San Mateo Traffic School

The Census Bureau estimates 103,337 residents in San Mateo on July 1, 2025. Three state highways cross the city. US 101 runs along the bay side, State Route 92 crosses from east to west, and State Route 82 is El Camino Real, which meets State Route 92 at an interchange inside the city.

Tickets in San Mateo come from two agencies. The San Mateo Police Department patrols city streets such as Hillsdale Boulevard and Third Avenue. On the state highways, the California Highway Patrol's Redwood City Area and Hayward Area serve San Mateo County, and US 101 and State Route 92 are on the Redwood City Area's list of freeways. Whichever agency writes the ticket, it goes to San Mateo County Superior Court, where the traffic school rules are the same.

The California Office of Traffic Safety's 2023 rankings count 292 people killed or injured in San Mateo crashes, 41st of 62 cities of similar size, where 1st is the worst result. Pedestrians fare worse than the total. OTS counts 44 pedestrians killed or injured, 8th in the group, and 8 of them were 65 or older, also 8th. Bicyclists numbered 20, 31st, motorcyclists 17, 23rd, and speed-related crashes that killed or hurt someone 39, 47th. The counts describe the city's streets, not fault in any one ticket.

The City Council adopted San Mateo's Local Roadway Safety Plan on May 20, 2024. The plan analyzes crash patterns and picks high-priority locations from crash history, stakeholder collaboration and community feedback, and the city aims for zero fatalities and severe injuries through a Safe System approach. Residents marked their safety concerns about walking, biking, driving and taking transit on an interactive map. Projects on the city's list include a traffic signal project at Hillsdale Boulevard and Alameda de las Pulgas, safety work at the intersection of Third Avenue and Norfolk Street, and the US 101 and Peninsula Avenue interchange.

Traffic tickets from San Mateo are heard in South San Francisco, not in the city itself. San Mateo County Superior Court holds every traffic arraignment at the Northern Branch, 1050 Mission Road, wherever in the county the ticket was written. Call the Traffic Division at (650) 363-4300. The court mails a Notice of Bail to the address written on the citation, and the notice lists the bail, its due date and the traffic school information. Your citation carries the court code to use when you enroll.

To get traffic school, you ask San Mateo County Superior Court for it, and the court requires the bail plus a non-refundable administrative fee before it lets you enroll. The court decides both amounts and the due date, and the Notice of Bail spells them out. The course from Mirai Traffic School is a separate $24.99 payment. A driver qualifies with a valid California driver's license, no traffic school for a violation within the 18 months before, a speed no more than 25 mph over the limit, and a violation worth one point or less. Seat belt, equipment and insurance violations are excluded, and the final word belongs to the court.

Mirai Traffic School reports your completion to the DMV electronically, and the court retrieves it from there. Look up your case through the court's traffic page before the due date and compare your name, license number and court code with the record. A missed date costs you the bail and the administrative fee, so do this early.