If you sign for an infraction traffic ticket but ignore it and do not pay the fine or contest the ticket in court, you can be charged with Failure to Appear, a violation of Vehicle Code section 40508, subdivision (a). Section 40508, subdivision (a) states, “A person willfully violating his or her written promise to appear or a lawfully granted continuance of his or her promise to appear in court or before a person authorized to receive a deposit of bail is guilty of a misdemeanor regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which he or she was originally arrested.” But this charge is a wobbler. This means that the prosecutor can elect to charge it as an infraction or your attorney can seek to have the charge reduced to an infraction at any time while the charge is pending.
If the charge remains a misdemeanor, you can receive a fine of up to $1,000 and be sentenced to county jail for a sentence of up to six months. But if this is charged as an infraction, or you or your attorney convinces the court to reduce it to an infraction, the base fine is $35, but with penalty assessments the fine goes up to $237 plus, depending on the county, but an infraction does not carry a jail sentence. Also, the court can add an additional fines under Vehicle Code section 40310. The court can also issue a warrant for your arrest and/or notify the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend your driver’s license. Also, the court can find you guilty of the original infraction. (See, Veh. Code, § 40903.)
What Can Happen When You Appear in Court on an Infraction Traffic Ticket and Agree to Make Payments, but Fail to Pay As Agreed?
If you fail to make timely payments as you agreed to make in court, the court can charge you with a misdemeanor violation of Vehicle Code section 40508, subdivision (b) and (d).) Vehicle Code section 40508, subdivision (b), states, “A person willfully failing to pay bail in installments as agreed to under Section 40510.5 or a lawfully imposed fine for a violation of a provision of this code or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to this code within the time authorized by the court and without lawful excuse having been presented to the court on or before the date the bail or fine is due is guilty of a misdemeanor regardless of the full payment of the bail or fine after that time.”
Vehicle Code section 40508, subdivision (d), states, “If a person convicted of an infraction fails to pay bail in installments as agreed to under Section 40510.5, or a fine or an installment thereof within the time authorized by the court, the court may, except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, impound the person's driver's license and order the person not to drive for a period not to exceed 30 days. . .".
Alternatives to doing nothing.
If you can't afford to pay the fine and can show the court that you are unable to pay the full amount on your traffic ticket, you may request the court to consider your ability to pay. However, you must appear in court to do this. When you appear in court and plead “guilty” at arraignment, you may ask the courtroom Judge to consider your ability to pay and to reduce the fine to be paid.
If you plead “not guilty,” after a trial and conviction, you may ask the courtroom Judge to consider your ability to pay in deciding the fine. (Veh. Code, § 42003(c).)
Additionally, regardless of your plea, if you are ordered to pay a fine you may ask the court for an installment payment plan that is based on your ability to pay, or you can ask the court to approve community service due to your financial hardship.
Now that you understand that the penalties can be much worse if you ignore a traffic ticket or your payment obligation, I hope you will decide to be proactive and seek the assistance you need from the court. Do not wait to take care of this. Act quickly. If you think there may be a bench warrant for your arrest, hire an attorney to get your case placed on calendar, or if you can't afford to do that you can ask the Office of the Public Defender for help, or you can go to court and do this yourself.
Good luck.
Copyright © 2015 Christine Esser
The information contained here is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel. Online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Information on this blog is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between you and Christine Esser. An attorney-client relationship is only established when a written retainer has been signed.
Disclosure: If you click on the Amazon link and purchase something today, we will receive a small commission that will be used to keep traffic ticket tips coming your way. Thank you. If you would like more information, the following books are very good. Fight Your Ticket and Win in California is for California drivers. Beat Your Ticket is for drivers in other states.
