Article 1. Standard Traffic Ordinance

12.1.1.     Standard Traffic Ordinance incorporated.

There is hereby incorporated by reference for the purpose of regulating traffic offenses within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas, that certain ordinance known as the “Standard Traffic Ordinance for Kansas Cities,” 51st Edition, prepared and published in book form by the League of Kansas Municipalities, Topeka, Kansas, save and except such articles, sections, parts or portions as are hereafter omitted, deleted, modified, or changed. No fewer than one (1) copy of said Standard Traffic Ordinance shall be marked “Official Copy as Adopted by Ordinance No. 724,” with all sections or portions thereof intended to be omitted or changed clearly marked to show any such omission or change and to which shall be attached a copy of this ordinance, and filed with the city clerk to be open to inspection and available to the public, during City Hall’s business hours. The Police Department, Municipal Judge, Municipal Prosecutor, City Attorney, City Clerk, and all administrative departments of the City charged with enforcement of the Ordinance shall be supplied, at the cost of the City, such number of official copies of such Standard Traffic Ordinance similarly marked, as may be deemed expedient.

(Code 2023; Ord. 724)

12.1.2.     Traffic infractions and traffic offenses.

An ordinance traffic infraction is a violation of any section of this Code that prescribes or requires the same behavior as that prescribed or required by a statutory provision that is classified as a traffic infraction in K.S.A. Supp. 8-2118.

All traffic violations which are included within this Code, and which are not ordinance traffic infractions, as defined in subsection A, shall be considered traffic offenses.

(Ord. 446)

12.1.3.     Penalty for scheduled fines.

The fine for violation of any traffic infraction or any other traffic offense for which the Municipal Judge establishes a fine in a fine schedule shall not be less than $10.00 or more than $500.00. A person tried and convicted for violation of any traffic infraction or other traffic offense for which a fine has been established in a schedule of fines shall pay a fine fixed by the Court not to exceed $500.00. A person tried and convicted for violation of any traffic infraction or other traffic offense for which no fine has been established in a schedule of fines shall pay a fine fixed by the Court not to exceed $2,500.00.

(Ord. 446)

12.1.4.     Amending Section 23 of the STO; accident involving death or personal injuries; penalties.

Sec. 23. Accident Involving Death or Personal Injuries; Penalties, shall be amended by moving subsections (1) and (2) as shown under subsection (c) to subsection (b) as follows:

The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to, great bodily harm to or death of any person or damage to any attended vehicle or property shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident, or as close thereto as possible, but shall then immediately return to and in every event shall remain at the scene of the accident until the driver has fulfilled the requirements of Section 25.

A person who violates subsection (a) when an accident results in:

Total property damages of less than $1,000 shall be punished as provided in Section 201.

Any person who violates this section which results in injury to any person or total property damages in excess of $1,000 shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than $2,500.00, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

The driver shall comply with the provisions of section 26.1.

12.1.5.     Amending Section 33 of the STO; speed limits.

Section 33 of the Standard Traffic Ordinance is amended to read as follows:

Standard Maximum Speed Limits. Except when a special hazard exists that requires lower speed for compliance with Section 32, or as otherwise provided for in this section, or in association with School Zones or Road Construction Zones, the limits specified in this section, or as hereinafter established, shall be maximum lawful speeds, and no person shall drive a vehicle at a speed in excess of such maximum limits:

Twenty (20) miles per hour in any business or industrial district;

Thirty (30) miles per hour in any residential district;

Twenty (20) miles per hour in any park; and

Fifty-five (55) miles per hour in all other locations.

Maximum Speed Limits for Operation of School Buses. No person shall drive a school bus to or from school or interschool or intraschool functions or activities at a speed greater than 45 miles per hour on any roadway having dirt, sand or gravel surface, and in no event shall a school bus be driven to and from school or activities in excess of 55 miles per hour, notwithstanding any maximum speed limit in excess thereof. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to buses used for the transportation of students enrolled in community junior colleges or area vocational schools when such buses are transporting students to or from school functions or activities.

The maximum speed limits in this section may be altered as authorized in K.S.A. 8-1559, K.S.A. 8-1560, and K.S.A. 8-2002, and amendments thereto. Pursuant to K.S.A. 8-1559, 8-1560 and 8-2002, the Governing Body, having determined on the basis of engineering and traffic investigations that the maximum speed limits established pursuant to K.S.A. 8-1558 are other than is reasonable or safe under the conditions found to exist within the corporate limits of the city, hereby deems it necessary to alter the maximum speed limits established pursuant to K.S.A. 8-1558 and amendments thereto, on the following roadway(s) located within the City of Bel Aire as follows:

45 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit. The maximum speed driven upon the following streets shall be 45 miles per hour:

Rock Road within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from 45th Street North to 53rd Street North.

40 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit. The maximum speed driven upon the following streets shall be 40 miles per hour:

Oliver Street from 37th Street North to 53rd Street North,

Woodlawn Street from 37th Street North to 53rd Street North,

37th Street North from Woodlawn Street to Oliver Street,

45th Street North between Webb Road to Oliver Street, and

53rd Street North between Oliver Street and the east corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas located one half mile east of Greenwich Road.

25 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit. The maximum speed driven upon the following streets shall be 25 miles per hour:

Krueger Street within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from 45th Street North to the point it turns into 47th Street North,

47th Street North within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from Oliver Street to the point it turns into Krueger Street,

46th Street North within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from Glendale Street to Krueger Street,

46th Street North Circle within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas for the block directly northeast of Krueger Street,

Glendale Street within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from 46th Street North to 48th Street North,

Harding Street within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from Krueger Street to 48th Street North, and

Battin Street within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from Krueger Street to 48th Street North.

20 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit. The maximum speed driven upon the following streets shall be 20 miles per hour:

Danbury Street within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from Janesville Street to Woodlawn Street,

Gunnison Street within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from Danbury Street to Woodlawn access road and

Woodlawn access road within the corporate limits of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas from Perryton Street to Danbury Street.

(Ord. 364; Ord. 396; Ord. 400; Ord. 446)

12.1.6.     Amending Section 59 of the STO; stop signs and yield signs.

Sec. 59. Stop Signs and Yield Signs, shall be amended by adding subsection (d):

(d)     Stop signs and yield signs, as enforced pursuant to Section 59 of the Standard Traffic Ordinance, shall be erected pursuant to this Code, ordinances and resolutions adopted by the governing body of the City of Bel Aire, Kansas which specify particular intersections as stop and yield intersections and providing for the erection of stop signs and yield signs.

(Ord. 446)

12.1.7.     Amending Section 85 of the STO; stopping, standing or parking prohibited in specified places.

Sec. 85. Stopping, Standing or Parking Prohibited in Specified Places, shall be amended by adding subsection (f):

(f)     The Governing Body having determined it to be in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Bel Aire, Kansas, that vehicle parking be prohibited on the north side of Perryton Street, between Edgemoor Street and Auburn Street. Upon posting of signs prohibiting parking as provided in this section, any owner or operator of a vehicle parked in violation shall, upon being found guilty, be subject to a fine of not more than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) plus court costs and administrative fees.

(Ord. 359)

12.1.8.     Amending Section 182.1 of the STO; seat belts.

Section 182.1 of the Standard Traffic Ordinance is amended to read as follows:

Except as provided in subsection (B):

Each occupant of either a passenger car manufactured with safety belts in compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 208 or an autocycle, who is 18 years of age or older, shall have a safety belt properly fastened about such person's body at all times when the passenger car is in motion; and

Each occupant of either a passenger car manufactured with safety belts in compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 208 or an autocycle, who is at least 14 years of age but less than 18 years of age, shall have a safety belt properly fastened about such person's body at all times when the passenger car is in motion.

This section does not apply to:

An occupant of a passenger car who possesses a written statement from a licensed physician that such person is unable for medical reasons to wear a safety belt system;

Carriers of United States mail while actually engaged in delivery and collection of mail along their specified routs; or

Newspaper delivery persons while actually engaged in delivery of newspapers along their specified routes.

Law enforcement officers shall not stop drivers for violations of subsection (a)(1) by a back seat occupant in the absence of another violation of law. A citation for violation of subsection (a)(1) by a back seat occupant shall not be issued without citing the violation that initially caused the officer to effect the enforcement stop.

 

Persons violating subsection (a)(l) shall be fined $30 and no court costs; and

Persons violating subsection (a)(2) shall be fined $60 and no court costs.

As used in this section, passenger car means a motor vehicle, manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1968, or a motor vehicle manufactured or assembled prior to 1968 which was manufactured or assembled with safety belts, with motive power designed for carrying 10 passengers or fewer, including vans, but does not include a motorcycle or a motor-driven cycle.

(K.S.A. Supp. 8-2502-8- 2504)