Poor driving record in Orange County

[jsteak]

Would the following citations keep me from qualifying for a CCW in Orange County?

SB 01/01/2005 I21801(A) VC YIELD ON LEFT TURN. (minor accident)
OC 06/20/2005 21453(a) VC Red or stop, vehicles stop at limit line or X-walk
OC 02/28/2006 22350 VC Unsafe speed for prevailing conditions
OC 05/10/2006 21650 VC Failure to drive on right half of roadway

I drive so slow after this rash of tickets that my wife makes fun of me.

By the way, you can look up your traffic citations for most So Cal counties here:

Orange County Court Case Access
Vision Public

San Bernardino County Court Case Access
Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino

Riverside County Court Case Access
http://public-access.riverside.court...ov/OpenAccess/

Thanks for your help.

[Dan M.]

Four moving violations in 17 months may indeed be a problem. The fact that they are less than two years ago may not be enough time to ease concerns over that many so close together. Plus those can be fairly serious violations depending on the circumstances. They will want to know more details about the unsafe speed and the driving on the wrong side of the road, for sure. I think you may need to wait for a few more years, but that's just me.

[Hoser]

Originally Posted by jsteak

Would the following citations keep me from qualifying for a CCW in Orange County?

Ditto what Dan said. For the most part a person's driving record hasn't kept him/her from obtaining a permit in OC. However, some would say that it speaks to one's level of responsiblity and four in 17 months could be viewed as more than just back luck.

[jsteak]

In actuality, they are pretty minor. The speeding ticket was 10 mph over the posted limit. The wrong side of the road ticket was for entering a left turn lane too early.

I appreciate your help, thank you.

[Dan M.]

Originally Posted by jsteak

In actuality, they are pretty minor. The speeding ticket was 10 mph over the posted limit. The wrong side of the road ticket was for entering a left turn lane too early.

I appreciate your help, thank you.

That doesn't sound too bad. Just those two in that time frame might be workable. With four, I don't know. If you have a bomb-proof good cause (DO NOT POST YOUR GOOD CAUSE ON THE FORUM - in case you missed that in the FAQs) you might be alright, but if your GC is marginal, I'm inclined to think the OCSD would err on the side of caution and not issue you a CCW until more time has passed. An e-mail with pertinent information to CCWI might help to clear up some of the questions better than most of us here will be able to do.

[OCRancher]

As with all OC CCW interviews, you will be asked about these infractions. Taken individually, they may not appear to be much. Taken as a whole, you will have to do some careful explaining.

BTW, what may seem minor to you may not be viewed as minor by a Judge should you have fought the tickets, or to any LEO.

For example, you said the unsafe speed for the conditions ticket was for only 10mph over the spped limit. Heck at some time, most of us get to 10 mph over, for various reasons. But you said it was for "Unsafe speed for prevailing condition". That could mean speeding 10 mph over the posted speed in a hard rain, where the safe speed could have been 10-20 mph below the posted speed, making your transgression more significant as you then could have been doing as much as 30 mph over the "safe" speed. Just a thought.

[jsteak]

Thank you for explaining. I am somewhat confident that I can lessen the effect of these citations if given a chance to explain the conditions (while accepting full responsibility, of course.)

Is there anything else that could possibly help to mitigate these citations? Reference letters from LEOs, etc?

[OCRancher]

Originally Posted by jsteak

Thank you for explaining. I am somewhat confident that I can lessen the effect of these citations if given a chance to explain the conditions (while accepting full responsibility, of course.)

Is there anything else that could possibly help to mitigate these citations? Reference letters from LEOs, etc?

You are going to need reference letters, so try to get them from the most reliable sources you can. Will it mitigate the other issues? Hard to say. A lot of the interview process is mental; how you portray yourself and handle situations. The old "attitude test" in some respects.

Good luck.

[CCWInstructor]

As a whole they show a lack of being responsible on your part. You need time between that time of your life and applying for a CCW. I would wait at least 3 years from the last ticket.

The last ticket wasn't even two years ago. That has not been enough time. No refernce letters can help you with that.

That is how OCSD is going to look at it. NOT ME!!!!!!

[REJM]

Orange County Court Case Access
Vision Public

San Bernardino County Court Case Access
Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino

Riverside County Court Case Access
http://public-access.riverside.court...ov/OpenAccess/



[ B]DOES ANYONE KNOW IF ALL THE COURTS HAVE THIS
ON-LINE" AVAILABLITY TO LOOK UP TICKETS AND CASES, LIKE ORANGE COUNTY, ETC.? THANK YOU FOR LETTTING ME KNOW. IT IS NICE TO KNOW WHAT MIGHT BE ON "RECORD" IN COUNTIES THAT WE HAVE LIVED IN.[/b]

[BonoVox]

Originally Posted by jsteak

Would the following citations keep me from qualifying for a CCW in Orange County?

SB 01/01/2005 I21801(A) VC YIELD ON LEFT TURN. (minor accident)
OC 06/20/2005 21453(a) VC Red or stop, vehicles stop at limit line or X-walk
OC 02/28/2006 22350 VC Unsafe speed for prevailing conditions
OC 05/10/2006 21650 VC Failure to drive on right half of roadway

I drive so slow after this rash of tickets that my wife makes fun of me.

By the way, you can look up your traffic citations for most So Cal counties here:

Orange County Court Case Access
Vision Public

San Bernardino County Court Case Access
Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino

Riverside County Court Case Access
http://public-access.riverside.court...ov/OpenAccess/

Thanks for your help.

I wonder how far back in history they go? I know in the case of Orange County I have had a ticket in the last 10 years. But not one within 5 years. Nothing shows for me.

[ADIDAS]

A constructive comment here.

Years back my driver's ed instructor told me that the average driver commits at least one minor moving violation every 8 miles of driving.

Some people though are ticket magnets, others go years without tickets or incidents.

The guys here have made comments that your driving record potentially indicates a lack of personal responsibility and that could cause you issues.

Please bear in mind, the guys are being honest since it appears that the Orange County Sheriff's department probably feels they have to justify all permits issued, as such, they are going to be extra thorough.

You may not be able to undo the past, but you can learn from the past.

Of course it is easy to say, you have to drive more careful. You may have taken some traffic safety classes, but let's be honest. Most people take the typical class to avoid getting points on the license.

Most people give lip service to the class.

What I would consider doing is taking some real driver courses, hands on high performance type courses. I would look at courses the put an emphasis on safe driving rather than race driving.

Here is the thing. You probably will have to wait till you hit the 3 year mark on the violations before you apply.

Let's say you go in and the issues come up, right now you are going to say I haven't had a ticket in 3 years. Interviewer may think you've been lucky.

If you take a high performance course, you go in and say I haven't had a ticket in three years, that rash of tickets had me take a honest look at my driving skills and I decided that I needed to have an objective evaluation of my driving skills and make changes where needed.

You follow up that although you weren't too happy with the officers at the time, you recognize that traffic enforcement is really about safety.

I realize there are some departments that abuse traffic enforcement and use it as revenue enhancement, but that is something you don't want to say at your ccw interview.

In all honesty, I don't claim to be a saint. I know that this is not the answer you want to hear, but doing the above is more than most would do and I figure it couldn't hurt.

This real issue is not the tickets, it is how the interviewer percieves your attitude is about following laws, particularily regarding issues of public safety.

Driving a car is a responsiblity that many drivers don't take seriously, it is the reason why insurance rates are high and the reason we have traffic cops in the first place.

Adidas

[jsteak]

Thank you all for your help. I will take the advice given and wait at least a year before I apply. I may even take an advanced driving course in that time to soften the discussion when that subject comes up in the interview.

[Hoser]

Originally Posted by jsteak

...I will take the advice given and wait at least a year before I apply.

Feel free to hang out and soak up the knowledge!

[newshooterinca]

Originally Posted by ADIDAS

Please bear in mind, the guys are being honest since it appears that the Orange County Sheriff's department probably feels they have to justify all permits issued, as such, they are going to be extra thorough.

Exactly, OCSD isn't being jerks, they're simply covering their own butts given the political climate of this state. They *want* to issue CCWs, but know that issuing to anyone who isn't completely, 100% responsible could give Sacto ammo to ban CCW altogether.

I realize there are some departments that abuse traffic enforcement and use it as revenue enhancement, but that is something you don't want to say at your ccw interview.

To me that isn't even an excuse. I spent 7 years in Scottsdale, Arizona which is a MAJOR abuser of traffic laws to generate revenue - they routinely ticket people for 2-3 mph over the speed limit (!) and yet I've still never had a ticket in my life. If you live in a speed trap town, be smart and EXTREMELY alert and you'll stay out of trouble.