OT: Somone Care to Explain to Me

[PuckinUgly57]

How a freaking $163 texting ticket turns into $883 in LA County?

Bastards.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Which one did you get?

I'll take a guess and say the $833 one. That is a lot for just one ticket.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

My own fault but I also think LA County screwed up as well. Got the ticket in October for actually talking while driving (ear piece battery died, work call). LA Sheriff on a bike gave me the ticket, said check online, that is where everything will be posted and you can pay it there. My first text/cell ticket ever.

Checked for two months straight through December, nothing posted online. This is where I slipped and just stopped looking because I got frustrated. Two weeks later I get a notice in the mail that the ticket went up, and I have one week to contest or pay it. I was going to contest it because of the circumstances and still pay it but not what the upped fine was. Judges in LA have murderers and drug lords to take care of, I'm sure I would have gotten a reduced fine.

Got busy with work, missed the one week deadline, meant to go and this week got the notice from some collection agency associated with the agency that it's an $833 fine. On top of that, I got a notice from the DMV Wednesday that because of my FTA my license is set to be suspended on April 5.

Checked their website again and now it says it's been forward to said collection agency and I cannot do anything through the court, but I'm going to go to the Downey courthouse next week and plead my case to any judge willing to see me and see if I can get that reduced.

I know CA is in a bind for cash but holy shit that is ridiculous. It wasn't even a moving violation.

 

[oxnardkingsfan]

Remind me to never get any kind of ticket in LA County. What a screwed up way to give someone a fine. Check on-line? Just about anywhere else in the country you'd be notified by mail if not on the spot. Good luck pal.

Ox

 

[CaptHowdy00]

Wow, I left LA county 15 years ago at the same time I left California. I don't think that things were that bad back then.
I have never heard of "Check on line" before. Usually if one gets a ticket the Mount of the fine is sent in the mail.
And the fact that the moved so fast on late fees and to send you to collections is rediculous.
Good luck with the judge.
Maybe you should move.

 

[davnlaguna]

I remember when the fine people of CA voted for this law. It was to be a 20.00 ticket and they could not pull you over just for talking. Even at 20 it was 120 after fees. Then they just kept upping the fine and changed the rules that they could stop you for just having the phone in your hand. They say it is about safety but money might be a factor.

 

[xis]

CarAudio Connect AUX with Bluetooth®

They pretty much have it anywhere. If you're car doesn't have bluetooth but does have an AUX jack you should not be without this. You can even stream music using Pandora, Spotify, Youtube or anything else your phone may have. It'll even broadcast the turn by turn directions from your phones navigation app.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I have a 2012 Subruban and it's top of the line, I have the blue tooth but disconnected the phone because I get calls constantly for work. I'll be rocking out to a song and that voice comes over the speakers "incoming call from xxx-xxx-xxxx". It's annoying and constant so I shut it off.

One time my mom actually called, my boss was with me for a big appointment and I'm thinking she was calling me to wish me luck or something. Not only did she not do that, she uses my full name and proceeds to tear me a new one (don't even remember what it was) which of course is on freaking surround sound throughout the truck.

Pretty embarrassing and my boss razzed me after that so i said forget and went back to my earpiece.

 

[oxnardkingsfan]

If LA County is this hard up for money and need the income all they have to do is patrol the 101. Going to Kings games I bet I pass anywhere from 6 to 10 cars with someone on the phone. Then there's another 8 to 12 driving with expired license plates. A lot of fine money just between the Ventura County line and downtown LA.

Ox

 

[KickSave]

Have you ever heard of SPEAKERPHONE? Hit answer, put it on your dash or lap and talk! Forget that annoying bluetooth through the speakers.. that's so obnoxious.

tsk tsk tsk

883 jesus christ........Oregon is pretty harsh when it comes to that too.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Cops are glorified tax collectors. Downtown they perch up on the corner of Figueroa and Wilshire and just write people jaywalking tickets all day (This happens about once or twice a month). I've seen some close ones where the person clearly made it across but the cop cites them for starting their walk when the orange hand had already started blinking.

Every few weeks you will see a copy driving and know he won't make a traffic light, so he flips on his lights/siren and runs the red, only to turn off his lights again when he crosses the intersection. This happened about two weeks ago and this complete stranger looks at me and goes (Sarcastically) "To serve and protect, right?".

Parking enforcement is even worse, writing tickets in Hollywood at 1:50 when signs clearly say "No Parking 2am - 6am". I just saw that on Saturday and the people clearly got back to their cars by 2am. Why is that sign conveniently 2-6 by the way? Same with Street Cleaning days, they are all just revenue streams. In the city of Pasadena, you can't park anywhere in their city without an overnight pass ($3 per pass) between 2-6. A few years ago my ex lived out there and I must have gotten 3-4 tickets over the course of 2 years. I'm talking secluded areas where they still seem to find people so that they can fine people.

I don't get where all of the money goes either, because seemingly every voting period the police request more funds because they are underfunded or some horseshit. Last year a drunk driver plowed through 3 of my family's cars out in front of our house. My neighbors and I had to detain the guy because we were on hold with 911 for over 30 minutes and the guy kept trying to leave the scene. I even heard of a proposal that would start charging for 911 calls because there are too many people calling.

So where is all of the money going when they can charge $833 for a texting ticket? It has nothing to do with more money but rather the allocation of funds.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Have you ever heard of SPEAKERPHONE? Hit answer, put it on your dash or lap and talk! Forget that annoying bluetooth through the speakers.. that's so obnoxious.

tsk tsk tsk

883 jesus christ........Oregon is pretty harsh when it comes to that too.

Not a big fan of speaker phone, echoes and such.

$883 is absolutely raping someone, even the original $163 is bad. I was shocked considering this was my first ticket of this nature.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

So where is all of the money going when they can charge $833 for a texting ticket? It has nothing to do with more money but rather the allocation of funds.

Bingo.

This goes back to Gray Davis, when he changed the retirement system for public employees based on the boom of the internet and technology-driven revenues (mostly bonds and stock market stuff). They promised massive pensions and retirement thinking the cash flow was going to keep rising like it was, but apart from the initial boom it leveled out relatively quickly. This left the promised PERS account underfunded and all these tax hikes/proposals we hear about, most of the money is going here.

Last I remember, the system was underfunded by almost $100 billion long term. Yes, with a B. Some agencies changed it for new hires, but with the older crowd holding down some of these posh public positions for decades they will be still be owed that money.

Remember Prop 30 in 2012, Jerry Brown and all that? Claiming the schools needed the tax money to keep teachers employed, books won't be able to be bought, supplies, blah blah blah? I even remember him getting the LA Teachers Union to put some sad sap teacher on TV saying "it's for the kids" or some other nonsense. Turns out over 90% of this tax money is going to the teachers' pensions and not the schools or students. I voted no, I knew what was up, and we pay enough taxes as is.

Then more recently, I don't know if you heard but the LA Water District had two funds set up where $40 million was funneled and refused to turn over the records to show what that money is used for. Last I checked, that is PUBLIC MONEY and they have every right to know where that money is and what it's for.

It's going to a judge soon where he will issue warrants to get the documents and I have a feeling we will not like what those docs say. More than likely into some pockets and not what it was originally passed to do.

If these public employees were great or something, I would be on board, but when LAUSD has one of the biggest failure rates of public schools in the nation, these teachers should take a pay cut. Overall public employees are a bunch of morons and shouldn't be rewarded for being sub par.

 

[CaptHowdy00]

To Pucks point, I read somewhere that 40% of what LA/LA county brings in, goes to retirement funds. If this keeps going, LA will end up like Detroit.

 

[histkng23]

I don't know whats worse, every election where there are initiatives/measures that are "for schools" and claim to give $$ "directly to the schools to ensure our children's future" or the damn local media types in this state who don't do their jobs and expose the blatent lies that the writers/supporters of these measures state in their "commercials" trying to swindle $$ out of our collective wallets! I'm sorry, but I think the teachers union are the biggest liars and self serving people on this planet!! Whats even scarier is that the Nurse's union is starting to catch up to their mindset and arrogance! My wife & I were about to have our first a few years ago, and with all expecting couples you get to go to the hospital for a tour & instructions of what to expect during the delivery. Well at the last second my wife's OB informs us that he's not going to even be at the same hospital that we were going to & that we were being moved to another hospital about 10 miles away. So we scramble & are able to get an impromptu tour of the facilities. Well at the conclusion of the tour my wife asks the nurse guiding us around what if we opt to not go with breastfeeding & go with formula? (Since they - & the La Leche people - pretty much pressure you hardcore that you "HAVE to breastfeed, as it is essential & the best food source for your child"). The nurse had the balls to look at my wife and ask her directly, "What are you going to feed her poison then?" My wife & I both wanted to smack the nurse as if to say "Who the F are you!? Its OUR choice!" Needless to say, my daughter shows absolutely no ill effects of being fed formula instead of breastfeeding.

-I know a little off topic, but its the arrogant mindset that seeps into people who are in a union that I just get disgusted with!

 

[davnlaguna]

Ok opened this thread and the ad at the top was for traffic court lawyers.


Maybe u am the only one that finds that funny

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Welcome to why Facebook/Google are so lucrative. They read your information, extract key words/phrases, and tailor adds to correspond to you. Facebook just paid $19 Billion (Yes, Billion) for the ownership of WhatsAPP, a messaging service. That would work out to $42 per person that currently uses WhatsAPP, meaning that this is how valuable your information is to them. Facebook stated that they were losing users and the acquisition of WhatsApp helped reacquire a lot people that they were losing. This and (Per Forbes) the fact that by acquiring the phone numbers of all WhatsApp users, they could bridge the online and offline worlds.

We should just start a new chain entitle "Bikinis" and all post one message so that all of the corresponding adds will be posted of that nature.

We live in an information world. This woman, Katherine Albrecht has been combating the use of "Rewards Cards" and how these major chains sell customer's information to corporations and make billions. I can't even comprehend everything that they do with your information, but every time a supermarket pushes their rewards, it is such a red flag.

Here's the Forbes link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberth...y-facebook-is-blowing-19-billion-on-whatsapp/

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I don't know whats worse, every election where there are initiatives/measures that are "for schools" and claim to give $$ "directly to the schools to ensure our children's future" or the damn local media types in this state who don't do their jobs and expose the blatent lies that the writers/supporters of these measures state in their "commercials" trying to swindle $$ out of our collective wallets! I'm sorry, but I think the teachers union are the biggest liars and self serving people on this planet!! Whats even scarier is that the Nurse's union is starting to catch up to their mindset and arrogance! My wife & I were about to have our first a few years ago, and with all expecting couples you get to go to the hospital for a tour & instructions of what to expect during the delivery. Well at the last second my wife's OB informs us that he's not going to even be at the same hospital that we were going to & that we were being moved to another hospital about 10 miles away. So we scramble & are able to get an impromptu tour of the facilities. Well at the conclusion of the tour my wife asks the nurse guiding us around what if we opt to not go with breastfeeding & go with formula? (Since they - & the La Leche people - pretty much pressure you hardcore that you "HAVE to breastfeed, as it is essential & the best food source for your child"). The nurse had the balls to look at my wife and ask her directly, "What are you going to feed her poison then?" My wife & I both wanted to smack the nurse as if to say "Who the F are you!? Its OUR choice!" Needless to say, my daughter shows absolutely no ill effects of being fed formula instead of breastfeeding.

-I know a little off topic, but its the arrogant mindset that seeps into people who are in a union that I just get disgusted with!

I think your point is valid. They already have initiatives they are trying to enact into law that would force vaccinations against the parent's permission and have the state dictate how you raise your own kid. Such a joke. The same government that can't even get the Obamacare website up and running thinks that they know how you should raise your kid better than you.

Taking the school system funding one step further, I had always heard that LA Unified School District receives 50% of all state Lottery money, but per the Cal Lottery website, I am not sure the exact number ("95% to Public Education, Retailer Compensation, and Player prizes"). I feel like that breakdown could be anything, so I'm not sure. I will have to check out the breakdown, but they claim to have put $26.6 Billion into the LA School system since 1985. Much like Puck stated above, it is all about allocation and nothing to do with more money. Is it sad that they lay off good teachers? Absolutely, but it isn't the tax payer's responsibility because it isn't the taxpayer's fault.

"How much does the Lottery give to California public schools?
In total Lottery contributions, California public schools have received more than $26.6 billion in Lottery funds since the Lottery began in October 1985. The Lottery generated $1.28 billion for public schools in FY 2012-13. This contribution currently represents about 1% of the state’s public school annual budget. Remember, Lottery funds are to supplement public education, not to replace state and local funding."

Lottery Funds at Work

 

[histkng23]

I feel a good question that should be followed up on the $1.28 BILLION that they received in 2012-13 is the break down of how much went to the school level & how much went to the administrative level? One topic that is never addressed with the Teachers Union or never approachedby the media is of all the funding that public schools receive an overwhelming majority of the funds go to Super Intendants and their several secretaries that each school board member has. Do the actual teachers need to be better? HELL YES!! But when they cry that they are lacking funds or that when there are cuts being made it never is on the administrative side of the equation - the side that doesn't actually do any of the teaching (you could say they don't "produce" one red cent for their "work"). It goes a step further when you look at the salaries that Presidents & Secretaries make at the higher education level. When someone is making north of $300K (not including the other junkets, "benefits", and other freebies) for being a school President at a local community college, it only verifies my "trust" in this state's education system.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I feel a good question that should be followed up on the $1.28 BILLION that they received in 2012-13 is the break down of how much went to the school level & how much went to the administrative level? One topic that is never addressed with the Teachers Union or never approachedby the media is of all the funding that public schools receive an overwhelming majority of the funds go to Super Intendants and their several secretaries that each school board member has. Do the actual teachers need to be better? HELL YES!! But when they cry that they are lacking funds or that when there are cuts being made it never is on the administrative side of the equation - the side that doesn't actually do any of the teaching (you could say they don't "produce" one red cent for their "work"). It goes a step further when you look at the salaries that Presidents & Secretaries make at the higher education level. When someone is making north of $300K (not including the other junkets, "benefits", and other freebies) for being a school President at a local community college, it only verifies my "trust" in this state's education system.

I'm in full agreement with you, that executive anything is just a term for "clown who does nothing at the top except cause more red tape and collect a paycheck" but I am at a loss for what can be done. They do these marches downtown for worker's pay or worker's rights and I genuinely feel bad for some of them, but the very union they are representing usually has some person or group of people at the top that is just as corrupt as the company they are picketing against. It feels like a Chinese Riddle.

It's the same with politics, all of these politicians claim that they are going to be transparent and will have some system of accountability, but empty promise after empty promise goes unchecked and there are no repercussions.

This was #1 on Gandhi's "Seven Blunders of the World": "Wealth without work". I think that is in line with these executives, these politicians, etc.

The full list.

Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.