A Carlsbad woman is seeing red after receiving a traffic fine that she calls excessive.
The red light cameras hardly registered with Andrina Campbell as she failed to stop fully at the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard and El Camino Real.
“I made a right-hand turn, and I didn’t even think about it, and about a week later, I got a ticket that says I did not. I ran a red light,” Campbell told NBC 7.
But it wasn’t the action she disputes. It was the cost: $490
When she went to court to request her fine be reduced, the judge refused. Instead, she was offered a payment plan for an additional $30.
“I’m not upset that I received a ticket. I understand what I did,” said Campbell. “But it's that the fine is too high. The fine should reflect the violation.”
She told NBC 7 she wanted to know what her nearly $500 fine would be going to, so we asked Mike Roddy with the San Diego Superior Court.
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He said most of the money goes to fees and penalties.
The base fine for failing to stop at a red light is $100. Added to that is a penalty assessment and surcharge of $310, a court operations fee of $40, a criminal conviction fee of $35, an emergency medical program fee of $4 and a night court fee of $1.
Most of that money will go to state and county programs.
“They fund everything from DNA identification systems, fingerprint tracking systems, courthouse construction funds,” said Roddy.
Court officials do not control the fines, and the fees are voted on by the California legislature.
“If the public’s got a concern about the cost of traffic citations, you need to contact your local legislator,” Roddy said.
Still, Campbell does not believe the crime fits the fine. Paying it will cause her family a degree of financial hardship, she said, but for others who are worse off, the fine could be crippling.
