Contra Costa County Traffic School

Contra Costa County reaches from the San Pablo Bay shoreline to the edge of the Delta, and the Census Bureau estimates that 1,170,070 people lived there in July 2025, in 19 cities and in unincorporated places such as Alamo, Bay Point and Discovery Bay. Interstate 80 runs through El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole and Hercules to the Carquinez Bridge, and Interstate 580 reaches Richmond over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Interstate 680 comes off the Benicia-Martinez Bridge and heads south through Martinez, Walnut Creek, Danville and San Ramon. State Route 4 links the two ends of the county, from Hercules through Concord and Pittsburg to Antioch and on toward Brentwood.

The state Office of Traffic Safety counted 4,549 people killed or injured in Contra Costa County crashes in 2023. Its rankings weigh crash counts together with population and vehicle miles traveled, so a county this large can post a big total and still rank low. Contra Costa placed 57th of 58, where rank 1 is the worst. Its weakest category was older pedestrians, with 51 people aged 65 or older killed or injured, 25th in the state. Speed-related crashes that killed or hurt someone numbered 1,085, which ranked 56th.

When Contra Costa County Superior Court allows traffic school, you pay the fine plus a traffic school administrative fee. The court sets both amounts and the due date, and the reminder notice it mails to the address on your citation shows them. Take care of the ticket on time even if that notice never comes. A missed date can bring a civil assessment and a referral to the court's collection agency. The California Highway Patrol's Contra Costa, Dublin and Marin Areas all serve the county, and a ticket from any of them goes to the same Superior Court as one from a city police officer.

Traffic cases are assigned by where the citation was issued, not by your home address, and three buildings hear them. The court's page for each one names the communities it serves, and together the three lists take in all 19 cities. The Walnut Creek Juvenile and Traffic Center at 640 Ygnacio Valley Road serves ten: Concord, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Clayton, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Danville, San Ramon and Walnut Creek. The George D. Carroll Courthouse in Richmond serves the West County, from El Cerrito to Hercules, and visitors enter around the corner on Bissell Avenue. The Richard E. Arnason Justice Center at 1000 Center Drive in Pittsburg is the East County courthouse, for Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley and Pittsburg along with Bay Point and Discovery Bay.