A. General Penalty Imposed: Unless specifically provided elsewhere in this code, ordinances, or state statute, any person found to have been in violation of any of the terms and provisions of this code shall be fined in accordance with the classifications and fines set forth in subsections Band C of this section.
B. Classifications: The following classifications are established to reflect the relative seriousness of violations to the various sections of this code and its ordinances:
1. Class A Violations: Actions which present an immediate risk to health and safety. The fine for a class A violation shall be a minimum of five hundred dollars ($500.00). The maximum fine for each day there is found to be a violation shall be seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00).
2. Class B Violations: Actions which disrupt the neighborhood, detract from the residential character of the community, activity which could result in substandard housing or unacceptable construction. Violations here are viewed as presenting a limited health risk. The fine for class B violations shall be a minimum of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). The maximum fine for each day there is found to be a violation shall be five hundred dollars ($500.00).
3. Class C Violations: Nuisances which have a minimal effect on neighbors, property values, safety or construction quality. The fine for class C violations shall be a minimum of one hundred dollars ($100.00). The maximum fine for each day there is found to be a violation shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00).
Each day that a violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate offense. Fines may be imposed for each day a violation is found to exist. A penalty for each offense may also include a requirement that the offending patty perform some reasonable public service work such as, but not limited to, picking up litter in public parks or upon public highways or performing maintenance of public facilities. A violation hereof may be established by a preponderance of the evidence.
C. Specific Violations:
1. The following shall be classified as class A violations:
a. Fire hazards and the storage of certain materials more particularly set forth in section 5-2-1 of this code.
b. Firearms violations as more particularly set forth in section 5-3-1 of this code.
c. Willful exposure of communicable diseases as more particularly set forth in section 4-1C-9 of this code.
2. The following shall be classified as class B violations:
a. Public health department violations as more particularly set forth in section 4-1A-3 of this code.
b. Failure to remove garbage, rubbish, solid waste, and weeds as more particularly set fo1th in section 4-1E-2 of this code.
c. Failure to remove abandoned vehicles as more particularly set forth in section 4-2-11 of this code.
f. Violation of the regulations related to driveways, and curb cuts as more particularly set forth in section 7-1-2 of this code.
h. Building code violations as more particularly set forth in section 8-1-1 of this code.
l. Violation of the rules regulating fireworks as more particularly set forth in section 5-2-2 of this code.
3. The following shall be classified as class C violations:
f. Prohibited deposits on public places as more particularly set forth in section 7-1-1 of this code.
g. Children in vehicles and restraint systems as more particularly set forth in section 5-3-2-1 of this code.
h. Prohibit smoking in motor vehicle with a minor present as more particularly set forth in section 5-3-2-2 of this code.
i. Vehicle head lights as more particularly set forth in section 5-3-2-3 of this code.
j. Seat belts as more particularly set forth in section 5-3-2-4 of this code.
Section 5-3-2-l. - Children in vehicles and restraint systems.
A. All Children under the age of two (2) years shall be properly secured in a rear-facing child restraint system unless the child weighs forty (40) or more pounds or is forty (40) or more inches tall. All children under the age of eight (8) shall be properly secured in an appropriate child safety restraint system. This includes the use of booster seats, which must only be used with a lap/shoulder safety belt. If the back seat of the vehicle is not equipped with lap/shoulder type safety belts, a child weighing more than forty (40) pounds may be transported in the back seat without a booster seat, secured with a lap belt only.
Section 5-3-2-2. - Prohibit smoking in motor vehicle with a minor present.
A. For purposes of this Section: "Smoke" means to inhale, exhale, bum, or carry a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, weed, plant, regulated narcotic, or other combustible substance. "Vehicle" has the same meaning as defined in Section 1-217 of this Code and does not include motorcycles as defined in Section 1-147.
B. A person shall not smoke in a motor vehicle, whether it is in motion or at rest, if a person under eighteen (18) years of age is in the vehicle, regardless of whether the vehicle's windows are open. This subsection does not apply to a person who is the sole occupant of a vehicle.
C. A police officer may not stop or detain a motor vehicle or its driver nor inspect or search the vehicle, the contents of the vehicle, or the operator or passenger of the vehicle solely for a violation or suspected violation of this Section.
Section 5-3-2-3. - Vehicle Head Lights.
A. When operated upon any highway in this State, every motorcycle shall at all times exhibit at least one (1) lighted lamp, showing a white light visible for at least five hundred feet (500') in the direction the motorcycle is proceeding. However, in lieu of such lighted lamp, a motorcycle may be equipped with and use a means of modulating the upper beam of the head lamp between high and a lower brightness. No such head lamp shall be modulated, except to otherwise comply with this Code, during times when lighted lamps are required for other motor vehicles.
B. All other motor vehicles shall exhibit at least two (2) lighted head lamps, with at least one (1) on each side of the front of the vehicle, which satisfy United States Department of Transportation requirements, showing white lights, including that emitted by high intensity discharge (HID) lamps, or lights of a yellow or amber tint, during the period from sunset to sunrise, at times when rain, snow, fog, or other atmospheric conditions require the use of windshield wipers, and at any other times when, due to insufficient light or unfavorable atmospheric conditions, persons and vehicles on the highway are not clearly discernible at a distance of one thousand feet (1,000'). Parking lamps may be used in addition to but not in lieu of such head lamps. Every motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer shall also exhibit at least two (2) lighted lamps, commonly known as tail lamps, which shall be mounted on the left rear and right rear of the vehicle so as to throw a red light visible for at least five hundred feet (500') in the reverse direction, except that a truck tractor or road tractor manufactured before January 1, 1968 and all motorcycles need be equipped with only one such tail lamp.
Section 5-3-2-4. - Seat Belts.
A. Each driver and passenger of a motor vehicle operated on a street or highway in this State shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat safety belt. A child less than eight (8) years of age shall be protected as required pursuant to the Child Passenger Protection Act. Each driver of a motor vehicle transporting a child eight (8) years of age or more, but less than sixteen (16) years of age, shall secure the child in a properly adjusted and fastened seat safety belt as required under the Child Passenger Protection Act. Each driver of a motor vehicle transporting a passenger who is unable, due to infirmity, illness, or age, to properly adjust and fasten a seat safety belt and is not exempted from wearing a seat safety belt under subsection.
B. Shall secure the passenger in a properly adjusted and fastened seat safety belt as required under this Section.
C. Paragraph A shall not apply to any of the following:
1. A driver or passenger frequently stopping and leaving the vehicle or delivering property from the vehicle, if the speed of the vehicle between stops does not exceed fifteen (15) miles per hour.
2. A driver or passenger possessing a written statement from a physician that such person is unable, for medical or physical reasons, to wear a seat safety belt.
3. A driver or passenger possessing an official certificate or license endorsement issued by the appropriate agency in another state or country indicating that the driver is unable for medical, physical, or other valid reasons to wear a seat safety belt.
4. A driver operating a motor vehjcle in reverse.
5. A motor vehicle with a model year prior to 1965.
6. A motorcycle or motor driven cycle.
7. A moped.
8. A motor vehicle which is not required to be equipped with seat safety belts under federal law.
9. A motor vehicle operated by a rural letter carrier of the United States postal service while performing duties as a rural letter carrier.
10. A driver or passenger of an authorized emergency vehicle, except this exception does not apply to vehicles of the fire department; vehicles of the Office of the State Fire Marshal; or ambulances, unless the delivery of life-saving measures prohibits the use of a seat safety belt.
11. A back seat passenger of a taxicab. (Ord. 405, 11-24-2015; Ord. 439, 11-26-2019)