Traffic Court

Why do I have to actually come physically to the court house to ask for traffic court? Do they not realize that it is the year 2016 and that we have robots on Mars? Why can’t this all be done in an app???

I was falsely given a stop sign ticket in retaliation for reving my engine by Officer D. Wong, Star# 1917 Issuing unit 3J16A. I had to go here 3 days to fight this joke of a system. Day one: get a court date. Day 2: get a trial date. Day 3: trial by judge. Me: «I didn’t run the stop sign». Office: «yes he did run it». Judge: I find you guilty, Fine is 238 + 52 Admin fees + $ 50 for traffic school. In the end I’m out 3 days wage, and $ 340. This officer is just mad because he has to lug around 30 lbs of gear all day and get shot at for $ 30 and hour. My message to you is you don’t have what it takes in life.

Went 8÷28÷15 a.m. re a traffic infraction. The judge from court room A was great and I thought very fair. Reduced my fine, for which I was at fault. Everyone in the court room was kind and courteous and things went quite smoothly, not much of a wait. No complaints. Hopefully I don’t have to go again, even though the experience was better than expected.

The only good thing about coming to this nasty vile place was as stated before, «purgatory» was the line which was not long, thank God. That’s were the good ended and were the nasty started. I pretty much made up my mind how bad this place was based on earlier reviews, but seeing is believing. And it sucks. This place has some of the biggest dirtbags in the city. People who committed all types of crimes, yet, sitting around outside the courthouse dealing dope and doing it openly. Pathetic, that good people such as myself, and some others who were just going to this hell to pay the con-artist’s there due, were mixed up with these low life’s. The price for a average ticket is so bad that it would almost screw up anyone’s day. Hate the cop that gave me it hope he get’s fired one day, as hope this place get’s the federal gov to shut down this place. It’s terrible, awful and just nasty as hell. Hope I will NEVER go back to this hell called SF traffic court. Moving to the people who worked there. They looked like zombies not smiling, very, very emotionally drained and sad to look at, pitting them I paid my fee and got out it seemed like if you looked back at them you would turn into a rock. Bad way to end a good week, thank SF for the shakedown, you disgusting city full of shi**ty cops. Ugliest city on the face of earth. Whoever, gave that 5 stars should have they’re head examined. They are retarded. Awful place to be, feel sorry for the homeless people that have to come here to pay tickets yet cop’s give them out. It’s like draining a rock for blood, not good at all. The city has to pay for it’s sleazy cop’s built on there lies, and dirty and disgusting tickets that they give illegally give out. Good ridden’s, terrible place.

I learned, after my experience in SF’s traffic court, that this city’s court system is not concerned with truth or justice, and that as long as you wear a badge, you can get away with perjury.
A police officer stood next to me and fabricated a completely untrue story that only an idiot would believe. I was so shocked I almost couldn’t speak when it was my turn, but I did.
That’s when I also learned hard evidence that proves innocence – photographic and video – means nothing when a police officer presents some scribblings on a map and a brochure, alleges absolute bullsh** and slander, and changes his story several times. This crooked, brutal, and possibly senile cop first claimed that my photo of him was somehow proof of my guilt, and when I explained quite clearly how it actually contradicted his story and proved he was lying, he then claimed he wasn’t in the picture. The judge didn’t even pause.
The judge? An insult to SF taxpayers and a disgrace on their legal system. This man is clearly running purely off of muscle memory and contempt for the public, at this point in his long, long life. He should be on a porch somewhere far away from any courtroom. complaining that his knee hurts from a storm that he is sure is coming.
Burden of proof is, constitutionally, meant to be on the accuser. Somehow, somehow, the city or state has gotten away with legislation that puts the burden of proof on the defendant. This is a system so broken and so corrupt that a mountain of hard evidence is literally brushed away in favor of corrupt, deceitful, and petty cops. Not to mention the wall of police officers in the room. Think I felt safe on the way out? Nope. Do I feel safe around police officers in this city, after this experience? Not in the slightest bit.
As for the court house, it’s an ugly, claustrophobic building that is designed to intimidate with it’s obscene bureaucratic inefficiencies. Just take a look at the rest of the reviews. While I waited in line, people in front of me essentially went thru the same experiences of waiting in line to be told you’re in the wrong line, after you’ve already been told to go to that line. Also heard the «we don’t have that ticket on record» and «you have to go to a different room but it’s closed at 3:00PM” – 3:00PM???
TL;DR – This court sucks, cops lie under oath, the judge doesn’t give a damn about you, and the system is broken. Basically everything we already knew and expected.

Best traffic court experience I’ve had by far. The total process was less than half an hour and they reduced my fine. Couldn’t be happier.

I messed up, I made a left turn illegally. I had to go a different route than normal due to dead traffic lights and almost got hit 3 times in 3 different intersections due to people not treating dead lights as a 4 way stop. I quickly found myself confused and about to enter a freeway with no way to turn around or get over for several blocks (why are all of San Francisco streets designed to irritate and confuse.) So, I ended up making an illegal, yet totally safe, left turn in front of a cop. I did it, not contesting… I didn’t even make my case or argue while getting the citation.
While waiting for the ticket to show up in the system, get wonderful new oppurtunity for job, drop half my clients to make it work, scrounging for pennies, subsiding on sunflower seeds for days, sleep at new facility, traffic 4 hours a day, my reg clients in the middle of the day. Owner of oppurtunity turns out to be crazy, still broke, she never paid me, letter for ticket… oops fta, license will be suspended. Oh I’m a dolt. But is what it is.
Okay, let me pay it! Letter says call courts. Start calling… 10 attempts, 2 mesaages, all in 4 hours, look up tips, oooo 6 then 0… 5 more attempts… nada. Still trying. Feeling aggressive… Do you want your money or not courts? Then answer the phone so I can get my «further instructions».

I won’t go into the details of the arraignment, because there are plenty of reviews about that. I was one of the few who got up, heard my options, and chose to fight the ticket. (It was a moving violation, he said I ran a stop sign, but I did not).
I went back for the trial date. I had heard if the officer doesn’t show your case is automatically dismissed… there were a ton of cops in the hallway so it wasn’t looking good, and sure enough, he did show up. They ushered us into the courtroom and called roll. I’d say about four officers were no-​shows and those cases were immediately dismissed. Then they gave us one more chance to sign up for traffic school. A few people got up to do that.
The clerk then asked if any of the officers had any motions. This was unexpected, I didn’t know that officers could move to dismiss cases — but they can! About 8 of them got up. And after looking like he was mulling it over for a minute, mine got up and joined the line. They called my name and said that the case had been dismissed, per the officer. Total time in court on the day of the trial — 20 minutes.
I can’t speak for those who stayed to actually have the trial, but there were still a good 10 people and officers in the room. I know they were about to see a video, and then they were going to be called individually to go up and testify, and the officers would testify as well. I was prepared for all of that but I got very, very lucky.

Came in on my arraignment date.
Go up to the second floor, you are either in A or B.
The police officer ushers you into a room and you sit in chairs. Maybe 3 – 4 rows in an L shape.
He gives you shorts directions and then the judge clerk * NOT the judge* reads you 3 options and you pick one!
You go up to him and tell him which options you want and then you should be out of there in… less than 8 min :)
downside to all this = you are losing money and time :(but its honestly not THAT bad.
don’t be afraid to go to court! you always get it lowered at least a bit, don’t let the city scare you!!!

Absolutely horrible. If you think the DMV is bad, wait until you have to deal with these guys.
Here are some tips:
1) If you need to call them, dial 415−551−8550, press 6, then press 0
2) Keep everything they give you. They’re incredibly disorganized. It’s been nearly 2 months since I won, and I still haven’t gotten my bail back.
3) Don’t believe anything they say on the phone. They often lie.
4) Don’t believe anything they say in person. They lie to your face as well.
5) Do research online. There are many forms and petitions out there that you can file with the court that’ll help you navigate through the BS.
In my case, they lied about 2 things. 1) They claimed if I submitted a written declaration as opposed to fighting it in trial and lost, I would not have the right to go to trial afterwards. This is a bold face lie. Quoting from the CA vehicle code section 40 902 (d) states: If the defendant is dissatisfied with a decision of the court in a proceeding pursuant to this section, the defendant shall be granted a trial de novo. 2) They claimed over the phone that there was no way for me to push back my court date after I set it. I went in person and pushed my court date back a month.

«Project 20», google it and ask the clerk for this instead if you have the time.
You’ll thank me later.

Tip for how to get a live person:
415−551−8550, then press 6, then press 0 (you may have to try a few times, but it does work).

if you dial this number (415) 551‑8550, i’m certain that it leads to a phone deep down in the basement of the traffic court building in a dark room where not even the rats can hear it. they never answer their phone, never!!! they never will.
its not worth it to go there at all, just pay your bill online. but before you pay your bill, just write a petition and challenge the ticket first. you will lose no doubt, but it will tie up the courts costing the city more money and it will give you 6 months to a year to save up for the cost of the ticket.
its a win win. stick it to the city!

I assumed I would have been itching to write a one-​star review after I walked out of Traffic Court, but I actually had a better experience than I had expected.
I got a speeding ticket on the bay bridge a few weeks ago. I drove the speed limit the whole way until right at the end when I and another driver started speeding up upon exiting the bridge. This was on the Thanksgiving weekend so the bridge was dead empty. Of course, right after the other car went down the first exit off the bridge, a CHP car materialized out of nowhere. He tagged me for 69 in a 50 mph zone. Not sure he got the 69 from. The ticket said that I had to appear at 850 Bryant within 21 days
Since it was my first moving violation the ticket ruined my whole day. The Unilocal reviews for Traffic Court didn’t help because it seemed like the building was hell on Earth. The Superior Court website and hotline didn’t help either because they provide little information on your options about requesting traffic school, etc. I tried to enter my citation number countless times but nothing came up.
Work has been crazy lately, so I didn’t really have time to go to Traffic Court at some super early hour in the morning, as some reviewers recommended.
With one more day to spare before the 21-​day period was up, I planned to take a long lunch today (Thursday) and arrived at 850 Bryant at 12:18 pm. I prepared for hell by leaving my book at work and turning off my phone so the guard wouldn’t yell at me. Instead of super long lines and depressed faces, I found one person being helped at one of the two open windows and he was joking with the clerk.
The other clerk told me that my ticket was $ 238. He said I could pay it right then and there and take traffic school for an additional $ 59, for total of $ 295. If I didn’t want to do that, I could schedule a court date to request a reduction and traffic school… but also potentially open myself up to all the bad stuff that people complain about if I went back to 850 Bryant. Since I admit that I was speeding and a reduction would only be around $ 100 (half $ 238), I decided to take the deal instead of voluntarily choosing to go back to Traffic Court.
At the end of the day, I still don’t fully understand all the available options. I could see why some people would want to go back to 850 Bryant to face the judge if the ticket amount is way higher for red light violations, etc.
Aside from coming way early in the morning, the clerk said that early in the week is the worst time to visit Traffic Court. I was in and out of the building in ten mins, max. I’m guessing it will be longer if you have to see a judge, but the building was dead empty. So maybe show up later around lunch time and get a jump on the horde.
3 stars because $ 295 is still a lot of money and the clerk said my ticket didn’t show up because they barely entered it yesterday.

Adding to the list of correct answers to help other’s:
1. Your car should be positioned next to the center line before _​_​_​_​. making a left turn from a two-​way street
2. Two sets of solid, double, yellow lines that are two or more feet apart _​_​_​_​. may not be crossed for any reason
3. You may not park and leave your vehicle unattended within _​_​_​_​of a fire hydrant. 15 feet
4. Seat belts properly worn _​_​_​_​. are required by law
5. When turning left from a three lane one-​way street onto a one way street, you can turn from _​_​_​_​. the left lane only
6. When there are no speed limit signs for driving in a residential district, the speed limit is _​_​_​_​. 25 MPH
7. Which of the following is not listed in the
Emergency Kit? Scissors
8. Which of the following items was pictured in the material under the section of Motorcycle Safety? A DOT helmet
9. Which of the following road signs was pictured FIRST in the material when covering shape and color of road signs? Eight-​sided (octagonal) Stop sign
10. Which of the following organizations does this course reference for statistical data tracking deaths and injuries to children left unattended in or around motor vehicles? Kids and Cars
11. In the section entitled «Alcohol and Drugs» statistics provided by individual organizations were discussed. Which of the following organization’s statistical data was not mentioned? AAA
12. Which of the following phrase is used within the topic Proper Lane Use? Marching to your own drum beat
13. Which of the following colors is NOT present in the images used to explain blind spots? purple
14. What color are the sunglasses pictured in the Vision & Hearing section of the course material? red
15. The highway is not an area for choosing your own speeds, and it shouldn’t be treated as a raceway. The course material offers a good tip for indulging your «need for speed». What is it? Watch a NASCAR race
16. What event lead a man to develop an important invention mentioned in this course? A crash between a horse-​drawn carriage and an automobile
17. Which of the following topics was not discussed in the Alcohol & Drugs section? Alcoholics Anonymous Program
18. Which of the following phrases or clichés is used multiple times throughout this course? rule of thumb
19. In the Licensing Control Measures section, Which of the following does the author state is perhaps the most significant point in that section? Driving is a privilege. It is not a right.
20. The author shares her memories as a child taking long car rides with her family to California. Which of the following cities was she traveling from? Fort Worth, Texas
21. When covering the topic of Seat Belts an image is displayed showing the correct placement of the seat belt. What color shirt is the figure in the image wearing? Green
22. Which of the following was discussed in the section Responsibilty of Children? Leaving a child in the car
23. After passing another car, you should not pull back to the right in front of it until you _​_​_​_​. can see the front of it in your rear view mirror
24. To avoid being blinded by an approaching vehicle at night, it is best to _​_​_​_​. slow down and avoid looking directly into the lights of the approaching vehicle
25. When you come upon a stopped school bus with flashing red lights, you must stop. If you fail to do so, the maximum amount you can be fined is _​_​_​_​. $ 1,000.00
26. To be sure a lane is clear before moving into it, you should _​_​_​_​. use your mirrors, turn your head and look in the lane you want to enter
27. You must always look carefully for motorcycles or bicycles before you change lanes or in making a left turn, because they _​_​_​_​. are hard to see
28. When backing a passenger vehicle out of a parking place, you should _​_​_​_​. turn and look over your right shoulder
29. It is unlawful for anyone under 21 years of age to drive with a blood alcohol level equal to or greater than _​_​_​_​_​. 0.01%
30. It is illegal for an adult to drive with a minimum blood alcohol concentration of _​_​_​_​or more. 0.08%
31. Drinking drivers are involved in about _​_​_​_​of California’s fatal traffic accidents. 38%
32. Based upon research conducted over the past 20 years, it is generally accepted that about _​_​_​_​of all traffic deaths are caused by driving under the influence of alcohol. 38%
33. If you are convicted of driving with drugs or alcohol in your body, the judge may give you 48 hours to _​_​_​_​months in jail. 6
34. It is legal to carry an open (unsealed) container of alcohol in your vehicle if _​_​_​_​. it is in the trunk
35. You may be considered a negligent driver when your record shows a violation point count of _​_​_​_​. 4 points in 12 months
36. If caught driving after your driver’s license is suspended, you can _​_​_​_​. be fined, jailed, and your vehicle impounded

Avoid it! Avoid it like its an old high school acquaintance you thought you’d never see again… avoid it like you cross the street to avoid the sketchy looking person on your way to the car… avoid it like you avoid that DVM trip… avoid like a 4 car accident on the SF bay bridge… just avoid it.
That place is a complete waste of a day. Oh and don’t try to pull a last minute run to pay a ticket, when 5 o’clock hits they slam those windows and doors. They could care less if you’ve been waiting for 2.5 hours and your finally the next one up. Dam… just avoid it!!! What pit hole.

Ok. I never want to go back there again. Went for a traffic ticket.
Just a advisory note: Go early around 7 am, if you want to schedule a traffic hearing.

As a frequent customer of this sh*t hole, I will start this off by saying ‘This place sucks’ .
First of all, you’re here for a ticket. Whether you did something wrong or not, your in a crappy mood already. Then you get to room 145 only to find a huge line of people in worse moods than you because they’ve already been standing there for 30 minutes. Then you realize that there are 5 windows, but only 2 or 3 ladies working at a time. By the time you get up to the window, you have the option to contest and go to court then come back to this lengthy line or just pay the ridiculously overpriced fine. I usually do the second one, which reminds me… where the EFF does my fine money go to? It obviously does not pay more employees to fill up all the windows, or a cleaning crew to clean this room, or at least a few more chairs for the fat people to sit in.
No matter what tho, as hard as I try, I cannot drive below the speed limit, so I will probably be back. And until then, I will take some comfort in the fact that Unilocal provides a place for people like myself to complain about crappy places like this. Goodbye, for now, 850 Bryant.

Getting a ticket blows the big one, but the whole contesting process wasn’t as bad as I thought. What to expect about handling the ticket and going through court was confusing to me, so hopefully this information will help other poor schmucks in similar boats.
Back in January I mistimed a yellow light and ran the red by 0.5 seconds. Unfortunately, it was in an intersection with a red light camera (S Van Ness and 14^th).
As instructed, I appeared at the courthouse in February. Though I was prepared to pay the $ 480 ticket + $ 56ish admin fee for traffic school, the lovely lady at the window said, «I assume you plead not guilty and want an arraignment date, yes?» What did I know? It sounded like a good idea — especially the fact that I could put off paying the ticket for awhile. So off I went, armed with the info about where and when to appear, and still with the $ 480 in my bank account.
My arraignment date was scheduled for 5 months later. I arrived at the courthouse 20 minutes early — don’t forget to make time to go through security — and sat out in the hallway with a whole slew of people until they called us in. The judge was not present yet, and the officer at the front of the room explained what behavior was expected of us. No phones, no reading, no eating or drinking. Be on your best behavior, people. Don’t dress like a bum.
A list of about 5 names was called, and these people were instructed to leave the room to discuss their options in the lobby with some court guy. I can only assume these were the lucky ones who had their cases dismissed.
Next, a few people were called up to receive materials. I don’t know what materials other people were given, but I received a whole packet which proved their case (yeah, including the photo of me in the intersection yelling «sh*t!»). It looked like the other people just received slips of paper.
Then a lady in the room explained our options. First option was traffic school. For those of us who received a red light, emergency vehicle, or school bus ticket, we had the option to have our fee reduced to $ 294 (plus the $ 50-​something traffic school admin fee) if we chose to go to traffic school; those with other violations had the same option and would have their fines reduced to $ 98. The lady stated this was a one-​time option that we could elect now by pleading guilty.
The other options were to plead not guilty and schedule either ANOTHER court date or have your case heard that day by the judge.
Hell, I went for the deal. They had a picture of me running the light — honestly, what shot did I have getting the fine reduced by any greater than $ 200? I walked up, she took my packet, wrote in nice big letters GUILTY, gave me a packet of info about traffic school, and I was out of there.
20 minutes. Bam. Now I have 3 months to pay my fine, attend traffic school, and avoid the points on my license and the subsequent HUGE hike in car insurance.
It was totally worth the hassle of going to court.

Between the Traffic Division and the DPT, the mafia’s grip on the throats of divers in SF continues unchecked.
I was driving home one night from work when I fire truck pulled up behind me with it’s light and sirens going. I did the right thing, I drove out of it’s way and pulled over.
An enterprising little motorcycle cop was following the firetruck, and pulled me over after I got out of it’s way. This joke of na officer got off his bike and came up to the window of my car. I told him immediately that I was trying my best to get out of the firetrucks way, but there were other cars in front of me so as they moved, so did I.
He doesn’t answer, and simply asks for my license, registration and insurance info. He leaves and comes back. I ask him what I’ve done. He refuses to answer. He then asks me what I think I’ve done. Huh? He’s playing 20 questions with me, answering my questions with his own condescending questions. «What do you do when you see a fire truck?», «What do you do when you pull over?», «What do you do when you turn?», etc.
Finally I asked him if he’s done. He then tells me he could give me a ticket for having the wrong address on my license (I just moved 2 weeks earlier). He walks away again, and I’ve got NO Idea why I’ve been pulled over — he still refuses to answer any of my questions.
He returns and orders me to sign a ticket. I obey and sign. As he rips the ticket off to throw it in my car window (doesn’t hand it to me, he THROWS IT in my car), he tells me I as being ticketed for NOT COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP as I turned the corner as I was getting of the firetrucks path. It’s still the law that you must come to a complete stop, even when there are emergency vehicles behind you.
For real you POS MF’er!!! What kind of chickensh! t ticket is that?
Then you go into traffic court (room 145 anyone?), and then get told you can’t get a court date. You have to pay $ 300 in civil assessments or sign up for community service BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE BUILDING, otherwise you will be arrested as you walk out. For real!!! Then you get told you need to pay the rest of the fine before you can ask for a court date on the ticket. You pay the fine, and *BAM*, they lied to you again. You still have to go to court on the moving violation, even after you’re paid the ticket and the fines! You go to court just so you can get fined again by the judge?
F U SF!
I’m leaving SF. I’m done being extorted buy the city simply because I have and need a car. I hope the next earth quake levels that building and all the fat ass lazy spiteful and mean spirited people in there!
I wish I could give this place –5 stars. It’s a house of crooks!