OK, as I said in my trip report on the last Disneyland trip, my prince was pulled over in MY car by the CHP & received a ticket for 86mph. It's a 75 zone there. This was in the south near Coalinga. The ticket says we have 60 days to pay it, but not how much it is.

So he spend yesterday & this morning pushing the redial on the phone.....BUSY!

After trying several different numbers obtained via the internet, they don't have his citation number in the system! After about a total of 3 hours trying between the 2 days he got a voice!!!! He was told that they are just now entering the JULY tickets in the system & to wait. Keep calling.

He has decided to fight it, but who knows when.

If they're giving out too many to keep up, they need to upgrade their system or quit handing out tickets!

If we don't pay it in 60 days, they add 300-1000 dollars to it. It's been about 30 days now. :dunno:

Had anyone else dealt with such a crazy thing????

Yup, I got a ticket when I first arrived in the country. Hidden school zone sign and first time ever down that road, the cop was nice and cut me some slack and dropped my over speed by half (phew otherwise it could have been very messy). He realized I was going the street limit and I missed the sign...anyway.

4 weeks later and I keep checking the online system we have here in Utah and it still doesn't show my citation or the amount. So I call up and they're backed up like you said. The lady one the phone pulls up a chart and asks me what the officer wrote on the slip, they have a standardized (more like bastardized) pricing scheme and she gives me how much to expect. She does say I should wait till I get the letter or it shows online.

Bottom line, regardless of how late they are on getting the ticket online, you still have to pay it 60 days after the citation!!!!

sounds like your states need to hire some computer programmers to make a better system. I'm sure that is not in the budget though....

This is pretty common actually and sounds like typical government office disorganization (or wasteful overorganization in many cases). I've worked in a few positions in various city offices in Indiana and all of them are horribly disorganized and plain wasteful with taxpayer money. I have gotten a few tickets and they never have had any record of the ticket being issued when I had called the court shortly after. Who did you call exactly? The court or the police department? If the officer wrote his name or ID# on the ticket you could call the dept. and ask for him maybe.

Make sure it gets paid. If not you will end up with tons of charges and a suspended driver's license.

The ticket says we have 60 days to pay it, but not how much it is.
...

If we don't pay it in 60 days, they add 300-1000 dollars to it. It's been about 30 days now. :dunno:

Can you say money maker?

This is pretty common actually and sounds like typical government office disorganization (or wasteful overorganization in many cases). I've worked in a few positions in various city offices in Indiana and all of them are horribly disorganized and plain wasteful with taxpayer money. I have gotten a few tickets and they never have had any record of the ticket being issued when I had called the court shortly after. Who did you call exactly? The court or the police department? If the officer wrote his name or ID# on the ticket you could call the dept. and ask for him maybe.


No, somehow I think they're deliberately delaying in order to boost revenue.

"they're now entering tickets from july" simply means "we're stalling because we want to squeeze more money out of you."

Speeding tickets and traffic fines are a serious money maker for many places now. It's not uncommon for the city/state/town to go on a "ticket blitz" when they need to make up for a shortfall.

No, somehow I think they're deliberately delaying in order to boost revenue.

"they're now entering tickets from july" simply means "we're stalling because we want to squeeze more money out of you."

Speeding tickets and traffic fines are a serious money maker for many places now. It's not uncommon for the city/state/town to go on a "ticket blitz" when they need to make up for a shortfall.

lol, increasing the amounts of tickets written may be a way to increase funds but the "stalling" is DEFINATELY not deliberate or some underhanded way to get more money out of you, I assure you of that. It is disorganization plain and simple and is common in most functions of most government offices. The effects of a lack of any real bottom line are mind blowing and something you really have to witness first-hand.

Granted it's been a very long time since he's had a ticket....but the kids have & it wasn't like this!!

It'll get paid as soon as we know how much... with it not in the system, they can't take the payment..... :dunno: He tried.

You'd think that the state that is known for making & inventing all this high tech stuff, we'd have a better traffic violation system.....

The last ticket he had said right on it.... court date....14 days later. He paid it since we weren't going to be here..... even though the ticket was 36 in a 35. We didn't know you could change the date.... Young & stupid. :)

The last ticket he had said right on it.... court date....14 days later. He paid it since we weren't going to be here..... even though the ticket was 36 in a 35. We didn't know you could change the date.... Young & stupid. :)

i know that in PA, you can delay the court date for up to 2 years.... at that point, they may not even remember the details of the violation, where/how it happened, etc.

i won 2 tickets that way at one hearing once... was charged with reckless driving, and driving too fast for conditions in jan '01..... cop never showed for hearing 2 years later, and charges dropped in jan '03...

lol, increasing the amounts of tickets written may be a way to increase funds but the "stalling" is DEFINATELY not deliberate or some underhanded way to get more money out of you, I assure you of that. It is disorganization plain and simple and is common in most functions of most government offices. The effects of a lack of any real bottom line are mind blowing and something you really have to witness first-hand.


Don't underestimate the Government. Lots of things appear to be accidents, backlogs and oversights but are really just intended for you and your hard earned money to part company.

Funny story...

My wife and I are driving with her then-88-yr-old grandfather and somehow got on the topic of speeding tickets. He starting talking about how he hasn't had anyone write on his driver's license in many, many years. We ask him what he's talking about and he's like, "You know how the police officer writes on the back of your driver's license when they stop you for speeding? Then when you go to get your license renewed, you have to pay a fine if there's something written there," (I think is how he described it).

He thought that's how they kept track of those things...in 2006. He had no idea they use computers, radio communications, radars, satellites, etc. When we told him, he just chuckled, shook his head, and said, "My, my, my...!"

:yes:

Don't underestimate the Government. Lots of things appear to be accidents, backlogs and oversights but are really just intended for you and your hard earned money to part company.

Lol, get a government job and then tell me that. It's fun to be a conspiracy theorist I guess, but you are way off. When it comes to traffic tickets and the paying of associated fines, there is absolutely no government scheme to get more money out of you by creating confusion. Backlogs and oversights are just that, not intentional ways of getting you to overpay or confuse you so you can get slapped with extra fees. Government is a huge, cumbersome, blundering machine that does a lot of work and uses a lot of money to get very little done (a product of the lack of a well defined bottom line). Because of this, errors are VERY common, very unintentional, and most of the time they are actually very insignificant (in a practical way anyway). Talk to anyone who has worked in the courts, for a police department (administrative preferably), or any number of other government offices that commonly have "backlogs" and "oversights" (preferably someone who is reasonably intelligent and pays attention to what goes on around them), and ask them about these "intentional accidents", I'm sure they'll laugh very, very hard (make sure they aren't drinking anything when you ask them). No conspiracy, just an excessive amount of overadministration and the accompanying disorganization.

Hi Princess.

In the UK, sending a demand for an unspecified amount of money with a penalty deadline would be laughed out of court :lmao: .. I'm not sure what the legal position is in the US but it's worth a quick call to find out.. :yes:

I fail to see how they can persue a legal claim that you didn't pay a fine, if they failed to inform you of the amount they claim you owe? :dunno: It's complete nonsense.. :lmao:
.

you said you were pulled over around disney? I got a ticket in orlando last year and it had the chart of how to figure out your fine right on the back of the ticket...
not saying i don't believe you, i just think that's really weird.

just to get your conspiracy juices flowing, have you actually been able to confirm that he was a real officer?

she was going to disneyLAND, not world.... :)

To me, it sounds like you just got a dumb cop who forgot to write down the amount of the ticket. In this case, it should be an easy one to get thrown out of court. :banana:

Lol, get a government job and then tell me that.

I used to work for one of the largest Government agencies in NYC up until 3 years ago. Thanks for playing.

It's fun to be a conspiracy theorist I guess, but you are way off.

In your opinion only.

When it comes to traffic tickets and the paying of associated fines, there is absolutely no government scheme to get more money out of you by creating confusion. Backlogs and oversights are just that, not intentional ways of getting you to overpay or confuse you so you can get slapped with extra fees.

Maybe there are some genuine backlogs and oversights, but there are documented cases of municipalities deliberately adjusting things just so they can bring in revenue. Parking meters too close to fire hydrants and short yellow to red transitions for red light cameras are two that come to mind.


Government is a huge, cumbersome, blundering machine that does a lot of work and uses a lot of money to get very little done (a product of the lack of a well defined bottom line). Because of this, errors are VERY common, very unintentional, and most of the time they are actually very insignificant (in a practical way anyway). Talk to anyone who has worked in the courts, for a police department (administrative preferably), or any number of other government offices that commonly have "backlogs" and "oversights" (preferably someone who is reasonably intelligent and pays attention to what goes on around them), and ask them about these "intentional accidents", I'm sure they'll laugh very, very hard (make sure they aren't drinking anything when you ask them). No conspiracy, just an excessive amount of overadministration and the accompanying disorganization.

While I agree that Government is huge, cumbersome and blundering (like I said, I worked for a very large agency in NYC for three+ years), there are cases of where things are set up to favor revenue generation for the city.

But then again you are probably one of those people who think the Government is always fair and benevolent. I pity you. :lmao:

To me, it sounds like you just got a dumb cop who forgot to write down the amount of the ticket. In this case, it should be an easy one to get thrown out of court. :banana:


Don't know what it's like in CA but in NY I don't think defective traffic tickets (moving violations) can be thrown out.

Defective parking tickets, yes. Moving violations? I don't think so.

she was going to disneyLAND, not world.... :)

d'oh that one always gets me. good call

I used to work for one of the largest Government agencies in NYC up until 3 years ago. Thanks for playing.

Maybe there are some genuine backlogs and oversights, but there are documented cases of municipalities deliberately adjusting things just so they can bring in revenue. Parking meters too close to fire hydrants and short yellow to red transitions for red light cameras are two that come to mind.

That's great, but those are ultimately the actions of an incredibly small number of people. I've been employed by a few different counties and cities and witnessed the same thing over and over again, overadministration. Also, just like in any other line or work though, there are a couple people who make some bad decisions and are picked apart because of them. If you choose to generalize these few instances to government in its entirety, great, but you should know better, especially if you have some first-hand experience. In the case of princess' ticket, I think it's fairly obvious that the confusion is due to a trooper failing to propperly inform her of the appropriate fine amount, not some bureaucrat sitting behind a desk hatching evil plots and laughing maniacally because she might overpay her traffic ticket by a few dollars. :dunno:

While I agree that Government is huge, cumbersome and blundering (like I said, I worked for a very large agency in NYC for three+ years), there are cases of where things are set up to favor revenue generation for the city.

But then again you are probably one of those people who think the Government is always fair and benevolent. I pity you. :lmao:

There probably are a FEW cases of someone in a position of decision making power taking advantage of the situation and private citizens, however the frequency of this is going to be very, very low given the amount of scrutiny that government offices and employees are subject to, especially after something like that (one of the things you mentioned) comes to light. Also, for the record, I didn't say the "government is always fair and benevolent", I explained that it was disorganized, poorly implemented, and not blatantly underhanded. There is a definite difference. And also..."The truth is out there." I know you know what that's from. :joker:

Well I figured out how they do it around here; you see, you'll lose money if you pay it, or fight it. How you ask? Well if you pay the ticket it's obvious, but even if you fight it and win, you had to take time off work to fight it. You go to sit in that slow-poke room for the hearing officer to call you, then you have to rant-&-rave about why the ticket is BS, after which you got to kiss butt in hopes that he/she rips the ticket up. You walk outside the court building 2 hours later and realize that you can't help but take a half day vacation. Wahhhhhh-lllllaaa, you just payed the ticket, but in another form of payment. So all you end up doing in the end is denying the Goverment the cash by depriving yourself of it (but it's so worth it to me :yes: ).

Wow, I got thru that one without swearing, that's unbelievable!

Funny story...

My wife and I are driving with her then-88-yr-old grandfather and somehow got on the topic of speeding tickets. He starting talking about how he hasn't had anyone write on his driver's license in many, many years. We ask him what he's talking about and he's like, "You know how the police officer writes on the back of your driver's license when they stop you for speeding? Then when you go to get your license renewed, you have to pay a fine if there's something written there," (I think is how he described it).

He thought that's how they kept track of those things...in 2006. He had no idea they use computers, radio communications, radars, satellites, etc. When we told him, he just chuckled, shook his head, and said, "My, my, my...!"

:yes:


Although crude, there is something a little like this in Illinois, If you get pulled over, and you get a ticket, they take your license unless you can put up about $80 in bail money to keep you license (Or if you have a motor club card, a lot of these can be used as a bond note). When they take your license, they staple it to the paper work. So... a year later when you get pulled over and the police walk up and ask for you license, they notice some small bumps and holes in it. There is pretty much no way to talk yourself out of a ticket with the bumps on the licence indicating that you are a repeat offender. I always give them the AAA card to staple, but if you have had your license taken for a traffic ticket, go to the DMV and get a new one. At least you might have a chance of getting out of it next time.

wow, that's really weird.

Although crude, there is something a little like this in Illinois, If you get pulled over, and you get a ticket, they take your license unless you can put up about $80 in bail money to keep you license (Or if you have a motor club card, a lot of these can be used as a bond note). When they take your license, they staple it to the paper work. So... a year later when you get pulled over and the police walk up and ask for you license, they notice some small bumps and holes in it. There is pretty much no way to talk yourself out of a ticket with the bumps on the licence indicating that you are a repeat offender. I always give them the AAA card to staple, but if you have had your license taken for a traffic ticket, go to the DMV and get a new one. At least you might have a chance of getting out of it next time.
See, another example of "your stuff is never the same once you get it back from the authorities". :mad: That's why I never give them an excuse to touch my stuff (as hard as that is).

In cali they are dumb, and everytime I have gotten a ticket, you either just have to show up to the court date (usually written on the bottom of the ticket) and hope its in the system by then (I am not certain but I think if you go on the date on the ticket you can demand that its either dropped or talk to the judge and they will drop it if its not in the system), or keep calling back to find out how much you owe. You definetly do not want a failure to appear, this like you said can end up costing you a whole lot more. It is also my understanding that if this happens you are technically driving with a suspended license and if pulled over again for any reason could cause some larger headaches.

I think in most cases & places here you'd get the "bill" in the mail withing about 2 weeks, which would have the court date on it to do battle if you care to.

Where he got his ticket is one of those speed traps (another reason he wasn't speeding). They honestly have TONS of tickets to get into the system.

We never get the amount due on the tickets here.... it changes too often & they'd have to do too many reprints of the books of tickets. So see, they're doing us a favor & saving the state money!! :lmao:

The last one I paid was for Crystle. She got one in the desert near Indio. It was 260. (another speed trap) If there's ANY construction going on, they double the fine.

He'll keep trying to pay it online.....when it's in the system it should show there & let him pay it.

I got a speeding ticket on the 5 frwy in Orange County (in Irvine, about 10 miles south of Disneyland) for "excess of 70mph" in a 55 zone (it was about 6 years ago). I was actually doing 80+ but the cop gave me a break. In any case, I got the bill in the mail and it was around $90. I don't remember the exact amount. I do remember suffering a saturday in traffic school. Hope that helps.

Oh and I don't know where you heard they add 300-1000 dollars if its late. I would have remembered that. I think the late fee might have been $50 or so. If you go too long they supposedly send out a warrant for your arrest.

I would just wait for the bill to come in the mail. They might be slow but I wouldn't start worrying until maybe the 45th day.

Guess what I just got a speeding ticket this morning (the ticket mentioned above happened 5 or 6 years ago). :( Hello traffic school. It was on the 241 toll road in orange county. There were like 6 motorcycle cops with radar at the bottom of this long hill. I was only doing 75-80. Biatch.

could you just do a driver improvement course online, and then have the charges dismissed after you pass it????

did that in VA with the last speeding ticket i got there.... right before my last deployment.....

Here, they have "traffic school" which, depending on the ticket, can get it off your record. Most are a joke as far as learning anything. They even have some that ARE a comedy act.

I don't remember where I got the late fees amount from. Maybe that's what the person on the phone said.... :dunno:

He's STILL not in the system. We keep checking..... It will be 4 months on Feb 5th.

The limit is 70 where he was written up at.... so 86 shouldn't be TOO bad.... I mean not counted as wreckless. I hope, anyway! :)

I got a ticket speeding through Santa Barbara going 87 in a 65 by CHP. They never posted the ticket online or sent me anything in the mail. It will be 3 years on 9/9.

It's not even on my driving record, I was fortunate to check that when I got my current job.

its all about cheaptrafficschool.com, if its still around and still on the list of approved places to do traffic school.

I just did trafficschoolonline.com for my latest speeding ticket. Took me no joke 10-15 minutes to finish the entire class. But because California sucks, I have to go to Kinko's and take the final exam there and pay another 6 bucks. The traffic school was 25 bucks and that included the certificate and shipping to you. I highly recommend it.

His ticket is FINALLY in the system!! It's 119 dollars OR 158 for "traffic school". He paid the 158, then found there's also a 12 dollars "convenience fee" :dunno:

Oh well, he started school this morning on the computer.

The whole thing is less than we expected! We figured it would be in the 300 dollars range. So this is good.

I doubt if the insurance would've gone up, but he wanted to clear it off anyway & it's cheaper than fighting it since that would mean days off from work.

Will he learn? I doubt it. In general, we go with the flow.... & the flow is often about 85 on that part of the road.

His ticket is FINALLY in the system!! It's 119 dollars OR 158 for "traffic school".


..Princess, sorry you had to wait and wait and wait.

Look at the bright side $119 (or even 158 plus costs) is a lot better than the ticket I got near Drain (no pun intended - that's a real town!!!), OR. $300 bucks. Speeding. My somewhat aggressive quip to the OSP trooper - with the Smokey the Bear hat - about California plates probably played a part in this amount...................

Moral of the story: Patience and courtesy. You win on both accounts.

best, ez....

He finished all 18 chapters of the online traffic school.... he took the test & now it's done.

Yeah, being calm does help when you get pulled over..... misaccused or not.

I was ready to fight it for a while, but I think he made the right choice. It's hard to be all fired up about it this much later! :) Maybe that's the plan!! :dunno:

i know that in PA, you can delay the court date for up to 2 years.... at that point, they may not even remember the details of the violation, where/how it happened, etc.

i won 2 tickets that way at one hearing once... was charged with reckless driving, and driving too fast for conditions in jan '01..... cop never showed for hearing 2 years later, and charges dropped in jan '03...


The great thing with dvd recorders... I just show that! Up to 2 years??? Good luck trying to keep it going that long here. A couple of months is an excessively long time.

Thats for civil tickets. For criminal tickets like reckless or DUI can drag out especially if the person fails to appear then finally gets picked up on a warrant.... but then the detail that is in the report is more than enough to convict them.

Look how long it takes to take the class here! It has a MINIMUM time.... it must force the time contraint on the class.

Here is a quote from the state website:



Completing a defensive driving class online is now possible for some Arizona students. While the online option is available from several certified schools, prospective attendees should be aware that not all Arizona courts will accept attendance via the internet. Follow the instructions on the information (bond) card you received with your citation, and if you have questions, contact a school listed on the card. They should be able to answer your questions.

Prospective internet students should be aware of the following information before they begin an online course. Internet attendance must meet all standards applicable to any Arizona defensive driving class. This means several things to you as a student.

All internet classes certified by Arizona are time-controlled, and are a minimum of 5.5 hours in length. A person cannot complete the course sooner. Most internet classes will take the average individual a longer period of time to complete.

Our online version seems to be that if you answer the questions at the end of each chapter, then you can move on to the next & then take the final. There doesn't appear to be a time set.

He got an email today that said his "hard copy" certificate of completion was snail mailed out today. THAT needs to be mailed to the court that prevailed where he was pulled over.

The local laws are slightly different, but close...from what I understand. I haven't had any tickets.

This is the one he took. It was just the first place he landed!
http://www.gototrafficschool.com

Well apparently you get the blue paper (the fine bill) AFTER you pay the fee. Then they send you the info on traffic school. We got both today. If not paid or the traffic school certificate to them by April 24th.... (almost 6 months from the violation) we will be fined a late fee of 300 dollars on top of the "bail".

It's already been paid & school done & certifcate recieved. But nowhere on anything does it say WHERE to mail it to!! One paper says fees go to Fresno another says Sanger, but it was in Coalinga's area. :dunno: Since Fresno should be the main office, that's where he'll send it.

Sheeesh, no wonder this takes so long!! That whole area is still in the stone ages!!!!