It's a Fine Mess for Violators

By HUGO MARTIN

Sept. 11, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Got caught running a red light? Get ready to pay at least $270 for your offense.

Drove the wrong way on a one-way street? Made an illegal U-turn? Each of those violations will cost you $103.

The rules of the road in California are fairly straightforward. It doesn’t take a mental giant to operate a car on the state’s highways and thoroughfares.

But when it comes to determining the penalties you will pay for a roadway infraction, that is another story. You almost need degrees in math, history and politics to understand the justification for, say, the $271 penalty for driving alone in a carpool lane.

Why $271 and not a nice round number like $300? Why do most traffic penalties sound like numbers drawn randomly from the periodic table of the elements? And why are the fines so terribly steep?

That is a question that Israel Peralta recently asked after he was fined $103 for running a stop sign in El Monte.

“I think that is too much for a little stop sign,” he said, walking out of traffic court in Alhambra, still clutching his faded yellow citation. “I think that is overblown.”

It’s probably no comfort to Peralta to know that traffic fines haven’t always been so large. In a simpler time, not long ago, Peralta would have paid a much more affordable fine of $35. A few years ago, his penalty could have been waived altogether, if he agreed to attend traffic school.

No more.

Law enforcement officers issue more than 5 million traffic citations in California each year, with fines large enough to provide a major boost for government budgets. Last year, those tickets generated more than $112 million, most of which went to the state to fund various traffic safety programs. Counties, cities and courts get smaller portions of the money.

The first thing to understand about traffic penalties is that each is the sum of a base bail amount and various fines and fees that state lawmakers have added over the last decade. That by itself should explain a lot.

The lengthy process of creating a traffic penalty begins each year-- after the state Legislature ends its session in mid-September.

Once lawmakers adjourn, each new traffic law is reviewed by a panel of judges, law enforcement officials, public defenders and others appointed by the state’s chief justice. The panel, known as the Traffic Advisory Committee, recommends a set of fines. This “uniform bail schedule” is then circulated to the public and court officials for comment.

The committee is scheduled to meet next in October to consider new fines.

The committee’s recommendations are sent to the California Judicial Council, the court system’s policymaking body, which has the authority to adopt the fines.

Glenn Mahler, a Superior Court judge in Orange County who chairs the Traffic Advisory Committee, said the panel tries to keep the penalties consistent by proposing the same fines for similar offenses.

For example, the Legislature made it illegal last year to unnecessarily block a crosswalk or sidewalk. The advisory committee recommended a $35 bail, which is the same penalty charged to motorists who illegally block a bicycle lane.

Mahler said the fines recommended by his panel haven’t increased substantially in several years.

“I think people wonder why the fines are what they are,” he said. “People ask that question, and it’s hard to explain.”

A bit of California financial history is needed to understand today’s fines.

Traffic penalties grew substantially bigger and more complicated in 1991, when state lawmakers faced a $14-billion deficit. To generate new revenue, legislators added a $17 penalty for every $10 traffic bail amount or every fraction thereof. Of that $17 penalty, $10 goes to the state and $7 ends up with the county where the penalty was paid.

Thus, the added assessments cost motorists more than the underlying bail. And someone such as Peralta ends up paying $103 instead of $35. The base bail amount is $35, plus the penalty, which is $17 multiplied by four, equals $103.

Before 1991, the fine for a traffic violation was waived if you agreed to attend traffic school. Now, you must still pay the penalty even if you attend traffic school. On top of that, a judge can also charge a $24 “traffic violator school assessment,” which goes into the county’s general fund. The traffic school itself will charge even more--typically $30 to $50--just to attend the classes.

But the drain on your wallet doesn’t stop there.

If you committed your traffic violation in a highway construction zone, the base fine is doubled and the $17 penalty is calculated from that larger fine. If you’ve had prior offenses, the judge can tack on a $10 penalty for each one. And the court branches that offer after-hours sessions can charge a $1 night court fee.

Speeding penalties are based on how much you exceeded the speed limit. Once you calculate that, then you can determine your base bail and add all the other fines and fees to determine the total penalty.

If all of this makes sense to you, then you have an idea why those signs on the freeway warn motorists that the maximum fine for driving in a carpool lane without a passenger is $271. The base fine is $100, plus the penalty of $17 multiplied by 10, plus $1 for the night court fee.

“It’s outrageous,” said Benny Estrella of Highland Park, who was recently stung with a $270 penalty because he crossed the double yellow lines on the San Bernardino Freeway in Rosemead to enter the carpool lane. Estrella said he had enough passengers to qualify for the lane and insisted that he merged into it without endangering any other motorists.

He recently tried to explain all of this to a traffic commissioner at the Alhambra Superior Court. But the commissioner wouldn’t hear it. Estrella left the courtroom fuming.

“I think that is ridiculous,” he said. “I can see maybe charging $100 or $150, but not $270.”

“They are really socking it to you.”

If you have questions or comments on driving in Southern California, send an e-mail to behindthewheel@latimes.com.

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Some Traffic Penalties

Driving over the double yellow lines of a carpool lane

Bail: $100

Penalty: $170

Total: $270

Following too closely

Bail: $35

Penalty: $68