driving off road ticket?!

i got an undeserved off roading ticket. 75 bucks... anyways anyone know if this goes on your record as a moving violation? will it require traffic school and will it kill my insurance? got it in california. i'm thinking about challenging it in court but the drive itself is probably will probably be about 75 bucks. thanks all.

where were you?? Be lucky it was only 75 bucks in HI I think its upwards to $250-$500...

Maybe you did deserve it? You're going to get roasted here if you don't give more details. Was it for driving on private land, or driving in a protected area, driving in an area that required a permint, or what? Even if you aren't guilty, what was the cops reason for the ticket? Can't just say you got a ticket that you didn't deserve without telling us what it's for and why you don't think you deserved it!

:rolleyes:

BTW, if you were 4 wheeling in an illegal area (whether you knew it or not), I don't feel sorry for you. Sometimes shit happens.

I doubt it affects your insurance or anything if it's just for being somewhere you didn't belong, but again, we need to know exactly what the ticket is for!

some tickets aren't on companies books anyways. i got one for carpool violation and my agent said i can't cpunt it against you cause i have no option for it.

To bad the fine wasnt more as 75 bucks in california is nothing. Pay the damn thing and quit whining about the ticket your deserved to get.

http://www.treadlightly.org

There is no reason to get a ticket off road in CA. There are so many public trails in CA there is no excuse not to be on one of them. Remember, wheel responsibly.

give the guy a chance to respond before flaming too much here...

Heck in NJ, we say $75.00 bux to off road, is like "PAYING A FEE" to ride.....

MGJ

Yeah, more details please. Were you speeding? What type of officer of the law actually gave you the ticket

I think the reason for the post was to ask if the ticket would go on his driving record, not about the legitimacy of the ticket itself.

I'll reserve judgement for now. the situation in so many urban areas is that of political and powerful groups fighting over land that was once public open space with dirt roads and such that everybody drove on freely. Now developers are in an all out battle to grab suburban acreage for either housing developemnts or the greenies are trying to make them into ecological preserves. either way, the common guy loses since, in many cases, you can't even walk onto a preserve. It is elitist land grabbing and I can't support either side.

sucks that you have to drive so far from the city whereas before you could drive 10 or 15 minutes for an hour playtime trail tour on local backyard county land.

there would be no ticket 10 years ago. driving on back roads was not considered bad. Too many people..where is the bird flu they were talking about, never seemed to get a foothold.

Ok - simple answer is that if it was not a moving violation it should not go on your "record". A moving violation will most likely get you points on your driver's license and possibly raise your insurance.

--MOST of you don't realize/remember this, but in the late 60's we would go over the Sierras to lake almanor and really 4-wheeled to fish in ALL the HIGH LAKES in between Chico and the lake. in mid 70's the Sierra club politically pressured the BLM/Dept of fish and game to CLOSE off (for MOTOR vehicle use) 80% of these wonderful areas-oh, you could still backpack or bike to them, but you couldn't drive your 4wd!!. that was 30+ years ago!!! --JIMBO

The definition of "moving violation" is VEEEERY broad around here. They give the college kids at A&M tickets for running stop signs on their bicycles on campus (yeah - I guess they are roads... but come ON... they're bicycles... and it's in the middle of freakin' campus) and they count against your DL because it is a "moving violation" :rolleyes:

Well, he *did* say an undeserved ticket, for whatever that's worth.

you guys sure know how to jump to conclusions. thanks to the few who responded to my post for its original intent. for you other flamers, like i said, the ticket was not deserved.

just for you curious ones: i was camping and someone backed my X up closer to the tent area of our campsite. the car remained on trail the entire time and was only moved about 20 feet. when i got back i figured id just leave it there and sleep for the night. next morning awoke to a park ranger writing me a ticket for offroading.

so my question is: is this considered a moving violation? the park ranger never saw the car moving, and i was not the one who moved it in the first place. points on my record? etc. save the BS about treading lightly.

wow.. lame... At least if you going to get that kind of a ticket you should have something to show for it.... Seriously who does that??

Post the citation number. You can look up the citation information at the California DMV website, it will tell you what level of offense the citation is, and therefore if it will be points on your license.

Edit to add: also, what county were you in? Citation numbers can vary by county and city.

--Just out of curiosty, How could SOMEONE move YOUR X without you being there????? --JIMBO

my guess is with the keys

Maybe a friend/girlfriend moved it.

Not really important to his topic, if you ask me. But you didn't, so I'll keep my opinion to myself.

Hope you get that taken care of man.

"WELCOME TO XOC"

He wouldn't have to actually see your vehicle in motion. The fact that your vehicle was parked offroad speaks for itself. Your best bet would be to call whatever government entity has jursisdiction over the park/land you were on and verify what rules and regulations there are for offroading. If the park ranger is the one that wrote a ticket, then my guess would be that you're paying a fine for a parking ticket/breaking rules, not necessarily a moving violation that would put points on your license. Either way you can call that entity running the park to find out if it is indeed a moving violation. Be nice and polite. Don't go spew off a rant and rave about how you didn't deserve the ticket and the world is out to get you. Just say you got a ticket at (x) location at (x) time and you want to know if it's a moving violation and what specific rule or statute was used in determining the need to write a ticket. Don't be an ass, just ask questions now and deal with consequences once you know exactly what you got into.

--Not really important to his topic! Gosh, I wonder what YOU think is important to his topic???Perhaps you should have Proof read HIS topic before he submitted it-- --JIMBO

Sometimes rangers are just pricks. Give a certain kind of guy a badge, and all of a sudden he thinks he's the frikin' Clint Eastwood of worthless citations.
Back in March, I was with a buddy cross country skiing. We parked in a "snow park permit area." Neither of us thought you had to buy the permit beforehand because just about every other rec site in this state has pay boxes. Apparently, they don't for snow parks, so we asked some people what the fee was. We left the fee amount in an envelope under the windshield wiper blade—and wrote "fee" on it. While we were skiing, some dickhead ranger left us a $45 ticket right on top of the envelope we had left (yes, the cash was still in there). The worst thing is that my friend and I both have like six other rec use stickers/permits in plain view on our vehicles. The guy could obviously see that my friend was a "good citizen" because he had so many other permits on his truck. :rolleyes:

Well, Cali... what can I tell ya. You made a mistake and you got a ticker for it. It doesn't matter who moved your truck and it doesn't matter whether you know about the fact that you can't park there or not.

I don't see that being a moving violation. This seems like a smiple ticket for being/ parking where you're not supposed to, however each place has different rules.

Find out from the authorities and figure out what's going on. You'll have to pay for it, that's for sure.

6 years ago I got a ticket for underage drinking while I was camping in Wisconsin. The ticket was $250. Hey, I fucked up and that was all. Take care of the ticket and be careful next time. $75 isn't so bad.

So I WAS in an OHV area, wandered around for quite some time in the canyons, turned around to head back, made a wrong turn at some point, and after a while found myself in unfamiliar territory.

So I headed back the way I came trying to aim my direction toward the road. Sure enough, I eventually could see the road and made my way toward it. The trail to the road was all rocks so I wasn't driving over vegetation.

Just as I reached the road a forest service vehicle was driving by and stopped. Out stepped a male and a female officer. The female officer was apparently new and the other guy coached her on the procedure of writing the ticket. They even looked inside my vehicle. As she was writing the ticket, the other officer pointed just a short way up the road and said that if I had been just a little ways further up, I wouldn't have gotten the ticket.

There were no signs whatsoever that would have indicated that.

Here's a link to my pictures from a different trip to Lytle Creek to give you an idea of the terrain, although I was in a different area. Lytle Creek . Here are some random Google search links to show even more of the area. More Lytle Creek . And another . I don't know whose Xterra that is.

The difference is that I felt I fully deserved the ticket for getting lost and ending up where I shouldn't have been.

The ticket was for "Use of vehicles off forest developed roads." The ticket was for $50 but that was four years ago before I had my X. The ticket was on a United States District Court Violation Notice form. The form had a choice to plead not guilty and promise to appear, or "I wish to terminate this matter by paying the collateral shown below, enclosed." I paid.

It basically was treated the same as a fix-it-ticket, but with nothing to fix.

Since then I don't think I have ever wandered past the invisible line from an allowed area to a restricted area while offroad, at least as far as I know.

I'm sorry, but that is a bunch of BS.

If it was me, I would have taken the ticket, jumped in the truck and tore the shit out of the entire area you were in, while that POS ranger watched. Shite, pump up the dueling banjos on the radio and go to town.

Why? Because the fine would probably be the same. That is the stupidity. Backing up 20 ft. into a camping spot is not nearly as bad as ripping the hell out of a sensitive area; but I'll bet dollars to donuts that the ticket would have been exactly the same.

My philosophy would have been: "Here's your $75 and now I am gunna do something that deserves it." If it isn't the same fee, then what is the fine for severly screwing an area up? The Ranger takes you out into the woods and shoots you?

PS. I am not at all about tearing areas up (I have never been off-trail except on my own private land) however, there always needs to be some king of order to punishment. If that does exist (as in you get a way bigger fine for severly screwing an area up), then disregard the above statement. I don't know because I don't go off-trail.

This is my opinion, you can agree or disagree but you committed some sort of violation, you broke a rule about being on a trail, yes by only a small distance but a law is law. It does suck having to pay a fine but those kinds of laws have purpose, if they let everyone pull 5 feet off the trail over time the trail might be 5 feet wider because no one thinks they will get in trouble for being 5 feet off.

FlyFishinX why jump all over the ranger who gave you a ticket for doing his job? Don't you think that him personally wanted to give you a ticket? Probably not but he is required to perform such duties and giving tickets for those who don't have proper registration is obviously one of them. Even if he didn't give a rip if you parked there or not maybe he has a boss who checks up on him and if he didn't give you a ticket the heat may be on him by his boss. And since you left the money on your windshield expecting someone else to go get you a permit for use, as a ranger I would say to my self, "Damn, what does he think I am his servant?" Not saying that you had those intentions at all but I just stick to the motto if I have any doubts that what I am doing offroad may be illegal or otherwise I usually side with caution.

So you're gonna tear up the land because you're pissed at the officer? ...Sure shows the mature side of you there...

That makes as much sense as me putting a brick through your windows just because I got a speeding ticket while I happened to drive past your truck parked on the street.

:rolleyes:

AHTOXA - read the hole post bro.

I was exagerating to attempt to make a point, but since no one reads the entire post, no one understands it.

I read your whole post. I couldn't see your point because the post was pointless...

I don't mean to offend you there, but it is what it is.

Your citation won't go on your driving record. The park ranger wrote a citation against the County or State Park code, not the CA DMV codes. It's not a moving violation, so it won't go on your record.

If you look at the portion of the citation where there are checkboxes for "Criminal, Traffic, Non-traffic" it's likely that the "Non-traffic" box is checked. This means you just pay a fine to the court.

I read your whole post twice and you still sound like an idiot.

under offense charged it has the CFR (no idea what this means) box checked, the violation is 36CFC 410.a. Offense description is: Driving off road.

get this though, they drive by our campsite multiple times during the day while my car is parked there... but they wait till the next morning at 6 am and write the ticket while we're asleep in the car... i love park rangers.

it sucks though because in california you can challenge tickets via mail, but since this is state park its a federal case so i would have to appear in court in person.

Heck, in our state, trails are rated by the likelihood of getting a ticket, not the difficulty of the trail.

Alright, I will try again.

$75 for backing up 20 ft. into the woods.

$75 for tearing the shit out of an area - and I mean really ripping an area up. Like mudding through a virgin field, or breaking a tree by wheeling over it off-trail.

That doesn't make any sense. There has to be levels to punishment. If backing up into the woods is $75, then doing more then that should cost a larger penalty.

If these levels of retribution do exist, then we have no arguement. If they do not, then the $75 for backing up twenty feet into the woods is bullshit.

How you did not understand that after reading my original post three times is beyond me.

--Yo Branden, I read your post three times also and you TEMPER it "some" by stating THAT YOU NEVER GO OFF ROAD, but YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD RULES AND REGS AND your PHILOSOPHY, show you as one who really doesn't care for the environment especially any kind of law enforcement--Are we wrong??? --jimbo

Well, you are not entirely wrong. I really do have a problem with current off-road regulations and the spotty, at best, enforcement - that however is a different topic.

I do care about the environment, it is why I got into the mining industry (to try my best to fix the current environmental problems). I HATE seeing torn up areas, tracks in the crypto soils in Moab, and mudded out fields.

They catch this guy 20 ft. off-trail and pop him with $75. Good job guys. The next day some Jeeper comes up, drives right over the no vehicle sign, and treads up an entire virgin field. Damage won't be reclaimed for fifty years. If they caught that guy, would it still be $75?

Stop wasting time writing bullshit tickets for 20 ft. of indescretion, and go find that asshole Jeeeper who is giving all wheelers a bad name. I don't care about 20ft. I want something to be done about the really bad offenses; I want those guys to actually get caught and pay out their asses, not $75.

How can you argue with this position?

Reminds me of the good old days before I got married and commited myself to one woman.

--Yo Branden, yea ,I know there ain't no jucking fustice, but it's always time/place/opertunity and physical presence of the law!!!Otherwise it"s heresay or frustation!! --JIMBO

CFR = "Code of Federal Regulations". You were probably in a National Forest when you got this citation. Read more info about this citation, or even check your citation # here:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html

I would try to contact that organization, since I could not find 36CFR410.a as a valid code. Either it's a new regulation or the ranger wrote you a bogus ticket.

gymbo - that is the problem, there ain't no fucking justice.

This kind of shit is really starting to piss me off, though. Out here in the People's Republic of Boulder, they have been closing trails for years. I drive by at least four old 4x4 areas that have been closed, leaving one heavily fucked up area left, everyday on the way to work.

If these Ranger a-holes would start wheeling into these areas and issuing real tickets, people would go off-trail less. If people went off-trail less, more off-road areas would stay open.

The destruction of pristine land has to stop, but it ain't gunna happen by giving a camper a ticket. It's only gunna stop when these lazy bastards start finding the people really responsible and punishing them, instead of just closing down areas. It's their fault that spots get f-ed as much as it is ours.

All I was trying to say from the start is that if thier aren't levels to that kind of ticket, I would make sure I deserved a $75 fine before I actually paid a $75 fine. (I admit I could have articulated that a little better)