Fix It Tickets= License Suspended?! HELP!!

Los Angeles, California

Its been a while since the first incident occurred, but I believe it all happened around 2 years ago. After high school, I ended up using my girlfriend's car a lot to get to and from work. I pride myself on being an excellent driver, and have no other traffic tickets/infractions etc, besides this little bureaucratic nightmare. Anyway, I always mentioned to her that she should try to get her tail light fixed because it was a pain, and might cause her problems at some point. One night, I was pulled over a few blocks from my house, and the officer ended up giving me a ticket for it. I explained that it wasn't my car, and that I had begged her to get it fixed before. He said it would be no problem- just have her fix it, and bring the ticket to a sheriff's station to get it signed, and pay a ten dollar administrative fee. I reluctantly took the ticket and went on my way. A week or so later, I was pulled over again. We began the same song and dance. I tried to explain that I had already gotten a ticket for the exact same issue, and that it WASN'T EVEN MY CAR. He essentially said the same thing as the first cop, except that If I had kept the ticket with me, he wouldn't have to give me another one. However- since it was at home- he's have to write me another one. He said to keep it in the car in case I got stopped again. The next day or so, I was stopped a THIRD TIME. I quickly started explaining the situation and handed him the ticket. He quickly tossed it back into the car and angrily said that I shouldn't have been driving the car in that state anyway, and that he should have taken me into custody for ignoring (!?) the previous tickets. In the end, I got another ticket. A couple of months later, my then girlfriend got the same ticket, and she got it fixed for herself. I think my first ticket had already gone into collections, but I assumed that her fixing it would clear up all the tickets.

Long story short, my license is now suspended for these damn fix-it tickets which were supposed to cause me no trouble. Its basically ruining every aspect of my life. I need to get this dealt with. I called the DMV, and they say they have nothing to do with it. I tried referencing the tickets (which Ive certainly lost by now) numbers through the court house's automated system, but they said they can't reference it or do anything about it since its gone to collections. The collections agency doesn;t want to have anything to do with it except take my money. So...WHAT DO I DO?! I just don;t see how legally I can be expected to take posession of and make repairs to car that neither belongs to me, or is registered in my name. Do they want me to steal it? Should I have it towed? What? It just makes no sense. Its a complete nightmare, and I need someone's professional opinion on how to go about rectifying this. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

T What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Not sure which particular court in LA county these tickets were due in but you should be able to go to the GC Services window at the courthouse and they will advise you of your options. You maybe able to get a court date where you can appear before the judge to explain the situation.

However, I can tell you that without having had the violations corrected (the taillight fixed, the citations signed off and proof of correction filed in court), there is a very slim chance that you will still be able to get the benefit of paying the administrative fee for the correction(s) and thereby having the citations dismissed. If you get a sympathetic judge, he/she may reduce your fine(s), but I wouldn't count much on that.

In addition to the original fines for the underlying offense on each citation, there is a likely chance that the court has also added on a Failure To Appear charge, the fine for which is $250+ per incident. So even if you can get the judge to reduce the original fines, you will have to pay a good chunk of cash due to the FTA(s).

Back to the license issue. Assuming you can get the matter(s) scheduled for court appearance(s), you can request that the court clerk send an abstract (one per citation/at the cost of $10 each) to the DMV removing the hold off of your license, afterwhich you will have to go to the DMV, pay a $55 reinstatement fee, take the written test (again) and get your license re-instated.

And expect to pay for high risk insurance for the next 5-10 yrs. You ignored a ticket (s).

tammy8 said:

And expect to pay for high risk insurance for the next 5-10 yrs. You ignored a ticket (s).

Click to expand...

Why, may I ask, would the OP pay high risk insurance for the next 5 - 10 years for something that won't remain on his driving record NEARLY that long? And since when do you have to purchase high risk insurance in California for failing to appear on a traffic ticket, even if it did result in a license suspension?????

If he was caught DRIVING on a suspended license, that will raise his rates. Not merely HAVING a suspended license.

OP, you need to pay the tickets. You are responsible to make sure any car you are driving is safe and legal to operate. You deserve the tickets.

Opps speaking of most states, not California specific.

Reason for my answer. A suspension is considered a major violation--not a chargable incident but usually the result of a major incident--reckless driving, DWI, passing stopped school bus, transporting drugs or alochol, not paying a ticket or failing to appear for court-- therefore one is considered high risk. I am not aware of any company that will write a suspension on a prefered policy...and most companies underwrite for 5-10 yrs.