Getting pulled over for speeding is certainly not fun and games. This will result in points added to your driving record and consequently, your insurance rates will rise. However, you don’t have to panic about receiving a speeding ticket in this state especially if it’s one point moving violation. California is among those states that can allow individuals to fix one-point infractions with the completion of traffic school courses. Let’s reveal all information about the speeding tickets in San Francisco, how many points it adds up to your driving record, the speeding ticket costs in California, and so much more.
What happens when you get a speeding ticket in California?
As we specified earlier, a speeding ticket will lead to points adding to your driver’s record and the cost of your insurance rate will rise significantly. In this scenario, you have the following options to pick from.
- Pay all the processing fees and get enrolled in the traffic school to cover a one-point moving violation OR
- Plead “Not Guilty” if you have witnesses and strong proof
Remember that some courts may decide that you are not qualified for traffic school attendance. This can be due to several reasons such as the severity of your infraction and how many points it added to your DMV driving record. However, if the court agrees on your eligibility for traffic school, you should pay the admin fee, your bail amount, and the cost of traffic school registration. Let’s unveil further details about each of these scenarios in the coming paragraphs.
How to go to traffic school for a speeding ticket in San Francisco, California
Your initial step is to wait until you get a courtesy notice from San Francisco County Court. When you acquire the notice, you will uncover info such as your eligibility for traffic school, all the mandatory fees you should pay, and further actions to take. You should meet the common criteria to qualify for the California traffic schools:
- Not attending traffic school within 18 months for another citation
- Possessing a current driver’s license
- The citation was for a moving violation adding no more than a single point
- The vehicle you operated was not commercial
As soon as you have approval from the San Francisco County Court, start your actions right away. First off, take care of all processing charges including the state-mandated fee, your bail amount, and traffic school registration fee (learn about all applicable charges in the next paragraph). Exclusively opt for California DMV-licensed traffic schools that have Occupational License Numbers such as Rapid Traffic. Otherwise, you will waste both your time and money on something that is totally unnecessary.
Processing Charges
Once you receive a speeding ticket in San Francisco, wait until you get a courtesy notice from the court that handles your citation. In the notice, you will learn about whether you qualify for the traffic school or not. In case you got a green light to attend traffic courses, take the following actions right away:
- Pay the cost of your speeding ticket (can vary, up to $500)
- Process the court-mandated payment of $52
- Register with the DMV-licensed traffic school by paying $19.95
Fighting a speeding ticket in California
You probably wonder whether fighting a speeding ticket is worth it in California. If you think your receiving a speeding ticket was not fair, you should come up with certain techniques to convince the court that you didn’t deserve the points added to your record. The common grounds for winning the court are to have as many witnesses as possible and strong evidence to support your plead of “No Guilty”. Be prepared that it will not be easy to convince judges to dismiss your speeding ticket. However, we have gathered some tricks you may consider so that you convince the court in your favor. Let’s reveal these tricks in the next paragraph.
How to win the court?
In order to contest your speeding ticket in San Francisco, here are some tricks:
- Ensure to appear in court on the exact date as shown on your notice. This may sound odd, but it can actually help you to win the court. On your trial date, both the officer who issued your ticket and you should be present. However, in case the officer doesn’t show up, your ticket will be dismissed immediately, and your driving record will be cleared.
- Use speed trap defense against your ticket. Speed trap usually describes scenarios in which the posted limit is reduced for a certain part of the road. A common example of it is a speed trap on a highway in a small town where the speed limit is drastically changing (let’s say from 60 mph to 30 mph) for a half-mile section. A speed trap can be a very strong defense if you come up with the evidence supporting it. We recommend taking a close look at this guide which thoroughly covers speed trap defense and all the necessary steps you should take to utilize it in support of your case.
- Suggest a strong justification that speeding was a case of emergency. Come up with solid evidence that can prove that speeding the posted limit was necessary to avert another type of emergency.
To wrap up, in case you got a speeding ticket in San Francisco California, you have certain options to choose from. The one is to pay all the mandatory fees and request attendance for traffic school. On the contrary, you may contest your citation if you think it was unfair to receive it.
