement through use of photo-monitoring system or automaticvehicle identification system in conjunction with usage of Dulles AccessHighway.
A. A photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identification systemestablished at locations along the Dulles Access Highway, in order toidentify vehicles that are using the Dulles Access Highway in violation ofthe Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Authority) regulationregarding usage, which makes violations of the regulation subject to civilpenalties, shall be administered in accordance with this section. The civilpenalties for violations of such regulation may not exceed the following: $50for the first violation; $100 for a second violation within one year from thefirst violation; $250 for a third violation within two years from the secondviolation; and $500 for a fourth and any subsequent violation within threeyears from the second violation. In the event a violation of the Authorityregulation is identified via the photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicleidentification system, the operator of the Dulles Access Highway shall send anotice of the violation, of the applicable civil penalty and of anyadministrative fee calculated in accordance with subsection C to theregistered owner of the vehicle identified by the system prior to seekingfurther remedies under this section. Upon receipt of the notice, theregistered owner of the vehicle may elect to avoid any action by the operatorto enforce the violation in court by waiving his right to a court hearing,pleading guilty to the violation, and paying a reduced civil penalty alongwith any applicable administrative fee to the operator. Should the recipientof the notice make such an election, the amount of the reduced civil penaltyshall be as follows: $30 for the first violation; $50 for a second violationwithin one year from the first violation; $125 for a third violation withintwo years from the second violation; and $250 for a fourth and any subsequentviolations within three years from the second violation.
B. Information collected by the photo-monitoring system or automatic vehicleidentification system referenced in subsection A shall be limited exclusivelyto that information that is necessary for identifying those drivers whoimproperly use the Dulles Access Highway in violation of the Authorityregulation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all photographs,microphotographs, electronic images, or other data collected by aphoto-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identification system shall beused exclusively for the identification of violators and shall not (i) beopen to the public; (ii) be sold or used for sales, solicitation, ormarketing purposes; (iii) be disclosed to any other entity except as may benecessary for the identification of violators or to a vehicle owner oroperator as part of a challenge to the imposition of a civil penalty; or (iv)be used in a court in a pending action or proceeding unless the action orproceeding relates to a violation of the Authority regulation governing usageof the Dulles Access Highway or upon order from a court of competentjurisdiction. Information collected by the system shall be protected in adatabase with security comparable to that of the Department of MotorVehicles' system, and be purged and not retained later than 30 days after thecollection and reconciliation of any civil penalties and administrative fees.The operator of the Dulles Access Highway shall annually certify compliancewith this subsection and make all records pertaining to such system availablefor inspection and audit by the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner orthe Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles or their designee. Anyviolation of this subsection shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor. Inaddition to any fines or other penalties provided for by law, any money orother thing of value obtained as a result of a violation of this subsectionshall be forfeited to the Commonwealth.
C. The operator of the Dulles Access Highway may impose and collect anadministrative fee, in addition to the civil penalty established byregulation, so as to recover the expenses of collecting the civil penalty,which administrative fee shall be reasonably related to the actual cost ofcollecting the civil penalty and shall not exceed $100 per violation. Suchfee shall not be levied upon the operator of the vehicle until a secondviolation has been documented within 12 months of an initial violation, inwhich case the fee shall apply to such second violation and to any additionalviolation occurring thereafter. If the recipient of the notice referenced insubsection A makes the election provided by that subsection, theadministrative fee shall not exceed $25.
D. If the election provided for in subsection A is not made, the operator ofthe Dulles Access Highway may proceed to enforce the violation in court. Ifthe matter proceeds to court, the registered owner or operator of a vehicleshall be liable for the civil penalty set out in the Authority regulationgoverning usage of the Dulles Access Highway, any applicable administrativefees calculated in accordance with subsection C and applicable court costs ifthe vehicle is found, as evidenced by information obtained from aphoto-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identification system asprovided in this section, to have used the Dulles Access Highway in violationof the Authority regulation; provided, that the civil penalty may not exceedthe amount of the penalty identified in subsection A.
E. Any action under this section shall be brought in the General DistrictCourt of the county in which the violation occurred.
F. Proof of a violation of the Authority regulation governing the use of theDulles Access Highway shall be evidenced by information obtained from thephoto-monitoring system or automatic vehicle identification system referencedin subsection A. A certificate, sworn to or affirmed by a technician employedor authorized by the operator of the Dulles Access Highway, or a facsimile ofsuch a certificate, that is based on inspection of photographs,microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images or electronic dataproduced by the photo-monitoring system shall be prima facie evidence of thefacts contained therein. Any photographs, microphotographs, videotape, orother recorded images or electronic data evidencing such a violation shall beavailable for inspection in any proceeding to adjudicate the liability forsuch violation under this section.
G. A summons issued under this section, which describes a vehicle that, onthe basis of a certificate referenced in subsection F, is alleged to havebeen operated in violation of the Authority regulation governing usage of theDulles Access Highway, shall be prima facie evidence that such vehicle wasoperated in violation of the Authority regulation.
H. Upon a finding by a court that the vehicle described in the summons issuedunder this section was in violation of the Authority regulation, the courtshall impose a civil penalty upon the registered owner or operator of suchvehicle in accordance with the penalty amounts specified in subsection D,together with any applicable court costs and applicable administrative feescalculated in accordance with subsection C. Civil penalties andadministrative fees assessed as a result of an action initiated under thissection and collected by the court shall be remanded by the clerk of thecourt that adjudicated the action to the treasurer or director of finance ofthe county or city in which the violation occurred for payment to theoperator of the Dulles Access Highway.
The registered owner of a vehicle shall be given reasonable notice of anenforcement action in court by way of a summons that informs the owner thathis vehicle has been used in violation of the Authority regulation governingthe use of the Dulles Access Highway and of the time and place of the courthearing, as well as of the civil penalty and court costs for the violation.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 shall be issued to such alleged operator of the vehicle.
In any action against such a vehicle operator, an affidavit made by theregistered owner providing the name and address of the vehicle operator atthe time of the violation shall constitute prima facie evidence that theperson named in the affidavit was operating the vehicle at all the relevanttimes relating to the matter addressed 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.
I. Upon a finding by a court that a person has three or more violations ofthe Authority regulation governing the use of the Dulles Access Highway andhas failed to pay the required civil penalties, administrative fees and courtcosts into the court, the court shall notify the Commissioner of theDepartment of Motor Vehicles, who shall refuse to issue or renew any vehicleregistration certificate to or for such person or the license plate for thevehicle owned by such person until the court has notified the Commissionerthat such civil penalties, fees, and costs have been paid. The Commissionershall collect a $40 administrative fee from such person to defray the cost ofresponding to court notices given pursuant to this subsection.
J. For purposes of this section, "operator of the Dulles Access Highway"means the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority; "owner" means theregistered owner of a vehicle on record with the Department of MotorVehicles; "photo-monitoring system" means equipment that produces one ormore photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images ofvehicles at the time they are used or operated in violation of the Authorityregulation governing the use of the Dulles Access Highway; "automaticvehicle identification system" means an electronic vehicle identificationsystem that automatically produces an electronic record of each vehicleequipped with an automatic vehicle identification device that uses monitoredportions of the Dulles Access Highway; and "automatic vehicle identificationdevice" means an electronic device that communicates by wirelesstransmission with an automatic vehicle identification system.
K. 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 theDulles Access Highway with a copy of the vehicle rental agreement or lease,or an affidavit that identifies the renter or lessee, prior to the date ofhearing set forth in the summons. Upon receipt of such rental agreement,lease, or affidavit, a summons shall be issued to such renter or lessee.Release of this information shall not be deemed a violation of any provisionof the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (§ 2.2-3800et seq.) or the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act (§ 38.2-600et seq.). In any action against the renter or lessee, a copy of the vehiclerental agreement, lease, or affidavit identifying the renter or lessee of thevehicle at the time of the violation shall be prima facie evidence that theperson named in the rental agreement, lease, or affidavit was operating thevehicle at all the relevant times relating to the matter named in the summons.
L. Imposition of a civil penalty pursuant to this section shall not be deemeda conviction as an operator and shall not be made a part of the drivingrecord of the person upon whom such civil penalty is imposed, nor shall it beused for insurance purposes in the provision of motor vehicle insurancecoverage. The provisions of § 46.2-395 shall not be applicable to any civilpenalty, administrative fee, or cost imposed or ordered paid under thissection.
M. On a form prescribed by the Supreme Court, a summons for a violation ofthe Authority regulation governing the use of the Dulles Access Highway maybe executed pursuant to § 19.2-76.2. The operator of the Dulles AccessHighway or its personnel or agents mailing such summons shall be consideredconservators of the peace for the sole and limited purpose of mailing suchsummons. Pursuant to § 19.2-76.2, the summons for a violation of theAuthority regulation governing usage of the Dulles Access Highway may beexecuted by mailing by first-class mail a copy thereof to the address of theowner of the vehicle as shown on the records of the Department of MotorVehicles or, if the registered owner or rental or leasing company has namedand provided a valid address for the operator of the vehicle at the time ofthe violation as provided in this section, to the address of 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.
N. The operator of the Dulles Access Highway may enter into an agreement withthe Department of Motor Vehicles, in accordance with the provisions ofsubdivision B 21 of § 46.2-208, to obtain vehicle owner information regardingthe registered owners of vehicles that improperly use the Dulles AccessHighway. Information provided to the operator of the Dulles Access Highwayshall only be used in the enforcement of the Authority regulation governinguse of the Dulles Access Highway, and the operator shall be subject to thesame conditions and penalties regarding release of the information ascontained in subsection B.
O. Should other vehicle recognition technology become available that isappropriate to be used for the purpose of monitoring improper usage of theDulles Access Highway, the operator of the Dulles Access Highway shall bepermitted to use any such technology that has been approved for use by theVirginia State Police, the Commonwealth of Virginia, or any of its localities.
P. All civil penalties paid to the operator of the Dulles Access Highwaypursuant to this section shall be used by the operator of the Dulles AccessHighway only for the operation and improvement of the Dulles Corridor,including the Dulles Toll Road.
(2010, cc. 813, 865.)