STOP SIGN

[adrian1993]

i ran a stop sign didnt stop i got a ticket by the officer
what happens next?not sure what to do cause im new at this in california.

 

[FlyingRon]

At this point what you have is a promise to either appear at court or otherwise deal with the ticket prior to the appearance date. You should confirm with the court (it will take a few days for it to be entered into their "system") the details as appearance dates often change. You may get a "courtesy notice" but you should not rely on getting it.

Your options are roughly:
1. Admit guilt and pay the fine. It will be (if charged with 22450(a)) $238. They will report this to the DMV who will add a point to your license. Your insurer will hear about that from the DMV and may adjust your rates. The courtesy notice (or contact the court) will tell you how to do this.
2. Appear on the appearance date. This will be an arraignment. You can then either plead guilty (implications above) or plead not guilty and you will be scheduled for a trial.
3. You can also apply, prior to your appearance date, for a Trial By Written Declaration. You will submit the fine amount as "bail" and a written statement as to why you are innocent. The officer will be requested to file a similar statement as to your guilt. The judge will decide one way or the other. Most likely you will be found guilty and the bail will be taken as the fine. If you wish at this point you can ask for a "trial de novo" and you'll be given a court date as if you had plead not guilty in #2.

You have another option in parallel with the above. If you have not used it in the past 18 months, you can take traffic school. Information on this option often comes with the courtesy notice, but you can contact the court as well. You go to the school. You'll pay the school whatever they want for tuition (there's a wide variety of these, some are quite entertaining). You then pay the fine and an extra $52 fee to the court and they will not send the conviction information to the DMV. This means you don't get the point and your insurer never hears about it.

Of course, you can always talk to an attorney about this.

 

[adjusterjack]

My vote: traffic school.

You might be able to do it online and save yourself the hassle of the other options and still lose.

 

[adrian1993]

At this point what you have is a promise to either appear at court or otherwise deal with the ticket prior to the appearance date. You should confirm with the court (it will take a few days for it to be entered into their "system") the details as appearance dates often change. You may get a "courtesy notice" but you should not rely on getting it.

Your options are roughly:
1. Admit guilt and pay the fine. It will be (if charged with 22450(a)) $238. They will report this to the DMV who will add a point to your license. Your insurer will hear about that from the DMV and may adjust your rates. The courtesy notice (or contact the court) will tell you how to do this.
2. Appear on the appearance date. This will be an arraignment. You can then either plead guilty (implications above) or plead not guilty and you will be scheduled for a trial.
3. You can also apply, prior to your appearance date, for a Trial By Written Declaration. You will submit the fine amount as "bail" and a written statement as to why you are innocent. The officer will be requested to file a similar statement as to your guilt. The judge will decide one way or the other. Most likely you will be found guilty and the bail will be taken as the fine. If you wish at this point you can ask for a "trial de novo" and you'll be given a court date as if you had plead not guilty in #2.

You have another option in parallel with the above. If you have not used it in the past 18 months, you can take traffic school. Information on this option often comes with the courtesy notice, but you can contact the court as well. You go to the school. You'll pay the school whatever they want for tuition (there's a wide variety of these, some are quite entertaining). You then pay the fine and an extra $52 fee to the court and they will not send the conviction information to the DMV. This means you don't get the point and your insurer never hears about it.

Of course, you can always talk to an attorney about this.

thanks i appreciate your comments,i just got the ticket november 11/17/2019 haven't got the courtesy notice they told me to wait in january tried entering the pre printed numbers on the court website its not in the system yet i cant make to the court in feb of 2020 the thing is i can pay online if its possible?

 

[Zigner]

thanks i appreciate your comments,i just got the ticket november 11/17/2019 haven't got the courtesy notice they told me to wait in january tried entering the pre printed numbers on the court website its not in the system yet i cant make to the court in feb of 2020 the thing is i can pay online if its possible?

You will likely be eligible for traffic school (as stated above). You can do it all online.

 

[adrian1993]

You will likely be eligible for traffic school (as stated above). You can do it all online.

do i have wait for the courtesy letter thou?

 

[Zigner]

do i have wait for the courtesy letter thou?

You should wait until it's "in the system". There is information you may need to provide to the traffic school that you don't have yet.