It’ll Be a Fine Time for a Ticket : State budget: Beginning Aug. 1, the penalties for traffic offenses in California will accelerate--some of them by more than 200%.

Your lead foot is going to cost you more. So are those illegal U-turns and any quick slips into the car-pool lane when you’re all alone.

The cost of traffic offenses in California will increase as of Aug. 1, some by more than 200%. But think of it this way: You’re doing your part to ease California’s budget crunch.

Laws signed this week as part of the state budget will raise the fines for moving violations and significantly increase the cost of attending traffic school. And municipal courts are bracing for an onslaught of confused, angry traffic violators.

“We deal with hundreds of people a day at our counters and hundreds more by mail,” said Robert Prince, assistant executive officer of Fullerton Municipal Court. “With the economic situation such as it is, we’re concerned with how the public will accept this large an increase.”

The basic fines for moving violations will rise by an average of $3, Prince said. Penalty assessments, which currently are $14.50 for each $10 of the fine, will go up to $17, he said. With that framework, the total amount owed on a ticket for making an unsafe turn, for instance, will increase from $71.50 to $82, Prince said.

Those hardest hit will be those who want to attend traffic school to avoid black marks on their driving records and rises in their car insurance.

Traffic school now costs $48. The new fee? Try $130.

It seems likely that at least a few of the half-million folks guilty of moving violations in the county each year will not welcome that news.

“A lot of people don’t have this amount of money,” said Bee Frame, manager of the traffic division at Westminster Municipal Court. “I feel sorry for people. I realize we have to get these citations issued, but by the same token, in today’s economy, it’s rough.”

But offenders who cannot or will not pay are unlikely to find themselves in jail. Frame said that the county does not issue arrest warrants for scofflaws who consistently fail to appear in court or pay their tickets. The state Department of Motor Vehicles will suspend the offender’s driver’s license instead, she said.