How does getting a ticket work to just pay it?

[vio]

I got the ticket and it gave me a date to appear in court before end of July and was wondering.. do I wait for something in the mail that says I can just mail in money or do the online school thing to clear it, or do I have to go to the Union City Court and show up. I can't take time off work easy and just would pay and get this cleared.

Is there some way I can go online and pay it??

I don't get these often as I obey and respect my privilege to drive. Anyway.. sorry for my ignorance.. I would like to clear this up (edit: without having to take time off work to go to court). and I don't know how.

Thanks in advance LEOs..

 

[thedub]

do I wait for something in the mail that says I can just mail in money or do the online school thing to clear it

Yes. You are going to get a Courtesy Notice from the court prior to your Appearance Date explaining your options.

 

[Shaggy]

You should get a courtesy notice, but it’s important to keep track of the appearance date on the yellow copy you were given by the officer. The courtesy notice is not 100% guaranteed to arrive since it’s just regular snail mail and not certified mail.

You can check the county court’s website and see if the ticket has been processed. I’d wait about 2 weeks for processing and then check. There may be instructions on how to pay online there.

Don’t forget to look into traffic school. If you are eligible, it will prevent the DMV point from being reported to your insurance company and keep your rates lower.

 

[boney]

Don’t forget to look into traffic school. If you are eligible, it will prevent the DMV point from being reported to your insurance company and keep your rates lower.

I'm not an LEO. I've never even played one on TV. But I may have met a few from various agencies along the side of the road. :ride

My *ahem* experience is that going to online traffic school is only slightly more costly than paying the regular fee, only you get to spend a few hours online and as Nick says, the insurance company doesn't find out. It also allows you to make another mistake in the near future without the insurance company going completely nuts over it.

 

[vio]

if i have the online school option i will definitely take it.

i got the ticket in mid april. so it should be processed. i guess i go to union city''s website ? to see about this ticket. i got nothing in the mail.. and i'm asking because i have until end 24th of next month to show up in court. why i'm concerned that i didn't get some kind of info or something.

 

[vio]

upps.. check county court website..

 

[ScottRNelson]

My *ahem* experience is that going to online traffic school is only slightly more costly than paying the regular fee, only you get to spend a few hours online and as Nick says, the insurance company doesn't find out. It also allows you to make another mistake in the near future without the insurance company going completely nuts over it.

I thought that taking traffic school actually removed the point from your DMV record too. That way, if you don't get tickets more often than every 18 months your record stays "clean".

Back in the olden days you had to actually attend an 8-hour traffic school. Somehow the rules said that you only had to actually be there for 6:40 rather than 8:00, and the few that I attended were right about to the minute hitting the minimum time. I've done the online traffic school once or twice as well (back in the 90's) and I think they're a complete joke compared to the classes. You can certainly complete one way faster than six hours. If you open every new page in a new tab you can even easily go back and look up the answers for the various test questions.

 

[dravnx]

You can do the traffic school in about 20 mins.

When you take the course, you will read a section and then take a quiz at the end of that section. They don't let you go back and review the section while you're taking the quiz.

So......open up a word doc and cut and paste the entire text of each individual section in to a word doc. Then when you take the quiz at the end of each section just do some quick keyword searches (ctrl f) in the word doc for each question and your answer will appear.

 

[TheRiddler]

General rule of thumb is that courts take a minimum of 2 weeks to process a ticket from the date it was issued. I've heard of some that take as long as 3 months.

Just check their website once a week.

 

[bojangle]

General rule of thumb is that courts take a minimum of 2 weeks to process a ticket from the date it was issued. I've heard of some that take as long as 3 months.

Just check their website once a week.

Well, it's also the department that issues them, and how long it takes them to get the cites to the court as well.

 

[DTM74]

I got a ticket in Napa county and never got a courtesy notice. Checked their website a few days before and the due date on the ticket was verified on the website. Did traffic school. Just check online...

 

[Butch]

Traffic school is pretty good in that it exposes folks to some education that they might have missed.

And it removes the conviction that insurance companies use to raise your rates.

A good topic, traffic school. I’ll start another thread.

 

[vio]

I just got the notice amd qualify for traffic school. I'll post a pic of the notice so we all know what it looks like. i think people might benefit to see an actual pic of the paper.

I'm the worst test taker | .. ugh..

(Edit: I'll scratch out my personal stuff on it.) I was ticketed for making a right hand turn, between 3 and 7pm; in a no right hand turn during that time. I was however in a line with everyone turning (all cars signaling in the turning lane) and we all got pulled over. On my way to pick up a dog that was posted here on the site that needed to be rescued (kind of) I saw a bunch of cars being pulled over and thought it was an accident and on my way back... well.. I found out what the whole thing was about. It was on a major artery leading from union city to the east bay. (Niles Canyon Road I wanna say) There were like 20 police officers and lots and lots of cars just being ticketed. It doesn't matter to me at this point as I can't take time off my new job to go and explain myself, that the sign is not obvious to hundreds of people that got ticketed that day. What difference does it make anyway.. I could probably get my ticket lowered as I have not worked for the past several years due to illness and the judge might lower the price.. but that might over ride (if that is the correct therm to use) my ability for traffic school. Sign needs to be made that's flashing and clearly and undeniably working during those times in my opinion. But no one cares anyway...

 

[ScottRNelson]

It was on a major artery leading from union city to the east bay. (Niles Canyon Road I wanna say) There were like 20 police officers and lots and lots of cars just being ticketed.

They've been writing tickets there for years. All of the regulars have either gotten a ticket there or seen it enough times to know better. I'm surprised that they can still write piles of tickets at that intersection, but clearly it still works for them.

 

[vio]

They've been writing tickets there for years. All of the regulars have either gotten a ticket there or seen it enough times to know better. I'm surprised that they can still write piles of tickets at that intersection, but clearly it still works for them.

I don't quite understand it myself. Doesn't make sense when there are people to the right in a turning lane.. and there is even a lane just to turn onto Niles Canyon, which you can then merge onto the lane as it turns into one lane. Beats me..

Anyway.. here is the notice and what it looks like, as to what qualifies one for traffic school.

 

[vio]

And the top portion has your name address and in the to middle "Reminder Notice" written on it.

Now I just have to go to the dmv site to pick out a online traffic school and sign up.

I'm curious though... the due date for this payment to be sent in is 7/15. On my yellow ticket .. it says to appear in court before 6/24. I don't understand the whole "THE DUE DATE ON YOUR TICKET IS NOT A DATE TO APPEAR BEFORE A JUDGE" … it's the greyed out line. I thought going to court meant just that... that you go before a judge... oh well... it's figured out and this is just another thing that can go away... I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired and I was sick and tired having this weighing on me.


Thanks LEOs .. you all take good care.

 

[ScottRNelson]

To clarify why they write a bunch of tickets at that intersection, it's because of disobeying the sign in the photo below. The Bay Area has a lot of areas with special rules during rush hour. There are several in Pleasanton that prohibit turns in certain directions during rush hour to keep the commuter traffic from clogging up some residential neighborhoods.

The sign headed into Niles Canyon is there because there were too many wrecks from right turners hitting people going straight through the intersection to Niles Canyon or making left turns there. It's just a side benefit that it's also a money maker for the city of Fremont. :teeth

 

[vio]

during the time I went there .. there is a lot of foliage and you're in a row of cars that are turning.... hence I turned...

in this pic .. you can see niles canyon.. when I went.. you can't see the road.. or through the turn.

 

[MapleRoad]

If you'd like to try avoiding the ticket altogether, use one of the Trial by Written Declaration services. Ticket Ninja is one. If you lose, you still have an automatic Trial de Novo (new trial!) if you want to take traffic school.

 

[MR662]

The sign has been there for about a year for No right on red, but people have been making illegal turns from the # 3 lane and to the left of those turning in the designated right turn lane, (CVC 22100a) for years. Like someone else mentioned, it causes accidents and congestion when people try to turn right from N/B Mission on to E/B Niles Canyon while other traffic is turning on to Niles Canyon from S/B Mission or straight across from Niles Bl.