• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Moving viol. ticket in LA - German citizen

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

christoph663

Junior Member
Hi there,

I've got the following question:
I received a ticket for violating a stop sign at the LA Airport. It was quite confusing for me, because I did not quite know if the officer tries to stop me or not, that was why I passed the stop sign after all. Well the officer was quite friendly and made the fine as low as possible. He told me something about around 50$.
The problem was, that my visa expired two weeks later and I told him that I could not be reached at address shown on my NJ drivers license.
Actually he did not give me any advices what to do there. He just told me to pay it somehow. (But how could I if I did not eaven know how much it was)
Well in the end I did not receive any bill about 50$, but about 399$ because I did not pay in time. My question is now:
Will I get into trouble if I should ever again try to enter the US if I choose not to pay that fine?
I mean I feel really badly treated by the LA court, because they never sent me a bill and how could I know about any due date or the amount of the fine then.
I already called the court, but the employees there seem to be very dump. The employee did not even know that Germany is not part of the US until I told her.

Thanks in advance for any hints, best regards, Christoph
 


garrula lingua

Senior Member
Your ticket probably had an appearance date on it (usu down where you signed it).

You should have hired an atty to make the court appearance, plead guilty, and you would have been given several months time to pay the amt due.

If you don't pay, it will likely cause difficulties if you try to re-enter the US.
A warrant should issue for the unpaid traffic ticket.

What's unfair ? You went through the stop sign.
In L.A., most infractions can be up to $100 but the court adds on penalty and assessments which are 270% of the fine. (yup = 270 dollars, plus $20 court security, $1 night court funding = about $300)

Well, I hope you had a nice visit. Too bad about the ticket; I'd pay it.
 

christoph663

Junior Member
First of all, thanks for the fast reply.

Quote: 'What`s unfair?'

Well what I think is unfair is that they do not print the amount due on the ticket, and that you are not able to pay right away. They tell you they will post you a bill, but in the end they know that the US Post is not relyable enough for important stuff. (do you mail anything of value via US Post?)
I mean it might not seem unfair for a US citizen if you know how it works, but don't you think that it might all be easier if they print on the ticket the amount due + the way you can pay it?
I mean that they are making it very very complicated and this way it is not understood by everybody, especially not by foreigners.
I am not the kind of guy who does not want to pay his fines, and of course, I passed the stop sign and earned a just ticket. But the way they process the whole thing is not reasonable.
I never had problems of that kind in Germany and I always payed the tickets I got for minor violations.
To hire an aty is not a good hint: It will most likely cost me more than to pay the fine...
 

Six Black Roses

Junior Member
You'll be fine. Just make sure that when you reenter the United States in the future, it will be while operating a Tiger tank. I have your back.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
Since you came to this site and posted in English I can safely assume you can read and write in English. Therefore, I can also assume you read the ticket and know that either, as you were told, on the bottom of the ticket or the reverse side, you were given a phone number and/or an address to contact.

if you had done that, you could have arranged to pay the fine and be done with it.

You did not and now you are paying the court costs. And it's the same in Germany. At least it was during my 14 years living there.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top