I got a speeding ticket in Mendocino County, Ca a few months ago, 71 in a 55 (limit had just dropped from 65, but I missed it), and it was $183 for the fine, but by the time they added all the other fees, it came to $402, and that doesn’t cover the cost of traffic school (though it did allow me to take it).
A lot of this stuff is county based also, so be careful to know what county you are in, and how strict they are in enforcement. There is quite a bit of leeway depending on where you are at. And also, watch out for the type of road. I find county roads are the best if you are in a hurry as Sheriff departments seem to be the most lax about speeding of any group (at least here in Northern California). But you still need to watch out as the CHP will use the roads too, and they must have a quota or something, because they don’t have any problem pulling over someone.
In my area (North Carolina), fines are cheap, but court costs are killer. I have had speeding fines of $15 but court costs are $100 even if you pay the ticket by mail.
Just a minute, what’s all this county stuff. Are you telling me that each of your states is split up into different provinces each with its own rules and regs.
IANA englishman, but I think our counties are what you call shires, or maybe districts over there. States are divided up to counties, parishes, and possibly other division names. County government has certain powers. They can vary by state. City government has it’s own set of powers and laws too.
Muni court magistrate here. In my Ohio court, speeding is an $80 fine, unless you were going waaaaaaay over the speed limit or have priors, in which case I’ll impose the maximum $150 fine. Illegal parking is also an $80 fine, although if you’re in a handicapped zone, it’s a mandatory $250 fine under state law. Driving without insurance is not usually charged as such, but you can have your license suspended by the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles if you fail to show proof of insurance either to the officer at the time you’re cited, or in court, or to the Bureau when they write you a followup letter after your court appearance. No license plate is $80, unless you can show me you’ve fixed it, in which case I’d find you not guilty.
No driver license is a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable in Ohio by up to six months in jail and up to a $1000 fine (although rarely, if ever, will a court hit you that hard). If you get your license by the time of your first court appearance, or by the time of your second if you request a continuance (routinely granted), I’ll simply find you not guilty on that charge. Ditto if you’re charged with a broken windshield, improperly-tinted windows, nonfunctioning taillights, etc. We want to encourage people to take corrective action.
Our court costs start at $120 and go up from there, depending how long your case is kicking around and, in the case of a jailable misdemeanor, whether or not you choose to go to a trial, either bench or jury. For low-level traffic offenses, court costs are often more than the the fine itself.
Here is a map of Texas Counties. And yes, each has it’s own set of emergency and police services. We usually call the head county cop a Sheriff and his officers are Deputies. Keep in mind that if you are pulled over on one of the state’s highways it will likely be by a Dept of Public Safety trooper, which is a state level police force.
They’re called counties in Britain. Nobody has referred to them as shires in 400-odd years, although the name lives on in the name of many of the counties (eg. Warwickshire).
These are the basic traffic fines in Florida, although most counties tack on their own surcharges:
For moving violations involving unlawful speed, the Florida speeding ticket fines are as follows:
FWIW, I’ve never gotten a “15-19mph over” ticket that cost me less than $187.
You do realize if you didn’t pay it, and the state decided to enter your name into a fed-connected database, you might be on the terror watch list and prohibited from entering the US, ever again.
To eliminate some confusion here, states are divided into counties; or in the state of Louisiana, into parishes (which are the same as counties in other states, not the equivalent of civil parishes in Britain).
Only the FBI, DEA, BATF or the U.S. Marshals can nominate people to the watch list. None of those organizations deal with traffic violations, or even state warrants.
I didn’t need to, but I did. At the time half my family lived in the US and I wanted to be able to return.
Ignorant of the law, and too lazy to to do any research, I decided that I had originally committed a misdemeanor, but skipping court would probably be a felony, and lead to a warrant for my arrest.
Would love to know if my (expensive) supposition was true, if any legal types are reading this.
We have law enforcement out the wazoo in Texas. County sheriffs, county constables, Texas Rangers, Texas Highway Patrol…some school districts and colleges have their own police, as do some parks and transit authorities.
California is the same way. I’m not sure how smaller states with small counties work, but here with our huge counties (some as big as states), the counties have quite a bit of power. Even when ticketed by a CHP (our equivalent to a state trooper), the court is almost always what ever county the offense happened in, and not a state court. Even stuff such as traffic school eligibility can vary greatly by county. I’d say for traffic court/fines/levees, the county is the basic unit of power around these parts.
Speaking of college police departments, I learned that the University Police Department at Texas A&M University can claim jurisdiction throughout any county in Texas where a Texas A&M facility happens to be located (which is an awful lot of Texas, actually, since A&M does lots of agricultural and environmental research). They tend not to play jurisdiction games and prefer to cooperate, of course.
I’ve seen them around College Station on occasion responding to car accidents and such that happen near the campus.
Generally, the people you hit get fucked. You can purchase uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage yourself, but if you don’t have it and the other driver is uninsured, good luck.
Eventually, a court will file a judgment against the other guy, which means his wages will be garnished, and may order him to turn over personal assets, but chances are you won’t see half of what you’d have gotten from his insurer.
