‘This isn’t easy to do with three kids.’ : There’re No Fast Lanes in Traffic Ticket Crush

Two Stanton boys, 15 and 17, stood in line at the traffic window at West Municipal Court in Westminster last week trying to pay a fine after police caught them drinking beer in their car.

It took them an hour to get to the window. There, they learned they could not pay the fine and would have to come back a second time just to get a date to appear in court.

Sue Ann Yasger, 29, of Fullerton had been cited for driving alone in a car-pool lane, but she wanted to plead not guilty because she was pregnant, and therefore, she reasoned, not alone in the car. At Central Municipal Court in Santa Ana, she waited in line for four hours, she said. If she had pleaded guilty, she could have mailed the fine.

Kim Knight, 22, of Long Beach was the first one in the door at 8:30 a.m. in North Municipal Court in Fullerton recently. Knight, initially arrested for drunk driving, had missed two sessions of an alcohol program--which meant expulsion--and wanted to be reinstated. At 3:30 p.m. she was still waiting. No one could find her file.

If you get a traffic citation in Orange County, and you want to do anything besides mailing in the fine, be prepared to wait in line.

The traffic windows at Orange County’s municipal courts are almost always crowded. It’s a simple matter of sheer volume, says West Court Administrator Richard W. Biggins.

“When you have more defendants than you have windows available, you’re going to have a line,” Biggins said.

At North and West courts, the lines reach the sidewalk. At Central, the line curls around the wall and down the hallway. Harbor and South municipal courts have lines, but not as long.

Administrators for the five municipal courts, in trying to do something about the problem, are negotiating with county officials to automate the traffic divisions. That way, window clerks could call up case files on computers rather than tracking down the paper work.

Central Administrator Robert B. Kuhel said court officials hope to have a plan approved by the Board of Supervisors for the 1987-88 fiscal year.

West Court plans something more immediate.

Information Desk

Beginning sometime this week, a special booth will be set up next to the information desk in the hallway to take care of people with quick business.

“A lot of people simply want a continuance on paying a fine, or want to apply for traffic school,” Biggins said. “That takes about two minutes at the window. If we can siphon these people off into a separate line, maybe they wouldn’t have to wait on people who require so much paper work.”

A woman applying for traffic school in West Court last week applauded the idea but said she wished someone had thought of it earlier. She had three children with her, including an infant. She had been in line 45 minutes and was still 10 people away from the traffic window.

“Somebody should do something,” she said. “This isn’t easy to do with three kids.”

But court officials counter that if people think waiting’s tough, they ought to see what it’s like for the clerks.

“Our people work unbelievably hard,” said North Court Administrator William J. Brennan. “People who have to wait in line should realize that it’s not the fault of the clerk at the counter.”

Praises the Staff

At West Court, Biggins said: “It’s brutal for our people. They drive to work in the morning knowing that line will be there, and that it’s not going to let up. I can’t say enough about how great our staff is.”

“Most people are upset at the police for giving them a ticket, so they’re in a bad mood coming in the door,” Biggins said. “Then they see us as just an extension of the police.”

It’s not easy for traffic clerks to get used to it, he said.

Kuhel of Central Court says his staff is constantly undergoing training in how to deal with irate people.

“This isn’t Disneyland; we know people aren’t coming in here with smiles on their faces,” Kuhel said. “But we try to give them a smile back anyway.”

One answer before automation arrives would be to increase the number of people handling the traffic lines. But that’s not likely to happen.

Clerks Have Other Duties

The municipal courts were not allowed any leeway in their budgets last year to increase their staffs.

“One problem people don’t understand is that our workers all have other duties besides attending the traffic window,” Biggins said. “They can’t just drop everything just because the line backs up a little more than usual.”

Kuhel in Central Court believes the lines could be shortened if the public better understood that most traffic fines can be taken care of by mail.

“We think up to 50% of the people we deal with are here to pay a fine they could have dropped in the mail,” Kuhel said. “But there isn’t enough room on the ticket to adequately explain that.”

The other courts have the same problem.

Last week, for example, a 32-year-old Cambodian refugee, Sesa Sar of Los Angeles, had come to West Court with a fellow Cambodian. His friend had received a parking ticket and needed Sar to interpret for him. Sar, who said they had waited in line for more than an hour, was distressed because he and his friend both work two jobs, and it wasn’t easy to take that much time to come to court. But they were even more distressed when they found out the fine could have been mailed in.

Drop Box Available

The traffic windows are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The courts cut the line off at 4:30, but anyone already in line by then is allowed to reach the window. That often means workers staying long past 5 p.m., Biggins said.

In Central Court, there is a drop box next to the information booth. When people ask where the traffic window is, the deputy marshals try to help by pointing out that the drop box can be used if it is unnecessary to appear.

Even without the lines, court administrators say they need automation to handle the mounds of paper work.

James Peterson, Harbor Court administrator, said that each year traffic laws become more technical and involve more paper work.

But still, it’s the lines that worry court officials. Kuhel ventures that the lines might even be a fire hazard.

“It’s certainly distressing for everybody involved,” Kuhel said. “But we are fully aware that something needs to be done. And our plans to automate are well past the discussion stage.”

While there is some bickering in line, some people are resigned to waiting. Many times it’s people who have done it before.

Kim Knight of Long Beach, for example, calls herself a professional traffic violator, experienced at being in line.

“If you have to come here, plan on spending some time, especially if your paper work is upstairs in traffic court,” Knight said. “There’s only one sure way to avoid these lines--don’t get any traffic tickets.”