traffic citations go to collections or warrant?

[IOIOIO]

From searching these forums, I understand fines from traffice citations can never be discharged in bankruptcy.

I just got a traffic citation that I must plead guilty to. Since I will then owe the city money I can't pay for longer than they're willing to wait, I'm prepared to have it go to collections since it won't make my credit report any worse than it already is. I can deal with collections, garnishment, etc. but does anyone know how to prevent an unpaid traffic citation from becoming a bench warrant? I mean, if you simply don't pay can a judge issue a warrant, subjecting me to arrest the next time the cops stop me for anything at all? I know that "failure to appear" results in a bench warrant, but the way this citation system works, every response requires you to put up the bail money (the fine), so even if I do what the bureaucracy says and respond, I'm afraid of still being considered as having failed to appear. You can't even request a hearing in front of a judge without submitting the fine along with the request. I can call the traffic bureau and ask them these things, but no clerk is going to be able to go against the written specifications and tell me to do something without submitting the specified fine.

I'm in California. If anyone has any relevant info that could help I'd appreciate it.

[Bandit]

California (I lived there for 3 years) has the hardest DMV in the country for things like that. Nobody slides there. I would figure out how to pay that thing ASAP and not mess with it because it can snowball into a huge mess with years of problems if you do not.

I would think your D.L. will get suspended first if you did not show up but I am not sure about a bench warrant for traffic violation (out there it could be true). You may even want to get an attorney to go to court for you if that ticket requires you to go to court, it does not cost that much & it will even keep the points off your record as you may go to school. Sometimes they even get you off of the ticket all together if you elect traffic school. It is worth it IMO.

Sometimes they require BOTH- go to court and pay the ticket after court. sometimes you can just mail the payment, plead guilty with no court. Depends on what ticket you got and why.

Keep your driving record & BK/debt two complete seperate things because you cannot just have that go to collections without bigger problems down the road. It is different from just regular debt.
I am not telling you what to do, but that is what I would do.

[IOIOIO]

I hear you about keeping driving record separate from bk/debt.

You mean the debt doesn't just sit there collecting interest with a collection agency until I pay it? I mean, I'd be happy to pay it eventually, when I can. Any specifics on how it can snowball, aside from accruing interest? Getting arrested would be the truly major consequence.

[cool33097]

Nope, it does not go to colection and you will have a warrant against you. Next stop.....jail. At least in FL.

[Bandit]

I hear you about keeping driving record separate from bk/debt.

You mean the debt doesn't just sit there collecting interest with a collection agency until I pay it? I mean, I'd be happy to pay it eventually, when I can. Any specifics on how it can snowball, aside from accruing interest? Getting arrested would be the truly major consequence.

Is this like your very first traffic ticket? Just wondering is all.

It doesn't collect interest like you are thinking or so I have never seen it that way. It can double & triple. Your violations starts at 100.00, then you don't pay on time, it now cost 200.00 then when you don't pay by the next due date it will cost 300.00...and things like that.

But the other side is your driver liscense is going to be suspended (not because of your violation but because you don't pay & skate out on court) and now you have to go to court for another issue to get the D.L. back and pay for that court which is another 200.00 or more.

Plus you could end up paying for another court date to settle the first court date.

So your 100.00 ticket goes to 500.00 in just two months. Not a good deal.

You would not go to jail for the traffic ticket- but for not showing up in court & not paying, and/or driving on a suspended license- now you have to pay to get out of jail.

If you cannot pay at that time your court date is due, at least go to court. That will buy you a whole lot of time to be able to pay off the fine. The judge has to honor your appearance and sometimes they give you months to pay the fine without paying extra.

I was a professional driver for many years & learned how to get out of paying a whole lot of money (and stopped getting tickets) by just doing what they say from the start. Some states are not all that rigid but California does not mess around with DMV. Believe this, they set the pace & example for the rest of the country and Florida is right behind them. One reason being because of all the transients.


Traffic is not that big of a deal if you just do what they say from the start & is kept seperate from other laws unless of course there is DUI or criminal background judgments & things like that.

I am not preaching or anything. If you don't believe me you will find out what I am saying is true if you don't go. Any other questions, IOIOIO, just ask.

[PaKettle]

From searching these forums, I understand fines from traffice citations can never be discharged in bankruptcy.

I just got a traffic citation that I must plead guilty to. Since I will then owe the city money I can't pay for longer than they're willing to wait, I'm prepared to have it go to collections since it won't make my credit report any worse than it already is. I can deal with collections, garnishment, etc. but does anyone know how to prevent an unpaid traffic citation from becoming a bench warrant? I mean, if you simply don't pay can a judge issue a warrant, subjecting me to arrest the next time the cops stop me for anything at all? I know that "failure to appear" results in a bench warrant, but the way this citation system works, every response requires you to put up the bail money (the fine), so even if I do what the bureaucracy says and respond, I'm afraid of still being considered as having failed to appear. You can't even request a hearing in front of a judge without submitting the fine along with the request. I can call the traffic bureau and ask them these things, but no clerk is going to be able to go against the written specifications and tell me to do something without submitting the specified fine.

I'm in California. If anyone has any relevant info that could help I'd appreciate it.

There is no "messing around" in California.
What will happen is if you don't pay by the due date, it will go to warrant and then if you get stopped for anything, you will go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Also, the amount will go from like $140 to $500.

There is just no way around it, you have to come up with the money and pay before the due date. If you don't have the money, I think you can go to court and request a payment plan, but I'm not really sure about that. You could call the clerk's office and ask about that. Otherwise, just borrow the money or sell something or pawn something and pay it.

[IOIOIO]

Thanks for the info. No, this isn't my first ticket, just the first one that it would be a hardship to pay right away like I've always done, guilty or not guilty. I don't have or drive a car so license suspension is no big deal, but enforcement in my city is so aggressive that I get about one ticket per year on my bicycle, which is about the same as most people I know. The fines are the same for bicycles as cars.

For Californians, I did find the following very helpful web site:

http://ticketassassin.com/

In short, there's no way around fronting the city the bail money (the amount of the fine) in order to be able to contest in any of the optional venues. The best you hope for is a refund of the bail if you win. So I'm going to do Trial by Written Declaration because I'm not guilty and there is actually a possibility of winning in that venue.

I've been to my city's traffic court before and observed many cases. Our well-known magistrate ruled guilty in every single case I observed, even ones where there was certainly reasonable doubt. They also moved our traffic court to another city in the same county rather far away, raising the costs of contesting even further so an even higher percentage of people (it was already over 99%) just pay up without question. The ticketassassin.com web site is correct that all information the city provides totally obscures the possibility of Trial by Written Declaration. When the city receives my declaration and bail, that satisfies the appearance criterion, so I'm going to do that right away and that will optimize my chances of getting my money back as soon as possible.

[Bandit]

You got a ticket on a bicycle? That is just ridiculous of them. Did you drive the tire over someones toe? (just teasing)

I remember people getting tickets just for walking across the street because they were not inside the white lines. LOL! That is one area they are very strict on in Cali. I do think it will also depend a lot on what type of judge is up there.

I remember taking the written driving test as well. Let me say, I failed it three times because two of the questions were always asked in a trick way (go figure). The last/3rd time the man grading my paper gave me two more questions so I could pass & get my D.L. I answered them wrong so he kept giving me the choices for the answers until the only choice left was the right answer- then he passed me. That is a true story. I also remember the way that the written tests are graded are harder than other states.

In most of the states people can get out of traffic tickets all the time when they go to court but not so much out there. I do remember one ticket I got in florida and it cost just as much to hire an attorney to go to court for me as it did to pay the ticket...so I hired the attorney and I got out of the ticket. I guess we win some and lose some.

[AMISLANDER]

A friend of mine got pulled over for "fleeing to elude" on a bicycle, (Bradenton, of course) because he didn't stop immediately in the middle of the street....and he's doing 8 month in jail.

Do not "not pay" your ticket, as others have said, once your license is suspended for failure to pay, you get into a whole nother can of worms....either go to court or pay the ticket. What'd you get pulled for in the first place?

[magyar123]

Get tickets - pay them with credit cards - and the file bankruptcy.

[IOIOIO]

A friend of mine got pulled over for "fleeing to elude" on a bicycle, (Bradenton, of course) because he didn't stop immediately in the middle of the street....and he's doing 8 month in jail.

Do not "not pay" your ticket, as others have said, once your license is suspended for failure to pay, you get into a whole nother can of worms....either go to court or pay the ticket. What'd you get pulled for in the first place?

First of all, 100% of the people I've ever talked to about their tickets say they didn't deserve it, so I hesitated to tell my story, and just ask for advice as to the best next legal step. I've gotten tickets where even I didn't believe my own story. BUT, since you ask....

City streets, heavy traffic, morning rush hour, three lanes (one partially filled with legally parked cars), three lanes oncoming (one partially filled with legally parked cars), wide median with grass and trees. I get in the left lane so that I'll be able to get in the left turn lane at the next light for my left turn. I'm 1 foot from the median's curb on my left, as opposed to 1 foot from the parked cars on my right. Due to conditions and the difficulty of changing lanes, I'm in the left lane between one and two blocks before my left turn. Heavy traffic is doing about 25, I'm doing 10. Car horn blares behind me, which I presume was the cop. I make my left turn, then walk my bike to a store on that side of the street. As I'm locking my bike up, the cop drives up to me (he must have proceeded past me and made a U-turn about a quarter mile down the street) and tells me he can ticket me for going too slow to be in the left lane. As he states the facts, I'm not worried because he actually describes legal operation of a vehicle. He was just frustrated that he was behind a slow vehicle that needed to make a left turn. He then tells me he's going to give me a break and not cite me for the state code traffic violation, and instead cite me for a city infraction that the city uses for citing people who ride a bicycle on the sidewalk. The city code doesn't precisely say that, but this is the code they cite you under nevertheless. BTW, in my city it's legal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk if you're under 18, but that's neither here nor there. In any case, I never, ever debate with traffic cops and just accept everything and decide what to do about it later. I presume cops aren't used to this, and this one, who was already agitated, did try some mild provocations, such as asking me if I required a pamphlet on bicycle riding, and telling me I looked like I had questions so I should ask him questions. I accepted the pamphlet and declined to say one word more than routine politeness demanded. I want to minimize the wasted time and make myself as non-memorable to the cop as possible.

For the "going too slow" violation, I could have stipulated all the cop's facts and challenged the ticket as a matter of law. But since he cut me the break of citing me for something that's my word against his, which automatically finds you guilty, in my trial by written declaration I'll cite the cop's inability to maintain a line of sight and make a precise judgment as to whether I was walking the bicycle or riding it and whether he saw me or one of the other bicyclists. He was going 25mph in heavy traffic, with three intervening columns of cars and trees in the median. I hesitate to make claims as to the cop's frame of mind, but I do need to indicate why he actually stopped me to show he's not focused on bicycles on the sidewalk.

I was once pulled over for the exact same thing but in the middle of the street. That time, I got into the left turn lane about 1/2 block before the turn, which is blatantly legal, but I presume I "cut off" the cop, and I know how drivers feel when something prevents them from going as fast as they want to. He proceeded to yell at me while we were both stopped in the middle of the street, but clearly couldn't ticket me, so he started yelling at me for the cap I was wearing boosting an out of state football team he had a distaste for. Since the stop had clearly taken an unserious turn, I yelled "RAIDERS SUCK! RAIDERS SUCK!" and we both proceeded on our way without the incivility of this latest cop who wants to cost me money.

[IOIOIO]

A friend of mine got pulled over for "fleeing to elude" on a bicycle, (Bradenton, of course) because he didn't stop immediately in the middle of the street....and he's doing 8 month in jail.

Oh yeah, I also have an eluding story. I'm commuting by car at rush hour in another very large, well-known city, and do a few lane changes to get through traffic quicker, but nothing too aggressive, and I see the cop behind me in my mirror. While stopped to make my left turn off the main artery into the residential area, I see the cop ahead of me pulled over on the right. I proceed a block or two and suddenly the cop appears in front of me--he must have used his flashers to get across the heavy traffic and through the residential neighborhood fast enough to head me off at the pass. He stops me, checks all my info, then doesn't cite me or accuse me of anything or offer me any advice, and sets me on my way. I then ask him why he stopped me (which I now believe is a tactical error), and he tells me that, from the lane changes when he was behind me and my left turn which prevented him from getting a look at me while he was stopped ahead of me, he got the impression I was eluding him. I tell him I saw him behind me, saw him ahead of me, didn't think anything of it, and was just commuting home the same way I did every work day. The paranoid doofus might endanger cars in traffic, but at least he's honest and has a limit as to how far he lets his emotions get the best of him.

[robivi3]

Tickets here in Broward are a joke. You go to the Ticket Clinic pay $69.00 and never see it again. The Court gets a piece, the lawyer gets a piece and it's gone. I call it "speeding insurance". Here and Miami Dade they give you six pages of ways not to get held liable but still pay a cut, including extensions.

LUV YA Ticket Clinic!

[Bandit]

Tickets here in Broward are a joke. You go to the Ticket Clinic pay $69.00 and never see it again. The Court gets a piece, the lawyer gets a piece and it's gone. I call it "speeding insurance". Here and Miami Dade they give you six pages of ways not to get held liable but still pay a cut, including extensions.

LUV YA Ticket Clinic!

ticket clinic makes everyone happy. I used it once.

[IOIOIO]

Here's the follow-up to the $302 ticket I got for riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. Since it was an infraction of a city ordinance and not the California vehicle code, it was not eligible to be tried by mail. Long story short: today, almost six months after the original ticket, I finally got my trial, cross-examined the cop/prosecutor and was found NOT GUILTY!