In court, the Traffic Commissioner presides over the testimony of the traffic officer and the testimony of the driver. The driver has the right to ask questions of the traffic officer regarding the citation and the driver has the option of giving his or her side of the incident. If there are witnesses for either party, they can come to court and give a statement regarding what they saw. When both sides have finished presenting testimony, the Traffic Commissioner may either render a decision at that time or take the matter under submission and notify both parties of the verdict by mail. Most drivers elect to pay the fine and, if they qualify, attend traffic school to avoid having the traffic infraction affect their driving record, which, in turn, can effect their insurance rates.
Most drivers can avoid receiving a traffic citation by simply obeying the traffic regulations.
Now that you know what to do if you receive a citation, you may be wondering how a traffic officer decides where to issue citations. On a daily basis, the Traffic Unit receives calls from citizens wanting to report traffic violations occurring in their neighborhood. The complaints are logged in and the Sergeant assigns the complaint area to a traffic officer who is assigned to that specific zone area. Once the traffic officer receives a copy of the complaint form, the traffic officer will assess the area and determine the best way to conduct traffic enforcement. For example, if the complaint area is for speeding vehicles, the officer will conduct radar enforcement in the area during the times the citizen advised the problem occurs.