Anchorage Daily News

In Courtroom 25, beneath the faint hum of florescent lights, a trim, grim blonde stands before Magistrate Ron Wielkopolski explaining why she blasted through a red light that dark, slick winter morning at rush hour.

"I did see the yellow light as I approached the intersection of Ninth and Gambell," she says, shoulders rigid, voice cracking. "I did not feel it was safe enough to stop in time. ... So instead of braking before the intersection, I accelerated. At the time I was on my cell phone."

Wielkopolski listens patiently from the bench.

Then, she continues, she saw lights flashing behind her. On, then off. The officer must be on his way to an accident, she thought. She changed lanes. So did he. Again, the lights. Odd. She changed lanes again. So did he.

Finally, she got it and pulled over.

Already tense from driving on icy roads and having to run a red light, being pulled over that way was confusing and terribly stressful, she explains. Oh, and she's really sorry. She's learned her lesson and will never do it again.

"Anything else?" Wielkopolski asks.

He then calmly explains the law and the way things work in traffic court. She either ran the red light or she didn't.

She did.

"Guilty as charged."

The bad call she made that morning cost her $200 dollars, plus a $10 surcharge, four demerits on her driving record and possibly a hike in insurance rates. Dejected, she picks up her paperwork and heads out the door.

Next.

Sometimes people get traffic tickets who don't deserve them. Sometimes they present a convincing case. But often, traffic court is a perpetual parade of excuses, most of them old and tired. Among the oldest and tiredest?

"I thought it safer to run the light than slam on my brakes."

You can almost hear the buzzer going off every time someone tries it: EEEEEHH! You lose.

Clerk Nara Brown, who asks involved parties to raise their right hands and swear "to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth," recalls one particular favorite:

"She said she was speeding because she'd had surgery and she couldn't hold her bowels.

"That was sort of different."

One can easily get through this world without experiencing traffic court. You get a speeding ticket, you write a check, drop it in the mail and get on with your life.

But, if you want to contest the accuracy of a traffic cop's laser reading -- the remote sensing technology NASA used to map the topography of Mars -- knock yourself out. Check the box on the back of the ticket to fight this affront to your driving integrity and you'll get yourself a personal invitation to traffic court.

Show up on time, take a seat, tap your feet, swap nervous glances with the others, wait for your name to be called, then tell your side of the story. Bring evidence or witnesses if you like. If there's anything to your story, there's a chance of getting your fine reduced. Maybe a little, maybe a lot.

It can't hurt to try. The worst that could happen is you pay the fine you would have paid anyway -- plus prime-time downtown parking fees.

You may even win the traffic court lottery. The officer fails to show up and your citation gets dismissed.

It happens now and then. And when it does, unless the officer called in or has a good excuse, he or she could be in hot water and you get to skate.

Just a little advice should you be so lucky. Bite the lip. Don't say what the guy with sunglasses and a smug smile said the other day on his way out the door:

"Same thing happened last time I was here."

Just make sure you're not the one pulling the no-show. Blow off your date with traffic court, and you get a default judgment entered against you and slapped with an additional $25 in court fees.

PARADE OF EXCUSES

If ever there was a cross-section of humanity, traffic court is it. On any given day, the docket ranges from habitual traffic menaces to worn-out moms running so late for their early morning school drop-offs, they get pulled over in their pajamas.

"What makes traffic court interesting in my perception is that for many, many people, it's their only exposure to the justice system," said Suzanne Cole, who did a traffic court rotation for 11 years before becoming a Superior Court master. "You get the wide range of folks who have never been in court before, never had contact with a police officer before, who are terrified and don't really understand what's happening. ... They're sobbing. They bring their entire support network.

"And then you get the frequent fliers.

"I think some people take their traffic tickets far more to heart than many people take their criminal cases, or their civil cases, I should say."

You'd be surprised, for instance, how controversial "stop" can be. The opposite of go. A total cessation of movement.

Defendants are certain they stopped at the stop sign. The traffic officers are certain they didn't, and sometimes have footage to prove it.

"It's not uncommon for people to argue with the videos," said Magistrate Brian Johnson. "I had one earlier this week, a guy on video who just bombed right through the stop sign. I mean, he slowed down a little but he still probably went through that stop sign at 10 miles an hour. He thought he came to a complete stop. He said, 'That video is not what happened.'

"One would think when you saw it. ... But people will come up, stand right in front of the monitor and watch it over and over again.

"We watched that one probably 10 to 12 times, and it didn't change from the first time to the last."

The man had the right to question it. And Johnson had the right to find him "guilty as charged."

Next.

It's not always about misbehavior at the wheel behind these doors. A magistrate's courtroom is like the emergency room of the courthouse. Traffic court gets interrupted now and then to accommodate urgent business, like bail hearings for the newly arrested.

Between this ticket and that, for instance, Wielkopolski set bail for a guy charged with child endangerment, who was caring for an 11-month old baby while drunk on his lips. He was nearly three times the legal limit, and there appeared to be beer in the baby's sippy cup.

Magistrate Tina Otto had a show-stopper the other day. It went down something like this.

A man was slumped in the driver's seat of a car parked near the courthouse, someone thought it suspicious and called police. An officer checked it out.

"How's it goin'?"

"Fine."

The officer then noticed a baggy in the front seat.

"Crack?" he asked.

"No. Methamphetamines."

Turns out the guy was on his way to traffic court.

But it was not to be. His traffic court brethren got to hear his sorry story over speakerphone at his bail hearing on his way to jail.

Next.

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Top ten traffic court myths

Now a Superior Court master, Suzanne Cole did a traffic court rotation for nearly 11 years. Based on misconceptions she heard as a magistrate, she's put together this list of favorites:

10 You can get a ticket dismissed by taking a course.

Not a municipal ticket, only a state ticket if it's four points or less and you haven't had any moving violations in two years.

9 The court decides how many points to impose.

No. The point system is administered by DMV and the court has no control over the number of points imposed if you're found guilty.

8 You can get a jury trial for a traffic ticket.

No. Your trial is before a judge or magistrate.

7 You can get appointed counsel if you can't afford to hire your own.

In traffic court, there is no right to counsel but you can hire an attorney to appear for you.

6 If the officer shows up, you will be found guilty.

No. The burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt, just like a criminal case. Defendants can be found "not guilty" even in the face of an officer's sworn testimony. Officers do show up most of the time.

5 A radar/laser reading is all the officer needs to prove a speeding violation.

No. An officer must show both a visual estimate, based upon training and experience, and a radar/laser reading, which must be shown to be accurate.

4 Officer must show you the radar/laser reading if you ask at the time of the stop.

No. They are not required to.

3 A warrant will be issued for your arrest if you don't show up in court.

Not in Anchorage. Here, if you don't mail in the fine or show up for your court date, the court will enter a default judgment against you. The fine will be in the amount on the face of the ticket, plus additional administrative costs.

2 A "speed trap" is illegal entrapment.

No. An officer can watch for traffic violations from a location where you can't see him or her. This is not entrapment.

1 If you cry, the court will go easier on you.

Sorry, but unlikely.

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The pocketbook part

When levied a fine in traffic court, the magistrate can give you a month or two, or even longer if necessary, to pay it off. Even without going to court, you can request an extension at the traffic court counter on the second floor of the old Boney Courthouse, downtown. If you don't pay up, it goes to collections. And if you still don't pay up, your payroll, bank account or Permanent Fund dividend may be garnished.

All traffic citations of $30 or more come with a $10 surcharge tacked on for police training.

State and local fine schedules vary. Those listed below are from the Municipality of Anchorage:

The scofflaw's lament

Anchorage doesn't mess around when it comes to scofflaws, repeat offenders who blow off traffic fines. Those owing $1,000 or more can have their cars seized and impounded.

It's not just scofflaw's who'll be riding the bus, either. If you loan your car to a scofflaw, your car is at risk of impoundment.

And, just to add to the fun, there's a new Web site that outs scofflaws, listing them alphabetically along with date of birth, the number of tickets and the total owed. Several have racked up 40-plus. One guy has 69. See for yourself: scofflaw.muni.org.

As of April, there were more than 1,400 scofflaws at large with nearly 15,000 unpaid and delinquent citations totaling about $2 million.

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Who knew?

• If you borrow a car from someone and unbeknownst to you, that car has expired license plates, defective taillights or some other ticketable offense, you as the operator, rather than the owner, are held responsible.

• If you let a traffic scofflaw drive your car, even around the block, your car is at risk of impoundment. Under the Scofflaw Ordinance, lenders are responsible for towing, impoundment, redemption and administrative fees. That includes companies that provide vehicles to employees, car and motorcycle dealerships, rental agencies, family members, etc.

• If someone other than you is driving your car, and that person fails to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights, you as the registered owner of the car are liable and can be fined $180 plus a $10 surcharge.

• Believe it or not, the road is not your personal ashtray; tossing a cigarette butt out your car window can get you a $75 littering citation.

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The point system

Whether they occur in Alaska or elsewhere, the accumulation of 12 or more points in a 12-month period, or 18 or more points in a 24-month period, results in a mandatory suspension or revocation of your driving privileges for a predetermined time.

Some of the point-busters passing through traffic court include:

Failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign	$90
Running a red light	$200
Careless driving	$150
Driving without having your driver's license with you	$75
Passing on the right by crossing the white line or leaving paved road	$150
Going the wrong way on a one-way street	$150
Driving in left lane under the speed limit, impeding traffic	$75
Failure to stop before entering street from alley or private drive	$90
Driving across or upon median or barrier	$90
Unsafe lane change	$75
Failure to yield to a person in a crosswalk	$60
If the pedestrian is blind	$150
Tailgating	$90
Failure to use turn signal	$75
Driving with more than three people in the front seat	$50
Driving a car with tinted windows	$150
Coasting in neutral	$50
Driving over a fire hose	$100
Open alcohol container in vehicle	$300

(DUI, reckless driving and other more serious driving charges are criminal cases and don't go through traffic court.)

In Alaska, you can bank points for good behavior, one for each year of ticketless driving, up to four points. In other words, if you get a four-point ticket, and haven't had a citation in more than five years, those four points won't go on your record, although the citation will still be reflected. Once a year, taking a driver improvement course through the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles can knock two points off your record.

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Excuses that don't fly in traffic court

• Nobody ever stops at that stop sign.

• I was going fast because I had to go to the bathroom.

• There was nobody around.

• I went faster because the officer made me nervous.

• My speedometer was broken.

• I didn't know what the speed limit was.

• I thought school was out.

• It's a new car; I didn't realize how fast it goes.

• I got singled out because I drive a sports car.

• That officer was out to get me.

• There was a semi next to me and it blocked my view of the sign.

• My car can't even go that fast.

• Everyone else was going even faster.

• I was just going with the flow of traffic.

• I was late for traffic court

Best excuse in the history of traffic court

A story by Sabrina Tavernise in the New York Times nailed it:

"It was the mid-1980s. A man was accused of making an illegal turn. He confessed but insisted it was not his fault. He couldn't help it, he said. The poisonous airborne fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union arrived in New York and hit his elbow, which was sticking out his driver-side window, and this distraction caused him to turn his car accidentally.

"The defense failed. So the man produced a doctor's note saying that he had eaten a bad turkey."

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Do you have a traffic story? Post it in the comment section below.

MOVING VIOLATIONS	PTS
RACING	10
LEAVING SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT	9
Failure to yield to emergency vehicle	6
Failure to stop for a school bus loading/unloading	6
Failure to obey traffic control devices in school zones, playgrounds or parks	6
Careless driving	4
Following too close	4
Failure to stop or yield	4
Most other moving violations	2
Speeding	Pts
In a school zone or playground crosswalk	6
Three to nine miles per hour over speed limit	2
Ten to 19 miles per hour over speed limit	4
Twenty miles per hour or more over speed limit	6