Was dropping off someone at the airport and I didn't slow down enough for the CHP officer waiting right there on shoulder. Said I was seen going 62 in a 45 via radar. Probably true, but he said he was cutting me a break by reporting it as 55. And the ticket does say approximately 55, but the writeup in the code section specifically says 62. So I'm probably going to request a reduction in penalty, as the court has some sort of form to do so if one is pleading guilty or no-contest. I looked at the form and it doesn't have a check box or anything - just that one is pleading guilty or no-contest. Plus traffic school plus whatever administrative fee for that (I think the $82 for that is more than the cost of traffic school). I am not going to San Mateo County Superior Court to handle this.
It did occur to me that I could try and get out of this since the officer's handwriting is atrocious (surprised the CHP doesn't use an electronic device to print out citations) and I couldn't read the appearance date. But then I suppose I'm supposed to contact the court to see what it was. But then I looked it up by citation number and apparently someone there could figure it out (or it's automatically assigned). But they didn't have the appearance time, and I have a hard time reading that too.
Still wondering why they're still using handwritten citations when they had tested electronic systems before.
But CHP official concedes a statewide e-citation system will have to wait until the California Court Case Management System is ready to store the ticketing data.
www.govtech.com
Still - the appear date is more than 3 months into the future. I suppose if I really want to draw this out I could just go there in person, not request a trial date, and just plead no-contest. Not sure if I'd qualify for the reduction in penalty. The information doesn't even say what the process is for paying the penalty if I appear - whether it's due on the appearance of I have such and such time to pay. Everything on the citation is about paying the bail or requesting a trial.
