§ 12.21.050. Affirmative defenses.

A.

It shall be an affirmative defense to liability under this article, to be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, that:

1.

The traffic-control signal was not in proper position and sufficiently legible to an ordinarily observant person;

2.

The operator of the motor vehicle was acting in compliance with the lawful order or direction of a police officer;

3.

The operator of the motor vehicle violated the instructions of the traffic-control signal so as to yield the right-of-way to an immediately approaching authorized emergency vehicle;

4.

The motor vehicle was being operated as an authorized emergency vehicle under Chapter 546 of the Texas Transportation Code and the operator was acting in compliance with that chapter;

5.

The motor vehicle was a stolen vehicle and being operated by a person other than the owner of the vehicle without the effective consent of the owner;

6.

The license plate depicted in the recorded image of the violation was a stolen plate being displayed on a motor vehicle other than the motor vehicle for which the plate had been issued;

7.

The vehicle was being operated by a person other than the owner of the vehicle;

8.

The presence of ice, snow, unusual amounts of rain or other unusually hazardous road conditions existed that would make compliance with this article more dangerous under the circumstances than noncompliance;

9.

The person who received the notice of violation was not the owner of the motor vehicle at the time of the violation; or

10.

The operator, after stopping or standing, entered the intersection safely yielding the right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully in an adjacent crosswalk and other traffic lawfully using the intersection and turned right, or turned left where intersecting streets were both one-way streets and a left turn is permissible.

B.

To demonstrate that at the time of the violation the motor vehicle was a stolen vehicle or the license plate displayed on the motor vehicle was a stolen plate, the owner must submit proof acceptable to the hearing officer that the theft of the vehicle or license plate had been timely reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

(Ord. 16873 § 2 (part), 2008)