Passing a school bus

[gigag04]

I don't know for sure but I'd bet cities get to keep the majority of fines for school zone infractions. Ka-ching!! Ka-ching!!

Wrong again.

[fickman]

My lawyer called yesterday. Based on his talks with the prosecutor, passing a stopped school bus is definitely a Class C, so will not affect CHL. That being the case, we'll go with "no contest" and request deferred adjudication.

That's good news. Thanks for the update.

Hahaha.

WildBill, the first time I read your reply, I read it as, "That's good news! Thanks for the update! Gotta go! *screeeeeeeeech* *vrooooooooooooooooooom*".

[stevie_d_64]

According to the El Lago municipal court site, "passing a school bus" isn't one of those offenses you can settle with defensive driving.

I didn't actually notice the bus. I'm pretty sure that I never left the far right lane after exiting the gas station, so I'm also pretty sure (98% or more) that the bus wasn't on my side of the road.

Along that stretch, NASA 1 has no median and consists of three lanes in each direction, plus a central left turn lane. IIRC, traffic lanes are about fourteen feet wide, so the bus and I were apparently separated by seventy feet or more.

For Martywj: Class A or B misdemeanor would make me (or anyone else) ineligible for CHL for five years, felony it's for life.

In other words you were going in the opposite direction from where the bus was unloading passengers, and that you pulled out into traffic from that gas station (I know which one you are talking about) right where they were loading/unloading...

That last line in the statute kinda gets me...I paraphrase, "if the passengers are not allowed to cross the street"; why was this an infraction in the first place...Maybe I'm missing something...I probably am...

[pbwalker]

You should also find out exactly where the bus stops. If I'm understanding this correctly, you turned right out of a business driveway while a bus was stopped across the street. There might be a very good argument that you didn't "pass" the bus at all.

I don't know for sure but I'd bet cities get to keep the majority of fines for school zone infractions. Ka-ching!! Ka-ching!!

Wrong again.

Gigag04,

Maybe it's just me, but some of your posts are a little abrasive and offensive. I know that inflection is hard to convey via written text, but from my observation, it's easy for these posts to be construed as rude. Far too often I've seen curt responses followed up with nothing else or no additional posts when we solicit additional feedback. I think you have a lot to offer as a LEO, so I'd love to hear they 'why's' as opposed to the blunt responses...

[LarryH]

In other words you were going in the opposite direction from where the bus was unloading passengers, and that you pulled out into traffic from that gas station (I know which one you are talking about) right where they were loading/unloading...

Maybe I'm missing something...I probably am...

I regret having given that impression. There's nearly 3/4 miles between the Valero station and the location given on the ticket (4100 block of NASA 1).

[puma guy]

I don't know for sure but I'd bet cities get to keep the majority of fines for school zone infractions. Ka-ching!! Ka-ching!!

Wrong again.

My bad I guess. Educate us with the pertcentages. BTW what was my first wrong?

[srothstein]

On most tickets written today, there is about $107 in court costs added. This all goes to the state for various specialized funds, like the crime victims fund. Most cities have tried to keep the overall fine down and usually only fine people about $35-50 plus the court costs.

And in addition, there is a limit on how much of the cities budget can come from ticket revenue at all. When they exceed the limit, all funds go to the state. 542.402 says that a city under 5000 people can only have 30% of its budget from tickets. I think there is another limit elsewhere for larger cities, but I could not find it in a quick search.

I did find the interesting note that traffic fine money can not be used as part of the general budget. It must be used for city or county roads and bridges or to enforce traffic laws (same section had that).

[gigag04]

I don't know for sure but I'd bet cities get to keep the majority of fines for school zone infractions. Ka-ching!! Ka-ching!!

Wrong again.

My bad I guess. Educate us with the pertcentages. BTW what was my first wrong?

Not meaning YOU were wrong again...just that somebody in this thread was wrong again (sometimes I can't keep track)

Sroth's numbers are right by law, but I don't know of a city making anything near 30% of revenue for citations. By the time you factor in paying for courts, police departments, and either jail or jail sub-contract prices, you'll definitely be pulling out of taxpayer dollars. LE is not a self supporting field. Even cases that we work, the state and county get their cut. Gotta pay for TLETS, TCIC/NCIC, judges, and CAs/DAs. It's not a very profitable field for the governments.

[LarryH]

Paid the $300 ticket at lunchtime today. The lady told me that if I don't get another ticket in El Lago between now and August 24, the ticket will be dismissed (bet I don't get any of my $300 back, though )

[Teamless]

$300 ticket

Ouch!
but at least it doesn't hurt your CHL

[sjfcontrol]

Guess I don't understand. If the ticket will be dismissed, why do you have to pay?

Are you paying a bail, and the bail is being used to pay the ticket's fine?

[LarryH]

It's deferred adjudication.

I don't understand it either, guess it's more "ka-ching!".

[srothstein]

I am glad you got deferred adjudication. The way this works is that you are temporarily found guilty and put on probation. The "fine" is supposed to be a probation fee now. Yes, they really do charge people in all crimes for probation. usually, for supervised probation, it is around $25/week. For unsupervised probation like yours, it is a flat rate. It is just coincidence that the fee happens to be about equal to the fine.

When you successfully complete the probation, the judges orders a new finding of not guilty on the criminal charge. This means it does not get reported to anyone, and you are not convicted. No drivers license record, no points towards surcharges, no insurance rate increase, and most important, no problems with your CHL.

Cities generally like this for people who will not get more tickets. It serves as a wake up call for the drivers who need it and doesn't punish them more than is needed to wake them up. I am usually happy with that result.

[gigag04]

Deffered Adj still counts as a conviction as far as more serious crimes correct?

Example: Class A Family Violence/Bodily Injury/Assault - even with a deffered adjudication it will disqualify you right?

[LarryH]

I am glad you got deferred adjudication. The way this works is that you are temporarily found guilty and put on probation. The "fine" is supposed to be a probation fee now. Yes, they really do charge people in all crimes for probation. usually, for supervised probation, it is around $25/week. For unsupervised probation like yours, it is a flat rate. It is just coincidence that the fee happens to be about equal to the fine.

When you successfully complete the probation, the judges orders a new finding of not guilty on the criminal charge. This means it does not get reported to anyone, and you are not convicted. No drivers license record, no points towards surcharges, no insurance rate increase, and most important, no problems with your CHL.

Cities generally like this for people who will not get more tickets. It serves as a wake up call for the drivers who need it and doesn't punish them more than is needed to wake them up. I am usually happy with that result.

Thanks for the explanation, SR.

Considering this was my first moving violation in at least six years (last two defensive driving courses were for the insurance discount) and considering the only reason I was in El Lago at all was being enroute from an ammo check at the Kemah WalMart to JSC, I should be safe.