Traffic Tickets Clogging Courts

Traffic tickets are causing gridlock in the halls of justice in Orange County.

The county’s five Municipal Court districts are jammed with motorists waiting in line, sometimes for hours, to apply for traffic school, obtain continuances or pay fines.

One way to avoid the long lines is simply to mail in the fine. However, a lot of people who want to do so end up waiting in line because their traffic citations don’t fully explain the options available for settling a citation.

Traffic tickets should clearly spell out procedures and options. That would help considerably. And the courts, in this age of computers and retail express lanes, should have their stacks of paper files computerized and provide special windows to speedily dispose of simple cases, such as traffic citations.

Some court districts are trying to streamline their operations. All the courts, and the county Board of Supervisors, should waste no time taking steps to shorten and speed up the seemingly interminable courthouse lines.