Seat Belt Ticket on Private Property

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California

About a week ago I received a seat belt ticket while driving on a community college campus. As I was driving along the road the officer started to follow me but never turned on his lights. Finally once I was parked in a spot he turned on his lights. He turned on his lights only after I had already parked the car and was already getting out of the car to go to class.

Question 1: Is my citation valid since he did not come up to my window to check if I had it on or not? I had my lap belt portion secured but had the shoulder part put behind me. Can I argue that other vehicles have seats with only lapbelts so this ticket is not valid? Is it valid since he didn't signal me to pull over until my vehicle was already stopped and I was out of the vehicle?

Question 2: Can I receive a ticket on the property? Isn't that considered private property and I'm not able to receive any type of violation from the officer?

Question 3: Is this a moving violation? The officer told me it was yet when I got my notice in the mail it says "N/A" where it says amount due for traffic school.

This is my first ticket of any kind.

Were you charged with CVC 27315 (d)? If so, did the officer ever see you driving on a public highway (in other words, any public street)?

I was on a road on the campus. He never came up right next to me to look just came up to my rear quarter. I had the shoulder part going behind me so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to identify if it was going in front or behind me.

Yes I was charged with that. Specifically 27315 d 1.

Wearing it incorrectly carries the same consequences as not wearing it at all so I wouldn't dwell on that point. What you need to establish is whether you were on a "public highway". It either is or it isn't.

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Quoting whitemoose26

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Question 2: Can I receive a ticket on the property? Isn't that considered private property and I'm not able to receive any type of violation from the officer?

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That depends on the type of agreement that the community college has with the law enforcement agency.

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Quoting whitemoose26

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Question 1: Is my citation valid since he did not come up to my window to check if I had it on or not?

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Sure. However, you can certainly bring that up at trial to raise reasonable doubt.

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I had my lap belt portion secured but had the shoulder part put behind me.

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Then you were not wearing it properly.

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Can I argue that other vehicles have seats with only lapbelts so this ticket is not valid?

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Nope. Because your car and the driver's seat was not equipped with only a lapbelt.

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Is it valid since he didn't signal me to pull over until my vehicle was already stopped and I was out of the vehicle?

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It's not a game of tag where you can get out of your car to avoid the citation. Obviously he observed you driving without the shoulder harness and stopped you when he could.

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Question 2: Can I receive a ticket on the property? Isn't that considered private property and I'm not able to receive any type of violation from the officer?

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Unless the community college is a PRIVATE college, it is paid for and maintained by public funds.

The section you were cited for indicates it is enforceable on a "highway":

(d) (1) A person shall not operate a motor vehicle on a highway
unless that person and all passengers 16 years of age or over are
properly restrained by a safety belt. This paragraph does not apply
to the operator of a taxicab, as defined in Section 27908, when the
taxicab is driven on a city street and is engaged in the
transportation of a fare-paying passenger. The safety belt
requirement established by this paragraph is the minimum safety
standard applicable to employees being transported in a motor
vehicle. This paragraph does not preempt more stringent or
restrictive standards imposed by the Labor Code or another state or
federal regulation regarding the transportation of employees in a
motor vehicle.

A "highway" is defined as:

360. "Highway" is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly
maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of
vehicular travel. Highway includes street.

This would seem to include the campus parking lot as it is a "publicly maintained" "place" open to the public for the purpose of "vehicular travel". Personally, I do not believe that was the intent of the legislature to have this applicable in a parking lot of any kind, but we are left with the definitions as they are, and with community college police departments who often have a lot of down time so they enforce those few vehicle code sections they can while they are on duty and assigned to campus patrols.

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Question 3: Is this a moving violation? The officer told me it was yet when I got my notice in the mail it says "N/A" where it says amount due for traffic school.

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A fine for a first offense plus fees should be around $76. Since this isa zero point violation, traffic school is a moot point.

- Carl

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Quoting That Guy

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That depends on the type of agreement that the community college has with the law enforcement agency.

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I think you're mixing this up with the 'not obeying a stop sign' posts. Seat belt enforcement has nothing to do with any agreement the college has with any entity. As Carl and I have pointed out, whether or not it's considered a ' highway' is the determining factor.

If I were the OP, I'd try to argue that it's not a public thoroughfare with the hope that the judge feels it doesn't qualify as a highway. Since he was on a road and not in a parking lot, I expect he'll lose.

Thank you everyone.

Seems now that I won't be able to get out of it UNLESS the officer doesn't show up at court. How do I go about this? It says my court appearance is optional and then has an "Arraignment" or "Court Trial" box to check so that I can set a court date.

Are there more imposing fees associated with bringing this to trial?

My ticket says $132. I'm most surely going to go down there today and ask for a breakdown of the fees because:

(h) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 42001, ( )1 a violation of subdivision (d), (e), or (f) is an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense, and a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense. In lieu of the fine and any penalty assessment or court costs, the court, pursuant to Section 42005, may order that a person convicted of a first offense attend a school for traffic violators or ( )3 another court-approved program in which the proper use of safety belts is demonstrated.

And since this is my first offense I don't think they are really charging $112 in fees.

If I decide that the fees are outrageous, can I contest the fees by going to court or something?

You can always call and ask for a breakdown of the fine and fees.

The $76 I mentioned comes form the state's recommended bail and fee schedule and includes a base fine of $20 for the first offense. Your locale could be an exception to that rule and may assess some additional penalties.

No, you cannot argue your innocence because the fines and fees seem high. You can protest against them, but if they are included on the court's fine and fee schedule, you can expect to pay them.

It may be that the court that sent this to you assumed this was a SECOND or subsequent offenses which WOULD bump the fine up to $50, I believe, and the associated fees would jump accordingly as a couple of them are based upon the fine. If they assumed a second offense, I'd say the $132 figure makes some more sense.

- Carl