Posted by Founder, Bicycling Monterey

Bike Equity Project: Alternative to Fine for Traffic Citations

NOTE: Many of us would rather help people who bike avoid receiving traffic citations in the first place! And you can help. As highlighted in Spring 2024 Bike Buzz, you can boost our efforts for “education, not citation” (whenever appropriate). How? Share bike law summaries and other posters/flyers; click here to grab some. Or share a link to: https://bikemonterey.org/resources/resources-on-riding-skills-bike-laws-and-safety

Many people are unaware of the numerous and diverse Bicycling Monterey projects. (For an overview, refer to our summary of projects page; click here.) Among those are projects often referred to by bicycling advocates as Bike Equity efforts.

One such project is providing bicycling education and community service opportunities, as an alternative to paying a fine for a bicycling-related traffic citation. See what some participants in this project said.

With some exceptions, we primarily provide this alternative to court-referred youth. Below is an overview, including new instructions for potential participants.

Options in lieu of fine
for bicycling-related citation

If you get a ticket while bicycling, California law allows—for certain infractions—attending class to reduce the fine. Our neighboring Santa Cruz County has bike traffic schools, with a $35 fee charged to court-ordered participants.

https://www.santacruzhealth.org/HSAHome/HSADivisions/PublicHealth/CommunityHealthEducation/CommunityTrafficSafetyCoalition/Projects/BikeTrafficSchool.aspx

As of July 2024, we are unaware of any bike traffic school in Monterey County. However, some Monterey County residents do have an option! When an individual has received a bicycling-related citation from a Monterey County law enforcement officer, and if a Monterey County Superior Court judge/commissioner has offered to the individual that they may do community service with Bicycling Monterey as an alternative to paying a fine, we are able—in many, but not all cases—to provide that individual a community service opportunity, along with bicycling education.
Minors (youth younger than age 18) receive first priority in our schedule.
People age 18-21 receive second priority.
People ages 21+ : Our schedule permitting, people 21+ will be considered if they have very low income and a fine would be a significant financial hardship.

Instructions for potential participants—

Cited? What to know:

We suggest contacting us within days of receiving the citation. It is important to us that this be an enJOYable process, for you and for us—including that it fit into your schedule, and ours, comfortably.

How much time is required? The process includes, e.g., an initial discussion with us about the citation received; advising you of community service options, and the steps necessary to earn a letter from us for the court; education component, including Q&A/discussion; preparation for the actual community service; fulfilling the community service hours; and reporting on your experience. It is our intention that you’ll feel satisfied that you have learned some valuable things about bicycling, and that you have also helped others in the community.

We wish we could accommodate everyone! However, in addition to the age or income-level priorities mentioned above, we are only able to consider people who will be able to:

complete their entire community service process with us a minimum of two weeks prior to the court’s deadline—and the earlier the better;
take the initiative on all necessary follow-up contacts with us (i.e., you will contact us promptly, not wait for us to contact you).

We appreciate your understanding that those are necessary protocols in order for Bicycling Monterey to be able to continue providing this service to the public. Thank you.

Note regarding minors: An initial phone call from a minor’s parent or legal guardian is fine. However, subsequent phone conversations—or any in-person meetings—are normally to include the minor in addition to the parent/guardian.

To find out if we can currently provide you this opportunity, please phone us. Be prepared to provide us the following information.

(1) full name of the person cited—and if a minor, also include the full name of the parent / legal guardian who will assist the minor in this process;
(2) age, if a minor;
(3) your phone number (or if a minor, phone number of parent / legal guardian);
(4) date of citation;
(5) law enforcement agency that issued the citation;
(6) type of citation received;
(7) date of first Court appearance;
(8) name of Court official who offered the option, in lieu of fine, of doing community service instead;
(9) number of hours of community service that the Court would require;
(10) amount to be paid to the Court (“pay a fine of $____”) unless you complete community service instead; [for example, in Monterey County a typical fine, including court costs, is $193 for a helmet citation]
(11) date the Court official offered the option of community service (typically the same date as first Court appearance);
(12) date of Court’s deadline for either paying the fine or having community service completed (“proof of completion of community service must be filed with the Court no later than _______”).

If we are able to accommodate you in our schedule, the usual next step is to send us a test email, to an email address that we will provide you by phone (it is not posted on this website). If you have no access to internet for sending or receiving email, please let us know in our first conversation. Thank you.

NOTE: The Bicycling Monterey website and projects have been provided as a public service. No claim is made or liability accepted for use of this site, or for participating as a volunteer on any Bicycling Monterey project.

Did you know? For more than fifteen years all work by Bicycling Monterey’s founder on the Bicycling Monterey website and projects has been done as an unpaid volunteer. If you value this work, please make a contribution, in any amount. For how to contribute and FAQs, click here. If your circumstances do not allow contributing, consider encouraging friends to contribute. Thank you!