Traffic Violations

It was the kind of move that would usually mean a ticket for a young guy in a tricked-out BMW: unsafely zipping around a truck and another vehicle -- which happened to be a CHP cruiser -- while zooming down the road. But rather than getting slapped with a fine last year on U.S. 101 south of San Francisco, Nick Palefsky was let go with a warning. "He said, 'Next time, be a little bit more cautious,' " Palefsky recounted in a recent interview.

The driver of a big rig that plowed into an Amtrak train in Nevada on Friday had five traffic violations since 2008, four of them for speeding in California and Alabama, according to records from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. Lawrence R. Valli, 43, of Winnemucca, Nev., was identified Monday by the Nevada Highway Patrol. He was driving a truck owned by the John Davis Trucking Co. The official death toll remains at six and seemed unlikely to rise as Amtrak lowered its number of missing.

Although I know it will do no good, I am compelled by my feelings and years of experience as a former traffic attorney in another state to write about the driving I see here in Orange and Los Angeles counties. There is only one driving skill, apparently, in Southern California: to get ahead of everyone else and stay there. The violations I see all around me every day testify to the cause of the many fatal collisions (they are not "accidents"). For the most obvious, there are too many speeders; too many who simply will not wait behind anyone . Other violations are opening car doors without looking to see if any traffic is coming and backing up without looking for pedestrians.

Los Angeles' red-light traffic cameras are stirring new financial concerns at City Hall, just as a police study has concluded the program helps reduce accidents. With officials scouring expenditures to close a $200-million budget gap, updated estimates from the city's budget office are painting a sobering picture of the cash generated by the city's 32 camera-equipped intersections. The photo enforcement program, which catches tens of thousands of violators annually, appears to be generating about $3.8 million a year in traffic ticket revenue, said Matt Crawford, senior administrative analyst with the budget office.

Neighborhoods that draw complaints about repeated traffic violations will be targeted with signs and special police enforcement under a new program approved Tuesday by the City Council. The blue signs, which feature a silhouette of a police motorcycle, say "Special Traffic Enforcement Area" and ask motorists to "Please Obey All Laws." They will be posted in areas with traffic problems such as speeding or failure to stop for stop signs, Police Capt. Robert Page said.

Paula Corbin Jones, whose now-dismissed sexual harassment suit sparked an investigation into President Clinton's relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky, was cited recently for driving with expired license plates, without car insurance and without a valid California driver's license, Long Beach police said. Jones was driving on Ocean Boulevard near Molino Avenue on Sept. 6 when she was pulled over, said Long Beach Police Cpl. Harry Erickson.

In less than eight years, fines for red-light traffic violations in Los Angeles County have jumped nearly 65% from $271 to $446, about three times the region's rate of inflation, a Times review shows. With traffic school fees, the total penalties now exceed $500. Ever-vigilant photo enforcement programs run by more than two dozen agencies across the county have added a new degree of efficiency to catching violators and capturing revenue. In November alone, Los Angeles County's Superior Court system processed an estimated 13,000 red-light tickets.

Hearing arguments in a case that could affect anyone who drives a car, Supreme Court justices debated whether people can be arrested for traffic violations punishable only by a fine. A Texas woman who was arrested, handcuffed and jailed because she and her children weren't wearing seat belts asked the justices Monday to rule that the police violated her constitutional protection against unreasonable arrests.

Despite being given an opportunity to settle a 5-year-old traffic citation at a bargain price, Michael Joseph Pommerening has for the 10th time thumbed his nose at Newhall court officials. But court officials say it's just a matter of time before the scofflaw is nabbed by the long arm of justice. Pommerening, 34, of Eureka had so angered Newhall Municipal Judge Alan S.

Assemblywoman Cathie Wright's daughter failed to inform the Ventura County Municipal Court about new three traffic offenses, as required, after a municipal judge placed her on probation and gave her a 30-day suspended jail sentence for numerous moving violations, the judge said Monday. Victoria Catherine Wright, 24, was told by Judge Herbert Curtis III on April 18 that another conviction would result in a jail stint.

In a sting aimed at curbing accidents along the Blue Line, police and sheriff's deputies staked out a two-mile stretch of the line's tracks in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday and ticketed nearly 300 jaywalkers and drivers they caught using cellphones and making illegal left turns. Transportation officials said the crackdown was the latest effort in a push to improve safety along the Blue Line, the city's oldest and most popular light rail line but also its most dangerous. Ninety-nine people have died in accidents and suicides involving the line in the nearly 20 years since the service from Los Angeles to Long Beach began.

In an emerging high-stakes battle fueled by government budget woes, a Long Beach lawmaker is attempting to stop cities from launching what she calls a "raid" on state coffers by collecting and keeping traffic fines. With some tickets now costing more than $500 -- and with most of the money going to the state and the courts -- California municipalities in small but growing numbers have begun issuing traffic citations under their own laws, rather than under the state vehicle code.

If you're caught running a red light in Los Angeles, be prepared to shell out $446, up from $271 eight years ago. Make a rolling right turn at a stoplight and the ticket comes to $381 -- more than double what it cost in 2008. Park at an expired meter, pay a $50 fine. It's getting so a person can't even drive badly in this town anymore. Officials have been jacking up traffic fines recently as a budget crunch encourages creative methods of raising municipal revenue. Not only are fines going up, but the city is considering ways to nab more people to pay them.

In less than eight years, fines for red-light traffic violations in Los Angeles County have jumped nearly 65% from $271 to $446, about three times the region's rate of inflation, a Times review shows. With traffic school fees, the total penalties now exceed $500. Ever-vigilant photo enforcement programs run by more than two dozen agencies across the county have added a new degree of efficiency to catching violators and capturing revenue. In November alone, Los Angeles County's Superior Court system processed an estimated 13,000 red-light tickets.

The budget crisis facing state and local governments is becoming particularly costly to California motorists, as officials turn to parking and traffic violations as a way to boost their depleted coffers. The ticket for an expired meter in Los Angeles jumped from $40 in 2008 to about $50 last year, and "fix-it" tickets for minor moving violations such as broken taillights more than doubled. And officials are now hatching new ideas to bring in even more money from naughty motorists.

Speeding may be dangerous for drivers, but it could soon be a boon for California's fiscal health. Tucked deep into the budget that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled Friday is a plan to give cities and counties the green light to install speed sensors on red-light cameras to catch -- and ticket -- speeding cars. Those whizzing by the radar-equipped detectors at up to 15 mph over the limit would have to pay $225 per violation. Those going faster would be fined $325. Small-government advocates want to put the brakes on the plan.

Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart was stopped by police Friday, cited for a trio of traffic violations and ordered to appear in court, authorities said. Swaggart, 56, driving a 1989 Jaguar, was stopped by an officer at 9 a.m. Friday in downtown Indio, Police Chief Jerry Graves said. Swaggart was cited for failing to drive on the right side of the road, for having an unregistered vehicle, and for not wearing a seat belt, Graves said. Swaggart is scheduled to appear on the citations Nov.

As Los Angeles City Hall has struggled against a sea of red ink, one financial bright spot through the long recession has been the Police Department's red-light camera program, which has seen a sharp rise in revenue, according to court data obtained by The Times. From late 2007 to late 2009, monthly revenue from cameras, now operating at 32 city intersections, has nearly doubled from about $200,000 per month to about $400,000, according to estimates prepared by the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which processes ticket payments.

After five days of speculation about Tiger Woods' crash outside his mansion, the Florida Highway Patrol announced Tuesday it gave the world's No. 1 golfer a traffic ticket. Woods already has paid the $164 fine, court records show. Woods, 33, drove carelessly when he steered his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and then into a neighbor's tree about 2:25 a.m. Friday, troopers said. In addition to the fine, he received four points on his driving record, FHP spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said.