On June 24, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a program
that allows Californians who have unpaid traffic or non-traffic
infraction tickets to participate in a one-time Statewide Traffic
Tickets/Infractions Amnesty Program. The program began on October
1, 2015 and will continue through March 31, 2017.
In the first three months, October 2015 through December 2015, of
the traffic amnesty program, 58,000 Californians have received
fine/penalty reductions, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
has received 40,000 requests to restore driver’s licenses and
gross revenue collected so far from the program totals
approximately $7.6 million. After expenses of nearly $3 million,
$4.65 million is available to distribute to state and local
programs.
Additional highlights include:
492,134 individuals have visited the Judicial Council’s
traffic amnesty website since July 2015;
DMV reports having mailed out more than 14.8 million inserts
in 9 languages advertising the amnesty program;
At least 3.3 million traffic and infraction accounts are
eligible for amnesty.
The purpose of the traffic amnesty program is to provide relief
to qualified individuals who have found themselves in default of
a court-ordered obligation because they have unpaid bail or fines
for traffic and non-traffic violations. The program also may
provide relief to individuals who have had their driving
privileges suspended.
