California Traffic Fines 2010

[jussi]

A warning for fellow Californian drivers out there. Scroll down a bit. They're desperate for $$. Drive safely.

http://www.saccourt.ca.gov/traffic/fine-breakdown.aspx

[RAFlorida]

Wow!

That's some high fines. But what gets me, out of every ten dollars base, they pull 14.00 dollars out for other assessments!?

[Uncle Cracker]

Looks like it may be time for a little ol' taxpayer revolt.

[crokett]

UC, California is broke. They are raising money any way they can and you can bet they are being more agressive about writing tickets.

[Uncle Cracker]

I know they're broke, but it's always the working stiffs that have to take up the slack. Cali could opt to trim pork, but the polis don't want to derail their gravy train. $800 traffic tickets are insane.

[BadeMillsap]

But are the actually issuing any citations????

My wife and I drove from San Antonio, Texas to San Luis Obispo, Ca. in October of 2009 and it sure seemed to me the further West we got the less the posted speed limit was observed. By the time we were in California and all through California people totally ignored the posted speed limits ... where they were posted at 65mph ... if you weren't driving 80mph you were being run over by every other vehicle on the road! SEVERAL times we were passed not only by basically every other motored vehicle while WE were driving well over the posted speed limit BUT even more disturbing to me we were passed by local and state police on a regular basis.

I commented several times to my wife if they would just issue citations for the speeders for a few days they could clear their budget deficit and start fixing the darn roads.

[jackellis]

I used to drive a lot faster than I do now. It's not so much the fines as it is saving fuel.

It's not just working stiffs, either. I have to have the airport car smogged next Wednesday so I can get the registration and avoid a $200 something fine.

[just started]

And that's last year's prices, what do you think it will go up this year?

[Tom Slick]

Bade, you were out in my neck of the woods!
Around here people drive about 5-10 over but the closer you get to Los Angeles, and anywhere on I-5 people will drive 10+ over.

[cabinetman]

Isn't a "penalty assessment" just another way of saying a "fine".
.

[TB Roye]

Now some of the Cities and Counties are not sending the State it's share of the fines. Why because the state in siphoning off the Gas tax money that is supposed to go to the cities and counties for street repair. We have very dysfunctional government here in CA. I had better stop now. GRRRRRRRRR.


Tom

[charliex]

Upping the ante

Cali is very conservative compared to this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8516418.stm

[Uncle Cracker]

Cali is very conservative compared to this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8516418.stm

Note that Dubai is also broke...

[Rich P]

In addition to everyone routinely speeding on the freeways, here in Sillycon valley red light violations are PERVASIVE, especially on the left turns. The problem is the lights are so long and the enforcement so lax that everyone just does it. Except me of course, I want all the money I can get for my tool budget! My problem is that with my attention span by the time the light goes green I've forgotten why I was there.

I heard recently that if you get a ticket you can choose to pay more without points or pay less and take the points. Not sure if this is true.

Once you get out of the urban areas it's a bit saner. In Mariposa county (southern end of Yosimite) there are no traffic lights per se, just one set for one-way traffic control around a huge rockslide on highway 140 into Yosimite valley.

Beam me up, Scotty!