My Southern California traffic ticket: fight it or traffic school (Internet vs. live)
Apr 27 '03
The Bottom Line A bad experience is a good resource. Save time.
I know I stopped at that stop sign; but now I have a ticket.
I’m not an attorney or paralegal and the laws do change! However, this is my experience and these are my choices in early part of 2003. I’m hoping to provide some ideas, raise issues, and save you time.
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The first thing, write down everything, immediately!
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I did write down everything that I observed before arriving to that stop sign, at the stop sign, and after the stop sign until the officer and I parted company. In my case (and the following is a summary) I was not in any hurry, it was 5 am in the morning, dark, and the officer was monitoring the intersection “due to neighborhood complaints that people were running the stop signs”. But at 5 a.m. there were no other cars around, it was dark, and how could observe (or not observe) from 40 yards away that I did not stop? I know I stopped.
Time spent: Writing down observations in detail -- 2 hours.
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The second thing was should I fight it or go to traffic school?
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This ticket, and the officer are wrong. I am prepared to fight.
So I started to research and weigh the outcomes.
I went to my local law library and looked at a book published by Nolo-Press called Fight Your Ticket in California by Attorney David Brown. I did not read the entire book, but for what I needed this was an excellent source. In my case, the book said some officers do not show for court on small infractions; however, when they do, the judge will give greater weight to the officer’s observations than the violator’s.
After relaying this to my wife, she believes I’m right, but if I lose the case then our insurance goes up, we decided a sure win is better than nothing.
Time spent: Going to the law library and research the citation and reading the Nolo Press book and discussing the outcomes with my wife -- 2 hours.
Ok. I know I’m right but my chances of winning in court are less than 50% and I will have spent the time waiting around the court house any where from 1 to 4 hours for my case to be heard.
The other option would be to hire an attorney or see if the county had some kind of free legal service, but again I’m looking at another 1 to 4 hours plus costs.
As much as I’d like to fight the ticket, traffic school was going to be less time and keep my record clean.
Time passed to arrive at this conclusion: 4 weeks.
Within about 2 weeks after receiving my ticket I got a Courtesy Notice from the county courthouse. It said I had not received a ticket in 18 months and that I was eligible for traffic school (Oh yeah, it also let me know my fine was $124 for going through the stop sign).
Included with the notice is a list of Approved Traffic Schools. It had both internet and live classes.
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The third thing, the internet traffic school or live class?
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I’ve been to live classes before and found them interesting, but this was my busy time at work so I opted for the convenience of the internet.
After looking at about 5 different websites from the list, the common factor seemed to be:
1) you pay the fee $25-$35 using your credit card
2) read the text at your own pace
3) after completing the text, you go to a test proxy (i.e. a local business like insurance agent, notary, etc) and take a final exam showing your driver’s license.
One of the most valuable pieces of information from this research was that I could call the phone number on my “Courtesy Notice” and ask for an extension of time. So I did. The voice on the other end asked if I was going to go to traffic school? I said yes and received an automatic 30 day extension of time.
She also informed me that going to traffic school my fine increased from $124 to $150 (this was shown on the Courtesy Notice)
Time spent: Reading and understanding the internet requirements for about 5 traffic schools – 1 hour.
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The fourth thing, my internet traffic school experience.
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The one exception on the list was Traffic101.com. You don’t have to take the exam.
So I placed my order to get started.
After placing my order ($34), Traffic101.com said that I have to wait for the CD and webcam to arrive in the mail before I can get started. It ships from Hollywood, so in my case I received it in about 3 business days.
The instructions for setting up the webcam and installing the software are clear and easy to follow.
I am running Win98 on an HP PC that I have had for about 3 years, so this next part probably won’t happen to you. Upon installing the webcam in my USB the Win98 said it had 23% of the bandwidth reserved (the Traffic101 instructions says it needs 80% of the bandwidth). After following the troubleshooting instructions and trying different USB plugs and rebooting, I called tech support and left a message.
Within ½ hour tech support called back and walked me through the steps and had me check a few other places. Nothing got the webcam running.
The tech rep was excellent.
They said I can send the entire package back for a full refund.
One of things I heard, after getting started but was unable to confirm, about internet traffic school was the time required complete the text. I had heard from someone else that it takes longer than 8 hours to complete a self-study course. This is hearsay so you may want to call and verify with the internet traffic school before you start.
Time spent: Ordering, installing, and troubleshooting internet traffic school – 3 hours.
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The fifth thing, live traffic school.
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By now I’m on the last weekend before my extension expires. So I need to go to a live Saturday class. After calling a few classes that looked like they would be inexpensive (most offered Saturday classes), I decided upon The Basic Traffic School.
When I was searching and calling different classes (4 days before Saturday class), The Basic Traffic School offered me a $10 off signup ($25 instead of $35). I should have taken it. Instead I kept calling around and two days later when I signed up they did not offer the discount anymore.
On Saturday about 30 people attended the class at about $35 each (cash – no checks or credit cards). The class went from 8:30 to 4:30.
The instructor was a 19 year veteran of the police force. He was both humorous and informative. He DID NOT teach out of book. Instead he illustrated is point using local and national newspaper cases, and class participation.
Example: He asked the class to tell him what makes them mad while their driving. People listed slow drivers, cars dodging in and out of traffic, cars on your tail, etc. Then he turned it around and said what do you think get the police officers attention? He then highlighted the same things that the class had mentioned.
Example: During the drugs and alcohol section he talked about the Van Dam case. How Mrs. Van Dam consumed drugs and alcohol over a short period of time and the affect of that consumption may have played in their judgment as parents. He demonstrated the drunk driver tests and had class members to demonstrate. He took polls to see how many people have had to take this test and asked if it was difficult.
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The sixth thing, should I have fought this ticket?
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During a break, I asked 1) what is the probability that the officer would have shown in court on my ticket and 2) if the officer showed, what are the chances the judge would believe my observations vs. the officer’s?
In his opinion, in Southern California (LA county and south), officers receive pay at time and one-half, they are required to go to court, and their pay would be docked if they did not go. He said north of LA county, officers are not required to go to court if they have a valid excuse (already worked a 24 hour shift, etc). So in my case the officer would have shown up for court.
As for question 2, again in his opinion, he said the judge would believe the officer more than 50% of the time.
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In Conclusion
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This is how I handled my Southern California ticket and I hope to give you some ideas, useful information, and save you time.
Just like at that stop sign, at 5 am, on that dark morning, I’m now coming to a complete stop!
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