I'm not certain that the judge who issued the bench warrant was sending the right message.  A failure to appear is in essence contempt of court which is dissing the judge him or herself.  As it was shared with me even if a traffic violation(s), failure to pay accumulated parking fines, etc.  Multiples of "failure to show" can get some judges "upset" and a bench warrant(s) is issued.  No one really goes to go after those with outstanding warrants, however if you get pulled over and they see outstanding bench warrant(s) you can be arrested.  Then you post bail to get released and suppose to show up at your next hearing.  An acquaintance who had a couple of outstanding traffic violations was pulled over for a traffic violation and taken to cell block and held overnight until someone posted bail.  In my opinion, it's best to make sure everyone makes sure that traffic violation(s) and/or warrants are addressed.  Just saying...