VC21456(b) Ticket Help. CA

[Unprodigy569]

I was walking home from a friend's house and there was a crosswalk with the button already pressed. As I approached it there was about 15 seconds or so. Near the end, I reached the other side of the crosswalk, the display showed the flashing red hand with 6 seconds left. An officer who was patrolling near the intersection stopped me and gave me a ticket. I asked how much it was he said "about $10". And I have to go to court, which sounds scary to me since I have never been in court. I do not know what to do, besides telling my parents what I did. My court date is around September but I want to change it to an earlier time (is that possible ?). And how much does the ticket actually cost ?

 

[AgentSmithers]

I was walking home from a friend's house and there was a crosswalk with the button already pressed. As I approached it there was about 15 seconds or so. Near the end, I reached the other side of the crosswalk, the display showed the flashing red hand with 6 seconds left. An officer who was patrolling near the intersection stopped me and gave me a ticket. I asked how much it was he said "about $10". And I have to go to court, which sounds scary to me since I have never been in court. I do not know what to do, besides telling my parents what I did. My court date is around September but I want to change it to an earlier time (is that possible ?). And how much does the ticket actually cost ?

So the law says you can't start to enter the roadway as soon the red hand starts flashing. I am assuming this was your scenario. The 10 Dollars will normally turn into 120 dollars after Taxes and Legislative feeds. When you get arraigned you have the right to request the breakdown (At least here in California you do). If your going to just throw in the towel and plead guilty make sure you ask for a Fine reduction from the Judge, Normally they are reasonable and knock off a few bucks for conceding straight to the violation.

Note: Plead no contest, The chances are 1 in a million if not smaller that a civil case could start from you getting this ticket but better safe then sorry.

 

[Unprodigy569]

So the law says you can't start to enter the roadway as soon the red hand starts flashing. I am assuming this was your scenario. The 10 Dollars will normally turn into 120 dollars after Taxes and Legislative feeds. When you get arraigned you have the right to request the breakdown (At least here in California you do). If your going to just throw in the towel and plead guilty make sure you ask for a Fine reduction from the Judge, Normally they are reasonable and knock off a few bucks for conceding straight to the violation.

Note: Plead no contest, The chances are 1 in a million if not smaller that a civil case could start from you getting this ticket but better safe then sorry.

If possible, is there a way to pay off that fee without going to court ?

 

[Unprodigy569]

So the law says you can't start to enter the roadway as soon the red hand starts flashing. I am assuming this was your scenario. The 10 Dollars will normally turn into 120 dollars after Taxes and Legislative feeds. When you get arraigned you have the right to request the breakdown (At least here in California you do). If your going to just throw in the towel and plead guilty make sure you ask for a Fine reduction from the Judge, Normally they are reasonable and knock off a few bucks for conceding straight to the violation.

Note: Plead no contest, The chances are 1 in a million if not smaller that a civil case could start from you getting this ticket but better safe then sorry.

Do I have to get myself a lawyer ? I have never been in a court case before so I have no idea what to do.

 

[CdwJava]

I was walking home from a friend's house and there was a crosswalk with the button already pressed. As I approached it there was about 15 seconds or so. Near the end, I reached the other side of the crosswalk, the display showed the flashing red hand with 6 seconds left. An officer who was patrolling near the intersection stopped me and gave me a ticket. I asked how much it was he said "about $10". And I have to go to court, which sounds scary to me since I have never been in court. I do not know what to do, besides telling my parents what I did. My court date is around September but I want to change it to an earlier time (is that possible ?). And how much does the ticket actually cost ?

All told, the total you will have to pay will come out to about $197. The base fine is $25 and much of the rest of it is based upon that amount. How much the court can reduce the fine depends upon the policies and practices of the court, but many of the fees and associated assessments cannot be reduced by the court.

To answer your other questions, no, you do not need an attorney. You can take care of this without one. This is an infraction which means it is a "crime" (albeit it a lesser one that does NOT go into any state criminal offender record) punished by a fine only. You can take care of it early if you wish, but how you might do this can vary by county. You can always check with the court where you have to appear to find out how you might pay the fine and plead guilty early, if you wish to. Citations can take two or more weeks to get into the local court system, so you may have to wait.

 

[FlyingRon]

Ignore Smithers. Plead Not Guilty. Explain your side. If indeed the officer says the light only started to flash after you had started crossing, you should be found not guilty.

 

[CdwJava]

The seconds start flashing when the red hand does. If he saw the 15 seconds flashing on the walk signal when he started to cross, then he crossed against the signal in violation of the section.

 

[AgentSmithers]

Ignore Smithers. Plead Not Guilty. Explain your side. If indeed the officer says the light only started to flash after you had started crossing, you should be found not guilty.

Well I'm not normally one to suggest pleading guilty at all, To me it sounds like the OP really has no interest in contesting the ticket. If It were me I would see it through but from the sounds of it he did commit the violation?

Once the two weeks has pasted he can call the court to get an amount to pay on the ticket then you can send them a check in the mail with a letter, That's normally what I do.

 

[Zigner]

Once the two weeks has pasted he can call the court to get an amount to pay on the ticket then you can send them a check in the mail with a letter, That's normally what I do.

It's telling that this happens often enough to you that you have a "normal" routine.

 

[AgentSmithers]

It's telling that this happens often enough to you that you have a "normal" routine.

Excellent Advice Zinger, The OP will find this very useful.

 

[Zigner]

Excellent Advice Zinger, The OP will find this very useful.

Goes to character

 

[CdwJava]

But ...

" As I approached it there was about 15 seconds or so. Near the end, I reached the other side of the crosswalk, the display showed the flashing red hand with 6 seconds left."

If he saw "15" next to the flashing red hand or "Don't Walk" (which, in my experience is the ONLY time you see numbers on the ped controls) it is unlawful to proceed into the crosswalk. Since he seems to know that "there was about 15 seconds or so" that seems to indicate there were numbers, and thus, a flashing red hand. In that case, he's guilty. Yeah, he can choose to go to court and hope the officer doesn't show, but, that'd be about the only chance to prevail.

 

[FlyingRon]

MUTCD says not to display the counter with the "WALK" indication. In most places that seems to be the case. I have a seen a few that do indeed run the counters on the WALK but it's uncommon. He'll need to check the intersection in question. If it is non-standard, that certainly is something that would indicate why the officer may have been mistaken.

 

[CdwJava]

Yep. I have only seen the counter with the numbers. I doubt it is possible to even purchase one with the numbers flashing with the "walk" signal.

Hence the reason I think he's fighting a losing battle.