Here’s Why Contested Traffic Tickets Can’t Be ‘Masked’

It’s Street Smart mailbag time again. This week we take a look at responses to past columns:

The April 27 column about traffic school drew in a letter from Patricia M. Bray of Huntington Beach. Her daughter was ticketed for running a red light, although she was well past the limit line when the light went red, Bray said. Her daughter was told that she could contest the ticket in court, but that in doing so, she would forfeit her right to attend traffic school and keep the ticket off her record. Bray wrote:

“I find that to be totally unfair and seems as though it abridges our rights somewhat to a fair hearing. If we dare to contest their authority, our insurance company will be informed and our rates will be increased. It’s a lose-lose situation.

“I reread your column and felt that you vaguely alluded to this fact, but I think it would be a service to your readers if you set it out more clearly: If you contest a ticket, you give up your right to have your ticket ‘masked’ from your insurance company.”

What Bray points out is partially correct: if you contest a ticket, you give up your right to attend traffic school--a guaranteed way of keeping a ticket off your record. However, if you contest a ticket in court, it only goes on your record if you are found guilty. If you are found innocent, the ticket is dismissed and your record is kept clean.

Of course, the debate is whether a judge will believe your word over that of a police officer’s. Doubts about this may push some into taking traffic school--a sure thing, albeit an expensive alternative, now that you must still pay the ticket fine.

Why not allow traffic school as an option after a verdict has been ruled? “Everybody in the world would take the chance and go to court,” said Dick Biggins, executive officer of Orange County’s West Municipal Court in Westminster. “In the meantime, we’ve wasted court time, officers’ time and taxpayers’ money.”

Frank Kilbourne of Anaheim read the April 13 column on which freeway lane travels fastest and wrote in with his own observations:

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why the right-hand lane is sometimes faster than the so-called ‘fast’ left-hand lane. A careful observation of California freeway drivers will reveal that most of us want to drive between 65 and 70 m.p.h. Much of the time the average speed in the left-hand lane is in this range; then, onto the freeway comes the self-appointed monitor of ‘drive 55, it’s the law.’ Entering in the right-hand lane, he cuts across three or four lanes of traffic to get to the left lane, where he immediately drives at exactly 55 m.p.h. This causes the other drivers to brake or switch lanes.

“Until all drivers practice the two most profound rules of freeway etiquette--keep to the right except to pass and pass on the left side only--our freeways will continue to have radical traffic flow with some of the ‘slower’ right-hand lanes moving faster than the left-hand lane.”

On April 6, a column ran explaining the different types of California license plates. Wally Roberts of San Clemente wanted some clarification about “E” plates--the type with a small E inside either an octagon or a diamond. The E stands for fee-exempt . A diamond plate is for state vehicles, while an octagon plate is for city, county and some federal vehicles.

Roberts wondered why a San Clemente beach patrol vehicle has a diamond plate reserved for state vehicles rather than an octagon plate issued to city vehicles. He also asked if federal vehicles have special U.S. government license plates, rather than California E plates. Finally, he asked if there was ever an oval E plate.

You surprised the San Clemente police with your sharp eyes. The beach vehicle does have a diamond plate, it turned out. But all the police vehicles are city-owned, and all should have octagon plates, according to Frank M. Felix, the city’s acting fleet manager.

Felix theorized that the diamond plate may be the result of an error on the part of the dealer who sold the city the vehicle. The dealer may have listed San Clemente as a state subdivision rather than a city entity--and the wrong type plate would have been issued.

As for federal vehicles, some do have California E plates--but it is rare, according to Deborah Ralls, who oversees the DMV section that issues specialized plates. Ralls couldn’t think of an example of a federal vehicle with a state plate, but the law does allow for it, she said.

Ralls also said that there was never an oval E plate.

Also in the April 6 column was a letter from Paul Rappo of La Palma, who wanted a freeway meter to be installed on the Gypsum Canyon on-ramp to the eastbound Riverside Freeway. He felt this would alleviate evening congestion in that area. Although Caltrans agreed with his assessment, the agency said no meter will be installed until the end of the year at the earliest.

Murry Rodman of Anaheim took issue with this delay:

“Caltrans’ answer to Paul Rappo reflects what is wrong with Caltrans. His solution was simple and direct. Where are all these high-priced highway engineers that they cannot see the solution? It must wait its turn, they say. Why does it take so long to widen an approach? Where is the Measure M money going that a simple off-/on-ramp change must wait, while we who pay for all this are left in a traffic tie-up?”

In March, Gene Kindschi of Seal Beach wrote in with a plan to transform California freeways into a mass transit system based on buses. Cars would be severely limited from using the freeways. The idea did not sit well with Sinai Stephens of Laguna Niguel:

“I want to know, will public transportation run 24 hours nonstop? Will pickup from local stations be frequent, bearing in mind the elderly, infirm, mothers with young children, etc.? Will these stations provide shelter against sun and rain?

“I recall my first visit to California some 10 years ago. I was persuaded by the hotel to use the dollar-a-ride service. Fine! But there were boundaries, and I was ‘dumped’ at ‘stops’ that had no shelter in temperature of 100 degrees. Hence my concern today.

“Let’s face it. Many of us prefer to be ‘lone’ drivers. We also prefer to choose the time we travel without having to refer to a timetable.”

Two readers wrote in response to the article that ran on traffic synchronization in February. Allan W. Stephens of Orange sent his wish to have signs posted showing the correct speed to travel to catch green lights.

Sorry, signals are not set up in Orange County cities so that cars can travel at one speed and always get green lights. There are too many unpredictable factors that make this difficult, as the article detailed. Traffic engineers just say that if you travel at or near the speed limit, you should be in sync with many of the signals. Of course, you’ll still hit the occasional red light. They’re inevitable, even on the best streets, as the article pointed out.

Frank W. Summers of Santa Ana wrote with his experience several years ago of trying to get signals synchronized on 17th Street in Santa Ana and Tustin. He said:

“I called the traffic engineers to ask why the lights could not be timed better. It was like talking to Alice in Wonderland.

“The lights on 17th near the Costa Mesa Freeway are controlled by the state. The next set are controlled by the county. The next set are controlled by Tustin. None of the traffic engineers had the slightest interest or concern. ‘That’s not my problem,’ or ‘I can’t do anything about it--that’s the city-county-state’s problem.’ ” The number of excuses is too long to list here. None made much sense.

Hopefully, those days are in the decline, since more and more cities are becoming converts to traffic synchronization and working together on projects.

Finally, a letter came in from Albert Zoraster of San Clemente, who urged that planners and officials consider ways of improving truck movement, pointing out that higher trucking costs are passed on to the consumer.

“It’s easy to find reasons to curse trucks. Trucks tailgate. Trucks take up space. Trucks constantly speed. Trucks with incompetent drivers cause accidents and tie up the freeways. All of this is true and should be corrected. But the reasons trucks exist is because they are essential to modern life. Food and other goods must be produced, and they must reach the consumer. If we act to improve the movement of goods, everyone will benefit to some degree. If we don’t, everyone will suffer.”