First ticket in 22 years... off to Traffic school

[Capt Steve]

I live just north of Tucson but being from San Diego with numerous friends and relatives {elderly parents}, still living there we make the trip quite often. in fact over the last 10 years we have done the Tucson/San Diego run 53 times.

The drive is easy but boring at 420 miles of mostly I-8. I usually set the cruise control at 4 over the posted limit - 79 in Arizona and 74 in California, stay in the right lane and watch all the folks blowing by me. I know where the LEO's usually are and have never had a problem. My number one rule is never be the "Lead dog".

My new rule is see Rule number one and remember it..... idiot! A very nice, professional CHP officer nailed me with his radar just east of Yuma early on a Sunday morning. I had ignored rule number one and with no one in front of me I completely deserved the ticket.

He wrote me up for 75 in a 70 and it could have been much worse as he cut me large break on my actual speed. He explained that if I elected to attend traffic school {successfully}, the ticket would disappear from my record with neither Arizona or my insurance company ever knowing it happened.

Naturally I elected to pursue this option. When the ticket came in the mail a couple of weeks later I could not believe the fine - $225 which seemed more than a little steep for 5 over on the freeway but then it has been 22 and half years since my last ticket. Imperial county tacked on another $57 for the traffic school option.

Went on line and shopped for an internet school and finally found one for $9.95 {some were closer to $100 so shop for the best deal}, Imperial County gave me a list of over 700 schools to choose from.

Yesterday, having already registered with the school, I sat down at my computer to complete the class. They said to allow 8 hours to complete the course which ends with the successful completion of "Final Exam" with 70% being a passing grade.


It took 2 hours and 45 minutes to read through the entire course taking short quizzes at the end of each of the 12 sections. The material was common sense but certainly a worthwhile review and the 30 question final which was composed entirely of previous quiz questions took all of 2 minutes to complete with a score of 100%.

The school now notifies the Imperial Superior Court and my record will be officially clear within 30 days. So nearly $300 later I am clean once again. Glad I did not waste an entire day sitting in a classroom which really will take 8 hours and costs a lot more.

I was wrong, got caught and paid the price, lesson learned... hopefully.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Radar detectors and Waze are helpful too.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I use cruise control to prevent creeping speed up.

 

[e3mrk]

I told My Kid's You dont have to speed because the place You are going to isn't going anywhere.

 

[da gimp]

In Missouri, you are only allowed to go to traffic school once... no matter if it is used to clear your record of a conviction for DUI/DWI, careless & imprudent driving, speeding or any other moving violation. I nearly used mine to clear a speeding ticket off my record back in 1986... and our county prosecutor, a friend, talked me out of it. He & I had both seen too many good people over the years who screwed up & completely out of character, drove home DWI 1 time, only to be caught after a minor fender bender..

 

[Ron M.]

I just got this week a "friendly" notification from Millbrae, CA police that my vehicle had run a red light and a ticket was forthcoming (I live 200 miles north of there). It was at one of the photo intersections and a lovely photo was posted of my 33 year old daughter behind the wheel at the time of the incident...so, I forwarded the letter to my daughter to send in the info that she was the driver of the car in question...she asked what she should do, and I told her that the car was being transferred into her name immediately and once the info as to who was driving was forwarded to Millbrae traffic officials, it was her problem to solve. Traffic school, pay the ticket, fight it...whatever. I got my last ticket in 1989 and I am not about to get another one due to her negligence. Tough love, perhaps. But ya gotta grow up some time.

 

[Cpo1944]

On my way to a Dr`s appointment this AM I was going too fast and a policeman driving the opposite direction gave me the "Stink Eye" , but continued on his way and I slowed down . Wheew that was a close one!

 

[GKC]

So nearly $300 later I am clean once again.

So, wait...you had to pay the full fine and still go to the school? I guess the benefit is not having the hit on your record, with the (probably) following increase in your insurance.

It's been a few years since I've had a ticket (as my age goes up, my speed goes down...and in the car too) but it seems like IIRC that you could either pay the fine, or take a school for a much reduced administrative fine from the city/county plus the cost of the school (which you pay to the school, of course.) So, there was an immediate financial benefit to taking the school, since the reduced fine plus the cost of the school was a lot less than the original fine.

Most of my speeding tickets were back in the days before the internet, so the only option was to actually go to a class...which was usually held on a Saturday at a restaurant, which did include lunch. That was an excruciating 8 hours, but it still was better than the fine and the insurance hit.

 

[zzzippper]

Traffic cameras are getting increasingly challenged on a couple of counts. 1) even if the person in the picture LOOKS like you no one can prove it was you. 2) There is no evidence that shows the car was moving. Many speeding and running red light camera tickets have been changed to illegal parking in the middle of an intersection for that reason. That they are willing to bargain the offense down proves that it is a money grab and not a safety issue.

On a different but related topic. I was working in Kuwait where they make frequent use of traffic cameras. The police are so inefficient it takes several weeks to get the ticket at which time you can pay the fine or order a copy of the picture as evidence. My friend "Tom" ended his tour and went back home to the States. We were on one-year unaccompanied tours. If we didn't extend we went home. Not long after a speeding ticket of his came to the office. I ordered the picture to send to him as a memento. I got the picture but since the young Filipina sitting next to him obviously wasn't his wife I didn't send it.

 

[Capt Steve]

$ Gotcha! $

So, wait...you had to pay the full fine and still go to the school? I guess the benefit is not having the hit on your record, with the (probably) following increase in your insurance.

Yep, I was as surprised as you. Keeping the ticket off of my record, even though it was only 5 over on the interstate, was job one. Insurance companies are always looking for any excuse to raise your rates.

Completing traffic school gets you no reduction of the fine, that had to be paid in full within 30 days of receiving the ticket. Add in the Imperial County charge of $57 for the school option and another $10 for the school and I'm out $292... Gotcha!

 

[deadin]

even though it was only 5 over on the interstate

C'mon, You said he cut you a break. How fast were you really going??

(It's all over now, so you can tell......)

 

[italiansport]

I got a $228 "speeding" ticket in Arizona last year. Photo radar picked me up entering a school zone(15mph) at 21 mph. Yes you're reading this right I got a ticket at a speed I can still reach on foot. I argued with he judge that I was down to 15mph by the time I hit the speed bump which is used as the actual crossing but to no avail. This is a cash cow for the State.
The thing that really ticked me off was that the ticket was issued at 11:00am and there wasn't a child in sight since they were all in school of course. Reasonable? Hell no and the reason many of us are developing a jaundiced view of the law. This was my 1st ticket in over 20 years as well.

 

[BB57]

The school now notifies the Imperial Superior Court and my record will be officially clear within 30 days. So nearly $300 later I am clean once again. Glad I did not waste an entire day sitting in a classroom which really will take 8 hours and costs a lot more.

I was wrong, got caught and paid the price, lesson learned... hopefully.

Most insurance companies query your traffic records once per year.

Unfortunately, if you're unlucky enough to have that happen in the 30 days before the record is cleared, you'll still be paying higher insurance rates for the next three years.

Traffic schools work better (for the defendant) when they serve to prevent the infraction from ever appearing on the record and/or replace a traffic conviction entirely, avoiding the fine.

----

I have not gotten ticket in well over 30 years now, but I stay humble.

The last time I claimed I hadn't gotten a ticket in several years, it didn't go so well. I advised the officer who stopped me that I had not gotten a ticket in 16 years as I handed him my license.

He laughed, I laughed, he wrote me the ticket anyway and then handed back my 1 month old driver's license to my 16 year old self.

 

[kpap]

I just got this week a "friendly" notification from Millbrae, CA police that my vehicle had run a red light and a ticket was forthcoming (I live 200 miles north of there). It was at one of the photo intersections and a lovely photo was posted of my 33 year old daughter behind the wheel at the time of the incident...so, I forwarded the letter to my daughter to send in the info that she was the driver of the car in question...she asked what she should do, and I told her that the car was being transferred into her name immediately and once the info as to who was driving was forwarded to Millbrae traffic officials, it was her problem to solve. Traffic school, pay the ticket, fight it...whatever. I got my last ticket in 1989 and I am not about to get another one due to her negligence. Tough love, perhaps. But ya gotta grow up some time.

Here in Az, all you have to do is send in a picture of your DL and they will dismiss the ticket, and you are not obligated to tell them who is behind the wheel. I'm not sure about your state, but a simple google search will give you the info......

 

[k22fan]

O.K. Capt. S. lets see if you really are a 100% student. Here's your pop quiz. You are in the left lane of a one way street at a red light. Is a free left turn legal?

 

[bigwheelzip]

Since traffic cameras were brought up, thought I'd mention that there are downloadable traffic camera databases for use in your electronic devices. I use this one, that's downloadable to my Garmin GPS: Red Light & Speed Cameras | POI Factory
It generates a graphic and audible warning as you approach known camera locations.

Some radar detectors with built-in GPS have the traffic camera database capability.

 

[prplbkrr]

O.K. Capt. S. lets see if you really are a 100% student. Here's your pop quiz. You are in the left lane of a one way street at a red light. Is a free left turn legal?

Only if you are turning onto another one-way street.

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Obviously you didn't show him your badge! Get one of these for next time....

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[ralph7]

Only if you are turning onto another one-way street.

Not if that other one way street goes to the right.

 

[RSanch111]

Traffic cameras are getting increasingly challenged on a couple of counts. 1) even if the person in the picture LOOKS like you no one can prove it was you. 2) There is no evidence that shows the car was moving. Many speeding and running red light camera tickets have been changed to illegal parking in the middle of an intersection for that reason. That they are willing to bargain the offense down proves that it is a money grab and not a safety issue.

On a different but related topic. I was working in Kuwait where they make frequent use of traffic cameras. The police are so inefficient it takes several weeks to get the ticket at which time you can pay the fine or order a copy of the picture as evidence. My friend "Tom" ended his tour and went back home to the States. We were on one-year unaccompanied tours. If we didn't extend we went home. Not long after a speeding ticket of his came to the office. I ordered the picture to send to him as a memento. I got the picture but since the young Filipina sitting next to him obviously wasn't his wife I didn't send it.

In most places where traffic cameras are legal, they don't have to "prove" it's you by a standard of "reasonable doubt". The standard is the much lower: "preponderance of the evidence". Not a hard hurdle to make...