Port Hueneme Municipal Code Div. 2 Administration and Enforcement

The office of Traffic Engineer is hereby established.

It shall be the duty of the Traffic Engineer to carry out the powers and duties imposed upon him by this Code, and to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Council.

Police and Fire Officers are hereby authorized to direct traffic by voice, hand, or other signal in conformance with traffic laws, except that in the event of a fire or other emergency or to expedite traffic or to safeguard pedestrians, such officers may direct traffic as conditions may require.

No person other than a Police or Fire Officer or a person authorized by the Police Chief or a person otherwise authorized by law shall direct or attempt to direct traffic by voice, hand or other signal.

No person shall fail or refuse to comply with nor refuse to perform any act commanded by any lawful order, signal, or direction of a person authorized by the law to issue such order, signal or direction.

No person shall interfere with or obstruct in any way any police officer or other officer or employee of this City in their enforcement of the provisions of this Chapter. The removal, obliteration or concealment of any chalk mark or other distinguishing mark used by any police officer or other employee or officer of this City in connection with the enforcement of the parking regulations of this Chapter shall, if done for the purpose of evading the provisions of this Chapter, constitute such interference or obstruction.

The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to the operator of any vehicle owned by or used in the service of the United States Government, this State, any county or city, and it shall be unlawful for any said operator to violate any of the provisions of this Chapter except as otherwise permitted by law.

(a) The provisions of this Chapter regulating the operation, parking and standing of vehicles shall not apply to public emergency vehicles or any public utility vehicle or any private ambulance which has qualified as an authorized emergency vehicle, when any vehicle mentioned in this section is operated in the manner specified by the Vehicle Code in response to an emergency call.

(b) The foregoing exemptions shall not relieve the operator of any such vehicle from the obligation to exercise due care for the safety of others or the consequences of his willful disregard of the safety of others.

(c) The provisions of this Chapter regulating the parking or standing of vehicles shall not apply to any vehicles of a City department or public utility while necessarily in use for construction or repair work or any vehicle owned or operated by the United States Post Office Department while in use for the collection, transportation or delivery of United States Mail.

(a) The operator of a vehicle or the person in charge of any animal involved in any accident resulting in damage to any property publicly owned or owned by a public utility, including but not limited to any fire hydrant, parking meter, lighting post, telephone pole, electric light or power pole, or resulting in damage to any tree, traffic control device or other property of a like nature located in or along any street, within twenty-four (24) hours after such accident, shall make a written report of such accident to the Police Department of this City.

(b) Every such report shall state the time of and the place where the accident took place, the name and address of the person owning and of the person operating or in charge of such vehicle or animal, the license number of every such vehicle, and shall briefly describe the property damage in such accident.

(c) The operator of any vehicle involved in an accident shall not be subject to the requirements or penalties of this section if he is physically incapable of making a report, but in such event he shall make a report as required in Subdivision (a) within twenty-four (24) hours after regaining ability to make such report.