Alameda County Traffic School

Alameda County stretches from the east shore of San Francisco Bay to the Livermore Valley. Interstate 80 comes off the Bay Bridge in Oakland and runs north through Emeryville, Berkeley and Albany. Interstate 880 follows the bay south through San Leandro, Hayward and Union City to Fremont. Interstate 580 heads east from Oakland through Castro Valley, Dublin and Livermore to the Altamont Pass, and Interstate 680 crosses it on its way south past Sunol into Fremont. State Route 92 brings San Mateo Bridge traffic into Hayward. The Census Bureau counts 1,636,630 residents in 14 cities and several unincorporated communities, Castro Valley and San Lorenzo among them.

The California Office of Traffic Safety counted 9,509 people killed or injured in Alameda County crashes in 2023, yet ranked the county 55th of 58, where 1st is the worst. The ranking weighs crash counts against population and miles traveled, so a big, busy county can post a large count and still rank low. Pedestrians are the exception. Crashes killed or injured 673 of them, 29th in the state, and the 108 who were 65 or older rank 3rd.

When the court allows traffic school, you pay the bail and the court's administrative fee before you sign up, and the court continues your case while you take the course. The court sets that fee and the date to finish, and your courtesy notice shows both. The court also shuts out three kinds of ticket by name: 25 mph or more over the limit, a carpool-lane violation under Vehicle Code 21655.5, and a tank vehicle offense under section 22406.5, which covers trucks hauling flammable liquid. Miss the due date and the court forfeits your bail and reports a conviction to the DMV, and a point goes on your record. The California Highway Patrol's Oakland, Hayward and Dublin Areas each serve part of the county, so a ticket from a CHP officer on Interstate 880 lands in the same Superior Court as one from a city police officer.

The court lists 10 locations, and its own filter shows just three taking traffic. The Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse at 661 Washington Street in Oakland is DMV court code 01440, and the Fremont Hall of Justice at 39439 Paseo Padre Parkway is 01430. The East County Hall of Justice at 5151 Gleason Drive in Dublin hears traffic with no code of its own. Hayward is the name to watch. Its Hall of Justice on Amador Street still hears family law, but the court moved Hayward's traffic clerk's office to Fremont on September 12, 2011, after budget cuts. Your citation names the courthouse that has your case.

Drivers under 18 follow a split path. A traffic infraction written to a minor goes to the same traffic divisions, and a minor who has not attended in the last 18 months may qualify for traffic school. The courtesy notice goes to a parent or guardian, who schedules any hearing and appears with the minor. Juvenile traffic misdemeanors go through the Probation Department instead, and so do citations for driving without a license under Vehicle Code 12500.