Traffic Tickets: Where The Money Goes

Q: Where does the money from a traffic ticket go?

A: To quote from a friend’s relationship status as described on Facebook, “It’s complicated.” Before I could answer this question I reviewed several charts and spreadsheets from the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts, spoke with a Budget & Judicial Impact Analyst and checked in with our local courts. Here’s the gist of what I discovered: Despite what you may have heard about police officers funding their department budget by writing traffic tickets, in Washington the money from a ticket gets divided into so many buckets that it pretty much disincentivizes any law enforcement agency from writing tickets primarily for revenue. (We’re talking about traditional traffic enforcement here; speed and red light cameras are a whole different system, and some local governments have been willing to provide actual numbers regarding the revenue that traffic cameras generate.) Local government does receives a portion of the fine from a traffic infraction, but when you see the breakdown it’s apparent that it’s not a massive revenue generator for the local police department. The goal of traffic enforcement is to reduce dangerous driver behavior, not to make money, at least for the local police department.

In a few circumstances the division of funds from a ticket depends on the kind of infraction the driver committed. For example, some of the money from a ticket for speeding in a school zone goes toward school zone safety. Aside from specially designated assessments for those types of infractions, traffic fines follow a formula of a base penalty plus a standard set of assessments. Here’s the breakdown for what the courts call a “generic” $136 traffic infraction:

Base Penalty: $48 – This is the amount you’ll find if you look up your infraction in the Washington Courts penalty schedule, which can create some confusion. If, for example, you received a ticket for tailgating (technically it’s called following too closely), you might look it up in the RCW to see if your actions fit the offense and notice that there is no fine amount listed. Digging further you might come across the Washington Courts penalty schedule and seeing $48 as the total amount for your violation think, as you look at your $136 ticket, that you got overcharged. You didn’t. The penalty schedule only includes the base penalty. This base penalty gets divided three ways: $23 is used to fund the Judicial Information System (JIS), the primary information system for courts in Washington. The remaining $25 is split between the state, getting $8, and the local government (not the police department) getting $17. The $17 gets further divided into the general fund and a crime victims fund.

The remainder of the $136 ticket gets divided into the following categories: state general fund, auto theft prevention, emergency medical services and trauma care, legislative assessment, and traumatic brain injury fund. Most of these categories are statewide, but local government receives about eight dollars from the legislative assessment. Once in the general fund, the money goes toward all kinds of government functions, hopefully including a bit for law enforcement.

I don’t mean to downplay the financial impact that a $136 ticket has on an individual. Getting a ticket is, at a minimum, financially unpleasant, and for some, a real hardship. But from a government revenue perspective it’s almost inconsequential. For example, in Whatcom County, revenue from infractions makes up about ½ of 1% of the total county budget of roughly $180 million. Even if all the infraction revenue went to the law and justice portion of the county budget (about $60 million) it would hardly make a dent.

Money from traffic infractions goes to a lot of places, but none of it ends up with the law enforcement agency that issues the infractions.

Crossing the Street for Angled Parking

Q: Is it legal to pull into an angled parking space on the opposite side of the street (in front of the Bellingham Public Library, for example)?

A: I’ll begin by assuming that in this scenario, the driver pulls nose first into the parking spot rather than backing into it. If my assumption is incorrect, this is a simple question to answer. RCW 46.61.575 requires that drivers park “in the direction of authorized traffic movement.” Backing into angled parking on the opposite side of the street would be a violation of the law. But nose first, that’s a different story. Continue reading “Crossing the Street for Angled Parking”

Navigating Through Construction Zone Signs

Q: Are there any requirements for the use and/or placement of signage to warn drivers when construction affects the flow of traffic? Who is responsible for setting up the signs?

A: Oh yes, there are requirements. Pages and pages of requirements. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which Washington has adopted as its rule book for signs, signals, road markings has nearly 200 pages devoted to what it calls Temporary Traffic Control (TTC). That’s the official term for signs used during construction or other scenarios that require a short-term change in traffic patterns, such as a crash that blocks traffic or a truckload of salmon that spills onto the highway. Continue reading “Navigating Through Construction Zone Signs”

How To (And Not To) Handle Tailgaters

Q: What is the best way to deal with tailgaters without rewarding them for their dangerous behavior?

A: By “reward” I’m assuming you don’t mean a trophy or a ribbon. Does getting out of the way of a tailgater feel like rewarding them for their behavior? If so, let’s change the question a bit. How about this: What is the best way to deal with tailgaters so that I am more likely to have a safe outcome? Continue reading “How To (And Not To) Handle Tailgaters”

The World’s Craziest Roundabout

If it took some time for you to get used to the roundabouts we have here in northwest Washington, just take a look at this one in Swindon, England. Seven traffic circles combine into one roundabout, and you get to pick which direction you want to go. You’d think it would be a crazy mess, but apparently it works. Take a look at the video from Wired Magazine to see an animation of how this roundabout functions.

Traffic engineers have to balance safety and expediency when they design roads and intersections. Their goal is to get people to their destination as fast as safely possible. According to the data, this  roundabout achieves that goal. It reduce crashes and it improves traffic flow. Anyone interested in a road trip to go try it out?

Speed Versus Survival

Q: You say that the Whatcom County Traffic Safety Task force has a vision to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero by 2030 but what exactly is being done to achieve that goal? Every day, as I drive around the county, I see worrisome traffic infractions but I seldom see a police presence or “speed traps”. I am constantly harassed by aggressive drivers who seem to believe speed limits don’t apply to them or are just an annoyance. The recent spate of fatal accidents caused by irresponsible drivers is frightening. I know that at any time I could become a statistic. Isn’t it time to get tough with those people and send a message that driving is a privilege, not a right, and with that privilege comes responsibility and serious consequences for flouting the law? Continue reading “Speed Versus Survival”

Learning to Merge

Q: How are drivers supposed to merge onto the freeway? It seems like most drivers in Bellingham expect to merge into traffic immediately when they enter the on-ramp instead of getting up to speed and “zipper-merging” near the end of the on-ramp lane. Entering drivers seem to think its their right to merge into traffic before getting up to speed and expect other drivers to slow down or change lanes to make room for them, creating hazardous conditions for all drivers in their area. What is the law?

A: With increased summer-time traffic, along with more freeway lane closures as road crews maximize the good weather, summer is the season of merging frustration. Although, as traffic has increased in the Northwest, any day can include merge-induced headaches. We might be able to alleviate some of those headaches if we could all agree on the best way to merge. Whether it’s merging onto the freeway from an on-ramp, as this question poses, or merging due to a lane closure, research shows that there really is a best way. Continue reading “Learning to Merge”

What To Do About “The Wave”

Q: Would you please address the fact that politeness should not trump correct driving rules? I appreciate that people in Bellingham are usually so polite on the roads, but this can also drive me crazy at times. There are so many times that the other driver on the road has the right of way, but stops and tries to get me to move first by waving me on.

A: I’m all for polite and courteous drivers. The last thing we need on the road are drivers that take every perceived error from other motorists as a personal insult and then react as if defending five generations of their family’s honor. That being said, the most polite thing a driver can do is follow the rules of the road. Think of traffic rules not just as a law put in place by the government, but as a shared set of values that drivers rely on to understand each other. Some drivers, intending to be polite, violate these shared values with “the wave”. Continue reading “What To Do About “The Wave””

Left Turns and One Way Streets

Q: Can you turn left from a two way street onto one way street at a red light after stopping?

A: As strange as it feels, yes you can. There are a few scenarios provided in state law that permit a driver to proceed after stopping for a red light, even while the light remains red. Most of us are familiar with the “free right”, a term not used in the law, but nearly universally understood to mean making a right turn at a red traffic light, after stopping for the light and waiting for an opening in the cross traffic. A free right is usually allowed when turning right onto a two-way street, or when turning right onto a one-way street that is carrying traffic in the direction of the right turn (obviously). There are some intersections that prohibit a right turn on a red light. These intersections have signs that read, appropriately, “NO TURN ON RED”. With the new bike boxes on Bellingham streets, we’re seeing a few more intersections in our community that don’t allow right turns on red lights. Continue reading “Left Turns and One Way Streets”