It's up to Newsom if $300 traffic fee will be eliminated
Q
Having spent almost 15 years on the bench, a small portion of which was as a Santa Clara County traffic commissioner, I can help decipher the “hidden” costs of tickets a bit. Everything you wrote about the $300 maximum civil assessment was correct.
However, there is another set of fees within the traffic court, a series of mandated add-on fees attached to every “base fine.” These can add significantly to the base fine.
— Irwin Joseph, Beaverton, Oregon
A
Last week the Senate and Assembly voted to eliminate California's $300 civil assessment fees and to discharge all debt related to these fees. It's part of the new state budget.
This is the first time that this proposal has gained full support from the Legislature. Now, the question is whether the governor will follow the Legislature's lead, and sign the bill.
Q
I got my FasTrak CAV toll tag sometime after I got my electric car in January 2020. I haven't driven anywhere that has a toll since I got it.
How can I tell if it is working? My older toll tag makes a beep when I slide the switch to indicate the number of occupants in the car, but this tag does not. I'm concerned that if it is not working, I might be fined for driving in a lane that requires FasTrak. — Marion Farber, San Jose
A
New FasTrak devices do not beep like the old ones did. Until you get a bill, and can verify that there is no problem with your new FasTrack transponder, I would not worry about this. If I'm wrong, write back and we'll discuss it then.
Q
Why do parents put their babies in safety seats directly behind the driver, where they can't see them? If the child is on the opposite side, the driver has a better chance of seeing them, if the child is ever in distress.
And now, the more dangerous part. When parallel parked, the parent loads and unloads the baby on the traffic side of the vehicle. Are these people oblivious? Seems to me that is a good way to create orphans, or worse.
— Glenn Grigg
A
When our grandson is in the car, mirrors help us communicate with him in his seat behind the driver. You raise a good point about safely loading and unloading kids on the left side of a parallel-parked car.
Q
When you were growing up, did you get, “Don't make me come back there!” from the front seat? My brother and I were loose in the back seat.
A
Oh yes! My brother and I were loose in the back seat of our parents' car, too.