California traffic tickets.
Four points in twelve months and the DMV presumes you are a negligent operator. The fine you see on the ticket is not the fine you pay.
How it works in California.
The Superior Court for the county hears it, decided by a judge or commissioner, no jury.
The DMV runs the Negligent Operator Treatment System: four points in twelve months, six in twenty four, or eight in thirty six and you are presumed a negligent operator. At Level III that is a year of probation including a six month suspension, effective thirty four days after the notice is posted.
4 points in 12 months
Presumed a negligent operator
6 points in 24 months
The same presumption
8 points in 36 months
The same presumption
Level III
A year of probation including a six month suspension, effective thirty four days after the notice is posted
The listed fine is a fraction of what you owe.
California stacks a state penalty, court construction, DNA fund, county penalty and EMS assessment at roughly twenty two to twenty seven dollars for every ten dollars of base fine, then adds a twenty percent state surcharge, a forty dollar court operations assessment and a thirty five dollar conviction assessment. A hundred dollar base fine routinely lands near five hundred.
Separately, a handheld phone ticket carries zero points on a first offence, and willfully failing to appear or pay is itself a misdemeanour under VC 40508, whatever happens to the original charge.
Common violations and what they carry.
Speeding
VC 12810
One point.
Red light
VC 12810
One point.
Unsafe lane change
VC 12810
One point.
Failure to yield
VC 12810
One point.
At fault collision reported to the DMV
VC 12810
One point.
DUI, reckless, hit and run, evading, street racing, driving on a suspended licence, and 100 mph or more
VC 12810
Two points, which is the entire two point list.
California's point system is unusually flat. Almost everything is one point, so the risk is accumulation, not any single ticket. How often prosecutors actually grant charge reductions is not verified.
What actually helps here.
Traffic Violator School
Under VC 42005 one conviction in any eighteen month period is kept confidential and stays off the record.
Closed to DUI, reckless, hit and run, injury collisions, speeding 25 mph or more over, and Class A, Class B and commercial Class C licence holders.
Trial by written declaration
You can contest the ticket in writing without appearing at all.
If you lose it you can demand a completely fresh in person trial within twenty days.
The due date printed on the citation or courtesy notice
The courtesy notice can take thirty days or more to arrive and that does not extend the deadline. Willfully failing to appear or pay is itself a misdemeanour under VC 40508.
Generally yes, but local practice varies
The Judicial Council's own guidance says a lawyer can represent you at trial. Local practice varies across the fifty eight counties.
Read this first.
How it works
You send us the ticket. That is your entire job. Four steps and a flat fee in writing.
What we fight
Speeding, red light, cell phone, reckless driving, suspended licence and CDL tickets.
Send us the ticket
Free review, no obligation, and a straight answer about whether fighting it is worth your money.
Send us the California ticket.
Free review, no obligation, and a straight answer about whether fighting it is worth your money. Representation in California is provided by an attorney licensed in California.