§ 240. Hearings, notice and conduct. 1. Notice of hearing. Whenever a
person charged with a parking violation enters a plea of not guilty; or
a person alleged to be liable in accordance with any provisions of law
specifically authorizing the imposition of monetary liability on the
owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof: to comply with
traffic-control indications in violation of subdivision (d) of section
eleven hundred eleven of this chapter through the installation and
operation of traffic-control signal photo violation-monitoring systems,
in accordance with article twenty-four of this chapter; or to comply
with certain posted maximum speed limits in violation of subdivision
(b), (c), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven hundred eighty of this
chapter through the installation and operation of photo speed violation
monitoring systems, in accordance with article thirty of this chapter;
or to comply with bus lane restrictions as defined by article
twenty-four of this chapter through the installation and operation of
bus lane photo devices, in accordance with article twenty-four of this
chapter; or to comply with toll collection regulations of certain public
authorities through the installation and operation of photo-monitoring
systems, in accordance with the provisions of section two thousand nine
hundred eighty-five of the public authorities law and sections
sixteen-a, sixteen-b and sixteen-c of chapter seven hundred seventy-four
of the laws of nineteen hundred fifty; or to stop for a school bus
displaying a red visual signal in violation of section eleven hundred
seventy-four of this chapter through the installation and operation of
school bus photo violation monitoring systems, in accordance with
article twenty-nine of this chapter; or to comply with certain posted
maximum speed limits in violation of subdivision (b), (d), (f) or (g) of
section eleven hundred eighty of this chapter within a highway
construction or maintenance work area through the installation and
operation of photo speed violation monitoring systems, in accordance
with article thirty of this chapter; or to comply with gross vehicle
weight and/or axle weight restrictions in violation of section three
hundred eighty-five of this chapter and the rules of the department of
transportation of the city of New York through the installation and
operation of weigh in motion violation monitoring systems, in accordance
with article ten of this chapter; or to comply with bus
operation-related traffic regulations as defined by article twenty-four
of this chapter in violation of the rules of the department of
transportation of the city of New York through the installation and
operation of bus operation-related photo devices, in accordance with
article twenty-four of this chapter, contests such allegation, the
bureau shall advise such person personally by such form of first class
mail as the director may direct of the date on which he or she must
appear to answer the charge at a hearing. The form and content of such
notice of hearing shall be prescribed by the director, and shall contain
a warning to advise the person so pleading or contesting that failure to
appear on the date designated, or on any subsequent adjourned date,
shall be deemed an admission of liability, and that a default judgment
may be entered thereon.

1-a. Fines and penalties. Whenever a plea of not guilty has been
entered, or the bureau has been notified that an allegation of liability
in accordance with provisions of law specifically authorizing the
imposition of monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure
of an operator thereof: to comply with traffic-control indications in
violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven hundred eleven of this
chapter through the installation and operation of traffic-control signal
photo violation-monitoring systems, in accordance with article
twenty-four of this chapter; or to comply with certain posted maximum
speed limits in violation of subdivision (b), (c), (d), (f) or (g) of
section eleven hundred eighty of this chapter through the installation
and operation of photo speed violation monitoring systems, in accordance
with article thirty of this chapter; or to comply with bus lane
restrictions as defined by article twenty-four of this chapter through
the installation and operation of bus lane photo devices, in accordance
with article twenty-four of this chapter; or to comply with toll
collection regulations of certain public authorities through the
installation and operation of photo-monitoring systems, in accordance
with the provisions of section two thousand nine hundred eighty-five of
the public authorities law and sections sixteen-a, sixteen-b and
sixteen-c of chapter seven hundred seventy-four of the laws of nineteen
hundred fifty; or to stop for a school bus displaying a red visual
signal in violation of section eleven hundred seventy-four of this
chapter through the installation and operation of school bus photo
violation monitoring systems, in accordance with article twenty-nine of
this chapter; or to comply with certain posted maximum speed limits in
violation of subdivision (b), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven hundred
eighty of this chapter within a highway construction or maintenance work
area through the installation and operation of photo speed violation
monitoring systems, in accordance with article thirty of this chapter;
or to comply with gross vehicle weight and/or axle weight restrictions
in violation of section three hundred eighty-five of this chapter and
the rules of the department of transportation of the city of New York
through the installation and operation of weigh in motion violation
monitoring systems, in accordance with article ten of this chapter; or
to comply with bus operation-related traffic regulations as defined by
article twenty-four of this chapter in violation of the rules of the
department of transportation of the city of New York through the
installation and operation of bus operation-related photo devices, in
accordance with article twenty-four of this chapter, is being contested,
by a person in a timely fashion and a hearing upon the merits has been
demanded, but has not yet been held, the bureau shall not issue any
notice of fine or penalty to that person prior to the date of the
hearing.

1-b. (a) In a city having a population of one million or more, at
every hearing for the adjudication of a notice of liability, as provided
by this article, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the owner
of a first-response emergency vehicle alleged to be liable in accordance
with any provisions of law specifically authorizing the imposition of
monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator
thereof: to comply with traffic-control indications in violation of
subdivision (d) of section eleven hundred eleven of this chapter through
the installation and operation of traffic-control signal photo
violation-monitoring systems, in accordance with article twenty-four of
this chapter; or to comply with certain posted maximum speed limits in
violation of subdivision (b), (c), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven
hundred eighty of this chapter through the installation and operation of
photo speed violation monitoring systems, in accordance with article
thirty of this chapter; or to comply with bus lane restrictions as
defined by article twenty-four of this chapter through the installation
and operation of bus lane photo devices, in accordance with article
twenty-four of this chapter; or to comply with bus operation-related
traffic regulations as defined by article twenty-four of this chapter in
violation of the rules of the department of transportation of the city
of New York through the installation and operation of bus
operation-related photo devices, in accordance with article twenty-four
of this chapter is not liable for such alleged violation if such owner
of the first-response emergency vehicle provides the hearing officer
with:

(i) a signed and affirmed affidavit attesting that the operator of the
first-response emergency vehicle at the time of the alleged violation is
a medically-trained first responder and that the alleged violation
occurred while the operator of the first-response emergency vehicle was
involved in an emergency operation in such vehicle in response to a
medical emergency call; and

(ii) documentation supporting the dispatch of the medical emergency
call and the dispatch of the operator and the first-response emergency
vehicle to the scene of the medical emergency.

(b) As used in this subdivision, "first-response emergency vehicle"
shall mean ambulances as defined in section one hundred-b of this
chapter and emergency ambulance service vehicles as defined in section
one hundred fifteen-c of this chapter.

2. Conduct of hearings. a. Every hearing for the adjudication of a
charge of parking violation or an allegation of liability of an owner
for a violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven hundred eleven of
this chapter imposed pursuant to a local law or ordinance imposing
monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator
thereof to comply with traffic-control indications through the
installation and operation of traffic-control signal photo
violation-monitoring systems, in accordance with article twenty-four of
this chapter, or an allegation of liability of an owner for a violation
of subdivision (b), (c), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven hundred
eighty of this chapter imposed pursuant to a demonstration program
imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an
operator thereof to comply with certain posted maximum speed limits
through the installation and operation of photo speed violation
monitoring systems, in accordance with article thirty of this chapter,
or an allegation of liability of an owner for a violation of bus lane
restrictions as defined by article twenty-four of this chapter imposed
pursuant to a bus rapid transit program imposing monetary liability on
the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to comply with
such bus lane restrictions through the installation and operation of bus
lane photo devices, in accordance with article twenty-four of this
chapter, or an allegation of liability of an owner for a violation of
toll collection regulations imposed by certain public authorities
pursuant to the law authorizing such public authorities to impose
monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator
thereof to comply with toll collection regulations of such public
authorities through the installation and operation of photo-monitoring
systems, in accordance with the provisions of section two thousand nine
hundred eighty-five of the public authorities law and sections
sixteen-a, sixteen-b and sixteen-c of chapter seven hundred seventy-four
of the laws of nineteen hundred fifty, or an allegation of liability of
an owner for a violation of section eleven hundred seventy-four of this
chapter when meeting a school bus marked and equipped as provided in
subdivisions twenty and twenty-one-c of section three hundred
seventy-five of this chapter imposed pursuant to a local law or
ordinance imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for
failure of an operator thereof to comply with school bus red visual
signals through the installation and operation of school bus photo
violation monitoring systems, in accordance with article twenty-nine of
this chapter, or an allegation of liability of an owner for a violation
of subdivision (b), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven hundred eighty of
this chapter imposed pursuant to a demonstration program imposing
monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator
thereof to comply with certain posted maximum speed limits within a
highway construction or maintenance work area through the installation
and operation of photo speed violation monitoring systems, in accordance
with article thirty of this chapter, or an allegation of liability of an
owner for a violation of section three hundred eighty-five of this
chapter and the rules of the department of transportation of the city of
New York in relation to gross vehicle weight and/or axle weight
violations imposed pursuant to a weigh in motion demonstration program
imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an
operator thereof to comply with such gross vehicle weight and/or axle
weight restrictions through the installation and operation of weigh in
motion violation monitoring systems, in accordance with article ten of
this chapter, or an allegation of liability of an owner for a violation
of bus operation-related traffic regulations as defined by article
twenty-four of this chapter imposed pursuant to a demonstration program
imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an
operator thereof to comply with such bus operation-related traffic
regulations through the installation and operation of bus
operation-related photo devices, in accordance with article twenty-four
of this chapter, shall be held before a hearing examiner in accordance
with rules and regulations promulgated by the bureau.

b. No charge may be established except upon proof by substantial
evidence.

c. The hearing examiner shall not be bound by the rules of evidence in
the conduct of the hearing, except rules relating to privileged
communications.

d. The hearing examiner shall at the request of the person charged on
a showing of good cause and need therefor, or in his own discretion,
issue a subpoena to compel the appearance at a hearing of the officer
who served the notice of violation or of other persons to give
testimony, and may issue a subpoena duces tecum to compel the production
for examination or introduction into evidence, of any book, paper or
other thing relevant to the charges.

e. In the case of a refusal to obey a subpoena, the bureau may make
application to the Supreme Court pursuant to section twenty-three
hundred eight of the civil practice law and rules, for an order
requiring such appearance, testimony or production of evidence.

f. The hearing examiner shall not examine the prior violation record
of a person charged before making a determination.

g. A record shall be made of a hearing on a plea of not guilty or of a
hearing at which liability in accordance with any provisions of law
specifically authorizing the imposition of monetary liability on the
owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof: to comply with
traffic-control indications in violation of subdivision (d) of section
eleven hundred eleven of this chapter through the installation and
operation of traffic-control signal photo violation-monitoring systems,
in accordance with article twenty-four of this chapter; to comply with
certain posted maximum speed limits in violation of subdivision (b),
(c), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven hundred eighty of this chapter
through the installation and operation of photo speed violation
monitoring systems, in accordance with article thirty of this chapter;
to comply with bus lane restrictions as defined by article twenty-four
of this chapter through the installation and operation of bus lane photo
devices, in accordance with article twenty-four of this chapter; to
comply with toll collection regulations of certain public authorities
through the installation and operation of photo-monitoring systems, in
accordance with the provisions of section two thousand nine hundred
eighty-five of the public authorities law and sections sixteen-a,
sixteen-b and sixteen-c of chapter seven hundred seventy-four of the
laws of nineteen hundred fifty; to stop for a school bus displaying a
red visual signal in violation of section eleven hundred seventy-four of
this chapter through the installation and operation of school bus photo
violation monitoring systems, in accordance with article twenty-nine of
this chapter; to comply with certain posted maximum speed limits in
violation of subdivision (b), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven hundred
eighty of this chapter within a highway construction or maintenance work
area through the installation and operation of photo speed violation
monitoring systems, in accordance with article thirty of this chapter;
to comply with gross vehicle weight and/or axle weight restrictions in
violation of section three hundred eighty-five of this chapter and the
rules of the department of transportation of the city of New York
through the installation and operation of weigh in motion violation
monitoring systems, in accordance with article ten of this chapter; or
to comply with bus operation-related traffic regulations as defined by
article twenty-four of this chapter in violation of the rules of the
department of transportation of the city of New York through the
installation and operation of bus operation-related photo devices, in
accordance with article twenty-four of this chapter, is contested.
Recording devices may be used for the making of the record.