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A.  In the exercise of the toll powers of the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission, the commission is authorized to exercise so much of the police powers of the state as shall be necessary to maintain the peace and accomplish the orderly handling of authority, subject to the provisions of this Section.  The commission shall adopt such rules and regulations for the method of taking tolls and the employment and conduct of toll takers and other operating employees as the commission, in its discretion, may deem necessary.

B.  No motor vehicle shall be driven or towed through a toll collection facility on the Greater New Orleans Expressway, where appropriate signs have been erected to notify traffic that it is subject to the payment of tolls beyond such sign, without payment of the proper toll.  In the event of nonpayment of the proper toll, as evidenced by video or electronic recording, the registered owner of such vehicle shall be liable to make prompt payment to the commission of the proper toll and an administrative fee of twenty-five dollars to recover the cost of collecting the toll.  Such administrative fee shall be waived if the toll is paid within seventy-two hours of the violation. Upon failure to pay the proper toll and administrative fee to the commission after notice thereof and within the time designated in such notice, the registered owner shall be cited for a violation of La. Rev. Stat. 14:71.2 and, upon conviction, shall be subject to the payment of a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each and every violation of this Section and any other fine or penalty that may be prescribed by law for such violations.  In prosecution of an offense, proof that the vehicle was operated in violation of this Section, together with proof that the defendant was at the time of such violation the registered owner of the vehicle, shall constitute in evidence a rebuttable presumption that such registered owner of the vehicle was the person who committed the violation.  The court of the local jurisdiction in which the violation occurred shall be authorized to assess and collect such fine, in addition to any court costs, provided that the court shall also collect the proper toll and administrative fee and forward such toll and fee to the commission.

C.  Definitions of terms included in La. Rev. Stat. 32:1 apply to terms used in this Section which are not specifically defined in this Subsection.  As used in this Section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1)  “Electronic toll collection system” means a system of collecting tolls or charges that is capable of charging an account holder for the appropriate toll by transmission of information between a device on a motor vehicle and a toll collection facility.

(2)  “Pay” means paying a toll by cash, by permitting a charge against a valid account with the commission, or by another means of payment approved by the commission as applicable at the time.

(3)  “Photo-monitoring system” means a motor vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with a toll collection facility that automatically produces a photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image of a motor vehicle when the operator of the motor vehicle fails to pay a toll.

(4)  “Registered owner” means a person in whose name a motor vehicle is registered under the law of a jurisdiction, including a person issued a dealer or transporter registration plate or a lessor of motor vehicles for public lease.

(5)  “Toll” or “tolls” means tolls or charges prescribed by the commission for the use of the causeway-bridge.

D.  The following procedures shall be taken for the collection of tolls and civil penalties under this Section:

(1)  The commission shall send a notice of liability by first class mail to a person alleged to be liable as a registered owner of the vehicle at the address shown on the records of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of motor vehicles, no later than sixty days after the alleged failure to pay.  A manual or automatic record of the mailing prepared in the ordinary course of business of the commission is prima facie evidence of the mailing of the notice.

(2)  A notice of liability shall include the name and address of the person alleged to be liable as a registered owner for the failure to pay a toll under this Section, the amount of the toll not paid, the registration number of the vehicle involved, the toll collection facility at which the failure occurred, the date and the approximate time of the failure, and any additional administrative fees due.

(3)  The notice shall also include a warning that failure to contest in the manner provided within thirty days is an admission of liability and a waiver of available defenses and advise the registered owner that failure to contest or failure to pay shall result in the forwarding by the commission of the violation to the district attorney for prosecution under La. Rev. Stat. 14:71.2.

(4)  Should the registered owner fail to contest or pay in the manner provided in the notice of liability, within thirty days the commission shall serve upon the registered owner, by certified mail, a demand for payment of all tolls and costs provided by this Section.

(5)  The demand for payment shall also advise the registered owner that the penalties provided by law have become final and failure to pay within thirty days of receipt of the demand for payment will cause the commission to forward the violation to the appropriate district attorney for prosecution under La. Rev. Stat. 14:71.2.

E.  Except as provided in Subsection F of this Section, it is not a defense to liability under this Section that a registered owner was not operating the motor vehicle at the time of the failure to pay.

F.  Defenses to liability under this Section are as follows:

(1)  If the registered owner of the motor vehicle notifies the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission that he was not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the violation and provides the commission the name of the actual driver, then the owner shall be liable for payment of only the toll.

(2)  If the registered owner is a lessor of motor vehicles, and at the time of the failure to pay a division or commission toll, the motor vehicle was in the possession of a lessee, and the lessor provides the commission with a copy of the lease agreement, then the registered owner is not liable under this Section.

(3)  If the motor vehicle is operated using a dealer or transporter registration plate, and at the time of the failure to pay a commission toll, the motor vehicle was under the custody or control of a person other than the dealer or transporter, and if the dealer or transporter provides the commission with the name and address of the person who had custody or control over the motor vehicle at the time of the failure to pay, then that person, and not the dealer or transporter, is liable under this Section.

(4)  If a report that the motor vehicle was stolen is given to a law enforcement officer or agency before the failure to pay a commission toll occurs or within forty-eight hours after the registered owner becomes aware of the theft, then the registered owner is not liable under this Section.

G.  Admissibility of photo-monitoring evidence:

(1)  A photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image produced by a photo-monitoring device is admissible in a proceeding to collect a toll or other charge of the commission, to collect criminal penalties imposed, or to impose criminal liability for a failure to pay the toll or charge.

(2)  An original or facsimile of a certificate, sworn to or affirmed by an agent of the commission that states that a failure to pay has occurred and states that it is based upon a personal inspection of a photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image produced by a photo-monitoring system, as defined in this Section, is prima facie evidence of the facts contained in the certificate.

(3)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a photograph, microphotograph, videotape, or other recorded image prepared for enforcement of commission tolls is for the exclusive use of the commission in the discharge of its duties under this Section.

H.  The tolls, the administrative fees, and any criminal penalties provided by law which are collected by the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission shall continue to be considered as self-generated funds and are to be dedicated to the parishes jointly and to the commission to supplement the amounts received as net tolls and revenues from the expressway to pay the principal of and interest on the revenue bonds issued by the parishes jointly and the commission to finance the construction and improvement of the expressway as provided by Act 762 of the 1986 Regular Session and amended by Act 875 of the 1988 Regular Session.

Acts 1995, No. 720, §3; Acts 2003, No. 727, §3, eff. June 27, 2003.

NOTE:  See Acts 2001, No. 1021, §3, relative to installation of monitoring system and enforcement of toll violations by Jan. 1, 2002.