Monte Sereno Traffic School

The Census Bureau puts Monte Sereno's population at 3,566 on July 1, 2025. State Route 9 crosses the city as Saratoga-Los Gatos Road, the street where City Hall stands. Caltrans maintains Highway 9, not the city, so Monte Sereno sends residents to Caltrans for problems such as overgrown vegetation along it.

Tickets in Monte Sereno come from two agencies. The city partners with the Town of Los Gatos for public safety, so the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department patrols its streets, with an authorized staff of 39 sworn officers and 20 civilian employees. The California Highway Patrol's Redwood City, San Jose and Hollister-Gilroy Areas serve Santa Clara County. Tickets from both agencies go to Santa Clara County Superior Court, and its traffic school rules do not change with the agency that wrote the ticket.

The Office of Traffic Safety's 2023 rankings list 4 people killed or injured in Monte Sereno crashes, 39th of 74 cities of similar size, where 1st is the worst result. Two of them were bicyclists, which placed the city 14th for bicyclist injuries, and speed-related crashes that killed or injured someone numbered 2, 24th. No pedestrian was killed or injured that year. The figures describe the whole city, not any one driver's case.

Residents worried about speeding on their block can ask the city for a study. The Traffic Calming Policy the City Council adopted in August 2020 covers local residential streets, not thoroughfares or collector streets. A street qualifies for further study when the 85th percentile speed runs 5 mph over the posted limit and average daily traffic reaches at least 500 vehicles. Physical measures such as speed humps and traffic circles need a petition signed by more than half of the households, and a trial project needs 67 percent support in a postcard vote.

Santa Clara County Superior Court hears adult traffic tickets from Monte Sereno, and a case must stay in the county where the citation was written. The court handles traffic at the Family Justice Center Courthouse, 201 N. First Street in San Jose, and at the South County Morgan Hill Courthouse, 301 Diana Avenue, whose DMV court code is 43635. The Family Justice Center has no code on the DMV list, so the code printed on your citation is the one to use. Both courthouses answer traffic questions at (408) 556-3000.

Whether you get traffic school is the court's call. Its bail schedule flags each offense as eligible or not, and the courtesy notice it mails spells out your choices and the due date. The court sets the fee it adds to the bail for monitoring traffic schools, and the notice shows what you owe. Some tickets need a court appearance first, such as a citation for speeding at a dangerous speed or one issued to a driver with four or more prior traffic convictions. Mirai Traffic School's $24.99 course fee is paid to the school, never to the court.

Mirai Traffic School reports your completion to the DMV electronically, and the court retrieves it from there. Santa Clara County Superior Court takes proof of completion only from schools the DMV has licensed, and Mirai Traffic School holds license E0756. After the report goes through, the court says nothing further is needed from you.