Seat-Belt Offense Not the Same as a Moving Violation

Dear Street Smart:

I was very shocked recently when I received a traffic ticket. I was stopped by a patrolman, and he said, “You’re going a little bit fast,” and I said, “I didn’t think that I was.” And he said, “Well, you’re not wearing your seat belt,” which I wasn’t.

He said, “I’ll have to cite you for your seat belt.” So he gave me a citation, which carries a $25 fine. I thought, OK, they need the money. So I sent in the $25.

It wasn’t until a year later that I received a bill from my insurance company showing that the seat-belt citation raised my rate almost $100. I called them and they told me that a ticket for not wearing your seat belt is a moving violation and counts against your driving record.

So for the next three years I will be paying about $100 more a year on my insurance because of that seat-belt violation. I think that fact should be published so people are aware of that. I had no idea that it would be a moving violation ticket.

Frances Carey

Fullerton

Shame on your insurance company. They didn’t tell the whole truth.

A seat-belt violation isn’t a moving violation, and it does not count a point on your official driving record with the state, according to Gina McGuiness, a Sacramento spokeswoman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Unfortunately, some insurance companies seem to be raising rates these days no matter what the violation.

Part of the problem may lie with the DMV computer printouts of driver records, which insurance agencies use to determine how much they charge clients. For basic bookkeeping purposes, the printouts list all traffic citations, everything short of parking in a red zone.

Unfortunately, the printouts don’t indicate whether a citation is a moving violation or something less serious--like a ticket for driving without a seat belt. It is left up to each insurance firm to check the severity of a ticket, and some probably don’t even bother.

Hope is in sight. The DMV is developing a new “user-friendly” printout that will specifically identify “in good plain English” which tickets are moving violations, McGuiness said. The new system is expected to be in place next year.

But even that improvement will do nothing to keep some insurers from hiking rates at the first sign of even the lowliest traffic citation. Motorists who suffer such a fate might consider asking the firm to call the DMV in Sacramento for clarification. If they still insist your rate should be hiked, you might consider shopping for a new insurer with less strict rules.

Dear Street Smart:

I read with interest the letter of James Hyek (Nov. 27) and your encouraging reply regarding the problem existing at the notorious bottleneck of the eastbound Garden Grove Freeway to the Orange and Santa Ana freeways.

There is a similar problem at the junction of the Costa Mesa and Garden Grove freeways. The northbound exit from the Costa Mesa Freeway onto the westbound Garden Grove Freeway lacks any sort of ample exit lane. Anyone so unfortunate as to travel northbound on the Costa Mesa Freeway, at a snail’s pace of course, is condemned to crawl in traffic the entire distance from 17th Street to the Garden Grove Freeway before an exit ramp finally appears.

On many other freeways, special extra lanes are provided well in advance so a motorist can pull out of the traffic and head to an exit ramp hundreds of yards up the freeway. Ample room exists to do the same thing along the northbound Costa Mesa Freeway and provide motorists with an escape route to get to the westbound Garden Grove Freeway. But the land is simply left covered with ice plant, Caltrans’ favorite.

It would stand to reason that if a substantial number of cars left the Costa Mesa Freeway even sooner to head west, it would only be a welcome relief to all the through traffic continuing north. Let me guess the possible replies: “Not a Caltrans priority,” “Proposition M defeated,” or some such thing.

John P. Lejeune

Orange

Now, now. Sounds like you already know all the answers.

Caltrans officials say they would like to see just such a special escape lane laid down on the northbound Costa Mesa Freeway to funnel off cars heading west on the Garden Grove Freeway. Just as you suggest, these sorts of extra lanes, which are separated from the regular freeway traffic by thick white lines known as “elephant track,” help to clear out motorists from the regular through lanes of a freeway.

While such a lane has already been designed, construction has been delayed because of funding problems, a common refrain at Caltrans these days. Maybe it will be built in 1991, they say.

Even then, the extra lane will siphon off traffic only about 2,000 feet before the exit ramp onto the westbound Garden Grove Freeway, not all the way from the 17th Street exit further to the south. The reason, Caltrans officials say, is that the freeway cuts under a highway bridge at Santa Clara Avenue that is too narrow to permit the extra lane.