New Law May Offer Relief for Late Traffic Fines

Can Californians with traffic ticket debts find relief?

Let’s face it.  Nobody likes getting a parking ticket!  While you may be dealing with unwanted fines there is some good news if your traffic violation debt was before July 1st.   

The inconvenience of court is one thing, but the cost of traffic violation tickets can increase quickly and can create a stressful debt on California traffic offenders.  However, when it comes to actual court fees, legislation is starting to act. 

California has some of the highest traffic court fees in the nation and many of them are imposed, not as punishment, but to raise funds for the court system.   A new state law took effect on July 1st that can help those buried under a mountain of debt from traffic violations.  

AB 199 went into effect, cancelling all back debt before July 1st of 2022 for civil assessments. The law also lowers future civil assessments to $100 and sends that money directly to the state, so county courts won't be tempted to impose fees just to raise revenue.  Prior to July, this was a $300 late fee imposed against nearly anybody who missed a deadline, no matter how small or large the traffic violation was.

For example, in the case of a $35 fine for running a stop sign, adding normal court fees and a civil assessment can increase the cost to $538.

Not all courts have adjusted to the new rules and in some cases still accepting payments from traffic offenders that include their past due debt.  Double check with your county if you have any late fees that should now be waived thanks to AB 199.

Source: ABC 7 News Bay Area
Tuesday, August 9, 2022

The state has eliminated all late traffic fines and dropped the price of existing fees for all Californians.

"We punish people extravagantly for traffic violations," said Rio Scharf, an attorney for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. "Not just with fines, but also with a ton of mandatory fees." AB 199 - California Assembly (20212022) - Open States

Assembly Bill 199 aims to cut down costs - eliminating all traffic late fees imposed before July 1.
... Assemblyman Phil Ting says prior to AB199, civil assessment fees were extracting around $100 million from California courts - mainly impacting low-income families who struggled the most to pay ticket debt. "Unfortunately for too long, our courts have been relying on low-income individuals paying civil assessments to fund many of their operations. So, what this does is really ensure we reduce that burden on the lowest income people in our state," said Ting.

In addition to looking into late traffic fees, you also want to avoid increased auto premiums due to your traffic ticket.  Cheap and Speedy Traffic School.com can help with that part!  

Register Today  to complete traffic violation school so we can remove that stress from your plate!  Your auto insurance will not hold your ticket against you if you complete your traffic school by your deadline.