GILROY
– Ticket prices doubled for not wearing a seat belt. An vehicle
owner’s manual must now tell you if your new car contains a
”
black box
”
that records your vehicle’s speed and other data. Video screens
are now prohibited in the front seats of vehicles. Civil and family
court fees are going up.
GILROY – Ticket prices doubled for not wearing a seat belt. An vehicle owner’s manual must now tell you if your new car contains a “black box” that records your vehicle’s speed and other data. Video screens are now prohibited in the front seats of vehicles. Civil and family court fees are going up.
These are among the 900 or so new California laws that went into effect on New Year’s Day.
If you were ticketed for not wearing a seat belt before Thursday, the court fees were included in the ticket, which couldn’t total more than $20, according to California.Highway Patrol Officer Terry Mayes. Now, court penalties and fees can be added to the $20 ticket, making the total price – which varies depending on where you’re stopped – as high as $58, according to the American Automobile Association of Northern California.
Black boxes in automobiles are a new thing. They record vehicle data such as speed and braking performance that can be accessed after an accident to help investigators determine what happened. Manufacturers were not previously required to inform buyers if their cars contained black boxes. Not only does Assembly Bill 213 change that, but it also specifies that the information can only be accessed with permission of the vehicle’s owner, with some exceptions.
It’s already against the law to watch television while driving, but the new law extends that concept to video screens and monitors, according to AAA. It’s now illegal to drive while any screen or monitor capable of receiving a video image is operational anywhere where the driver can see it, or anywhere farther forward than the rear of the driver’s seat.
The Legislature also raised certain Superior Court fees statewide. In Family Court, a $36.30 fee will now be extended to all motions requiring a judge’s signature, not just some of them.
The filing fee for civil claims of more than $10,000 will rise by $25, a temporary measure to help pay for court security that will end on July 30, unless the Legislature extends it.
For civil claims of less than $10,000, the new surcharge will be $10. In 2003, the filing fee was $155.30 for claims under $10,000, $302.50 for limited-jurisdiction claims of more than $10,000 and $299.50 for general-jurisdiction claims of more than $25,000.
