Traffic fines soar with fee hikes- generate an estimated $280 million a year

[The Straight Story]

Traffic fines soar with fee hikes

SACRAMENTO, CA -- In a challenging economy, getting a traffic ticket can put the squeeze on your pocketbook. But now, it might hurt a little more because of fee hikes.

Those hikes actually went into effect in January 2009 because of Senate Bill 1407. But many people are learning the hard way. They don't realize there's been a fee hike until they've been nailed with a ticket.

From parking tickets to speeding tickets, fines have soared. The typical traffic ticket now costs an extra $35.

Senate Bill 1407 impacts state and city fines.

Statewide, traffic tickets now cost an extra $35.

Fix-it tickets cost an extra $15.

You'll pay a $25 hike for the processing fee to request traffic school.

In Sacramento city limits, you'll find an extra fee of $9.50 added to parking fines. That means if you park where it's posted "no parking," that will cost you $40 plus $9.50.

If your meter is expired, it will cost you $30 and then another $9.50.

...

The hike authorized by SB 1407 will generate an estimated $280 million a year. All of that goes to help repair, renovate, and replace dilapidated courts throughout the state.

http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=77572&catid=2

[villager]

1. So the money is just used to keep the court system going that enforces the tickets?

In other words, the extra money isn't going for anything useful, only to keep the ticket mill going?

:shrug:

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Traffic attorney checking in.

It's not about safer streets so much as revenue for the municipalities as an alternative to raising property taxes.

This is from my experience both as a traffic defense lawyer and as a defendant. (The light was clearly yellow and I got a red light violation. My offense should have been "Going through a yellow light without a passenger to corroborate that it was yellow at trial".)

[GiveMeFreedom]

4. You're right!

I call it a ticket tax. Seems that a lot of municipalities in CA have stepped up their enforcement of traffic laws.

[joycean]

3. Huge revenue source for most states/municipalities

Where I live the police department has a quota for tickets that they must meet every month. Sure, these quotas are based on statistics, and statistically there probably are 'x' number of traffic violations. But ethically it implies that citizens will commit these offense, so there is no room for improvement. In my city, at the end of the month, people get tickets for BS stuff like 'wide turns'.